Thursday, July 19, 2012
Collection resumed at 6 p.m., just one day after Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts stayed a Maryland Court of Appeals ruling.
UPDATED (6:45 p.m.)—Baltimore County police have resumed collection of DNA samples from people arrested on felony charges. County Police Chief Jim Johnson announced the decision late Thursday afternoon. Johnson, in a statement, ordered the resumption of DNA collections beginning at 6 p.m. The decision to once again collect the samples comes one day after Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issues a stay on a Maryland Court of Appeals ruling banning the practice. County officials initially said Wednesday, following Roberts' order, that police would likely wait to resume collecting the samples until after opponents had an opportunity to file a response with Roberts. State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger said he changed his mind after he …
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Chief Justice John Roberts stays Maryland Court of Appeals ruling striking down the collection of DNA samples from people arrested for felonies.
UPDATED (6:21 p.m.)—Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger said a Supreme Court order Wednesday will not result in the immediate resumption of collecting DNA samples from people arrested for certain crimes. "I'm not prepared to tell county police to start collecting DNA from arrestees," Shellenberger said. "I think we need something a little more solid before we start changing procedures." Chief Justice John Roberts' order stayed an April Maryland Court of Appeals ruling that barred law enforcement from collecting DNA samples from people arrested and charged with felonies. The Court of Appeals made the 5-2 ruling in the case of Alonzo King who was arrested in 2009. Wicomico County collected King's DNA at the time of his …
Friday, April 27, 2012
The immediate shift in policy comes just days after the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that the practice was unconstitutional.
Baltimore County police said they have, effective immediately, stopped collecting DNA samples from suspects arrested and charged with certain violent crimes. The policy switch comes after Maryland Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that part of a state law that allows law enforcement to collect DNA from anyone arrested for a crime of violence is unconstitutional. The case overturned a rape conviction and life sentence. The court ruled in a 5-2 vote that Wicomico County police violated Fourth Amendment rights, restricting unreasonable searches, when Alonzo J. King Jr. was arrested in 2009 and police took a sample of his DNA, according to court documents. Despite the move by the Baltimore County police, Chief James Johnson, along with many other…
Lorna D. Rudnikas
11:54 pm on Saturday, July 21, 2012
Curious....what is the criteria for "pending approval" status....is it now Patch's SOP??? more ›