M.D.Ga.: DNA taken under state law that was potentially purgable still could be used as evidence in a federal prosecution

Defendant was charged as a first offender under Georgia law, and, if he completed probation successfully, his DNA sample would have been purged from the system. Here, the DNA was matched to another crime when he was still on probation. The state did not violate his Fourth Amendment rights in the taking of the sample or retaining it. United States v. Hinton, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87736 (M.D.Ga. May 4, 2015).

Defendant was wanted for child pornography, and the initial seizure of his cell phone incident to his arrest in a car was reasonable under the search incident doctrine. The police already knew from a child that her video would be on the cell phone. The child’s mother had surreptitiously recorded defendant sexually abusing her. Even if the recording violated the state eavesdropping law, that didn’t govern its admissibility in federal court. United States v. Blank, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87599 (D.Md. June 30, 2015).*