{"id":64062,"date":"2026-05-16T11:02:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T16:02:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/?p=64062"},"modified":"2026-05-16T11:39:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T16:39:16","slug":"sc-dna-sample-by-sw-two-weeks-before-trial-was-independent-of-one-three-years-earlier-during-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/?p=64062","title":{"rendered":"SC: DNA sample by SW two weeks before trial was independent of one three years earlier during investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Defendant wasn\u2019t in custody in a murder investigation when officers obtained a DNA sample from him in 2019, they believed voluntarily. As the case came closer to trial, the defense moved to suppress it because he\u2019d lawyered up, so they thought. Using only the 2019 pre-DNA information, officers obtained a DNA search warrant two weeks before trial. This warrant was valid by independent source and inevitable discovery. State v. Cornish<\/a>, 2026 S.C. App. LEXIS 34 (May 13, 2026):<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\n

This case differs from Hill because the warrant was not obtained based on information gleaned from the arguably improper 2019 collection of Cornish’s buccal swabs. Sergeant Creech testified he obtained the search warrant because he was made aware that there were potential issues with the 2019 swab collection, and the solicitor believed such issues could be remedied with a proper search warrant. The probable cause for the 2022 warrant was based upon information the LCSD obtained prior to the questionable interview collection in December 2019, as well as information law enforcement obtained\u2014or would have obtained\u2014independently of Cornish’s interview. Moreover, Sergeant Creech testified that law enforcement obtains buccal swabs from all significant parties during an investigation to run against samples gathered at a crime scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further, although the circuit court did not rely on inevitable discovery, we find the DNA results also fall within the inevitable discovery exception to the exclusionary rule. Even if we assume officers violated Cornish’s constitutional rights by continuing to engage him after he asked for counsel and in obtaining the 2019 swab, it cannot be denied that law enforcement would have inevitably obtained Cornish’s DNA through other means. Cornish’s arrest was not based upon the results of any DNA testing because those results were not available until 2020 and 2021, long after he was arrested. Had LCSD not obtained a swab on December 23, 2019, the LCSD would have swabbed for Cornish’s DNA when he was processed into the detention center on December 31, 2019. This is standard for arrests in South Carolina. Therefore, we find both the inevitable discovery doctrine and independent source rule rendered the DNA admissible against Cornish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Defendant wasn\u2019t in custody in a murder investigation when officers obtained a DNA sample from him in 2019, they believed voluntarily. As the case came closer to trial, the defense moved to suppress it because he\u2019d lawyered up, so they … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,60,68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dna","category-independent-source","category-inevitable-discovery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=64062"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64062\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64064,"href":"https:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64062\/revisions\/64064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=64062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=64062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=64062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}