Evidence

How Is Probable Cause Determined in Maryland?

July 9, 2013 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

Most people are aware of the protections offered by the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution. One protection is the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. The other requires that police only get a warrant that is particular and supported by probable cause.

The Supreme Court has ruled that searches and seizures conducted without a judicial warrant are presumptively unreasonable. This is because a neutral magistrate has not determined, in those cases, that there is probable cause to search or seize a particular property. This broad requirement for a warrant has several well-established exceptions. For example, a police officer may make a warrantless arrest when he or she has probable cause to believe the arrestee has committed a felony or attempted to commit a felony.

In a recent case, the defendant was convicted for robbery, reckless endangerment, second-degree assault, and theft. The defendant was apprehended when an officer, driving up in a marked police vehicle, saw him abandon his bike and run away near the scene of a robbery that had taken place the day before. The man’s flight, to the officer, suggested a guilty conscience. Also, the defendant looked like the description of the perpetrator of the recent robbery: a black male between 6 ft. 1 inches and 6 foot 3 inches with cornrows. The defendant went by the nickname “B” and “B” was the initial given in a previous lineup for the robbery.

Supreme Court Upholds Maryland’s Routine DNA Sampling

July 5, 2013 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

A few months ago, this blog featured a discussion on Maryland v. King, a case that was then only pending before the United States Supreme Court. To refresh readers’ memories: A criminal defendant appealed a rape conviction that occurred only because Maryland police were able to take a cheek swab of his DNA as part of his arrest for an assault. They matched this sample with DNA evidence gathered in a rape from six years before.

The Maryland Court of Appeals overturned the defendant’s conviction on the grounds that these routine cheek swabs violated the Fourth Amendment right against illegal search and seizure. The State appealed the ruling. On June 3, the Supreme Court reinstated the conviction and affirmed the State’s right to gather DNA on a routine basis.

The Supreme Court’s majority opinion, written by Justice Kennedy, compared DNA sampling of the arrested to fingerprinting, which is legal. Justice Kennedy wrote that states could collect DNA from people arrested for “serious offenses.” The majority opinion also reasoned that Maryland’s law supported the “well established” governmental interest of identifying people in custody as opposed to solving crimes.

Three justices typically regarded as the Court’s liberal justices joined Justice Scalia in the dissent, and Justice Scalia even took the rare step of reading the dissent it from the bench. He warned, “As an entirely predictable consequence of today’s decision, your DNA can be taken and entered into a national DNA database if you are ever arrested, rightly or wrongly, and for whatever reason.” In his view, the majority ruling did not build in limits. While Maryland only allows fingerprinting for people suspected of violent crime or burglary right now, the ruling is so broad it could permit law enforcement to take DNA from someone suspected of a mere traffic violation in the future. Continue reading

Maryland Appellate Court Finds Abuse of Discretion, But Permits Conviction To Stand

June 5, 2013 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

The Maryland Court of Special Appeals recently addressed two interesting questions of criminal trial procedure. The first question was what kind of crime could be used to impeach (discredit) a witness. The second question was whether a trial court is permitted to refuse a re-cross examination once new testimony is given on an issue.

The case arose in early 2010 when a woman (the defendant) asked a man for a ride home from a strip club. The man agreed and when they got to the apartment where the defendant’s cousin lived, the defendant asked him to accompany her to the apartment. She said she would go home with him, but needed to tell her cousin where she was going.

As they walked to the apartment, the defendant pulled out a handgun and asked the man for his money and keys. She shot him as he got his keys from his pocket and then drove off in his car.

After the defendant left, the man called 911 and gave the police a report. When she was apprehended, the defendant was charged with numerous crimes. At trial, she claimed she acted in self-defense because she was afraid that the man was going to sexually assault her.

During a cross-examination of the man, defense counsel tried to impeach him by introducing evidence of his prior convictions, which included assault on a police officer, threat to do bodily harm and reckless endangerment. Continue reading

Maryland Criminal Case About DNA Will Be Ruled On By Supreme Court

March 18, 2013 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

In April 2009, Alonzo J. King, Jr. pointed a shotgun at some people. One of them told the police and King admitted his guilt. He was arrested in Wicomico County. Police then swabbed skin cells from inside his cheek. They tested the DNA, even though he admitted his guilt in the case for which he was arrested. They entered the DNA into the Maryland DNS database and the FBI national database CODIS. His DNA was compared to evidence in unsolved crimes and matched a sexual assault case.

Charged with felony assault, he ultimately pled guilty to a misdemeanor for pointing the shotgun at the group. However, because of the DNA testing that occurred when he was only an arrestee, King was later convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the unsolved sexual assault. Later, CNN reported that the Maryland Court of Appeals agreed that suspects have a higher expectation of privacy than a convicted felon. The government took King’s case to Supreme Court and it was heard last month.

Courts do permit the DNA of convicted felons to be collected. Conviction means forfeiting some rights. However, Maryland and more than half of the states allow the police to collect DNA from people who have only been arrested and not convicted. This fishing expedition allows the police to look for evidence of past crimes and keep the DNA on file in case of future crimes. Continue reading