Los Angeles Times From Associated Press
February 24, 2001
Dateline: Sacramento, CA

Arrest Warrant Based only on Genetic Code is Upheld

A judge late Friday upheld an arrest warrant issued against a rape suspect identified only by a genetic code in what is believed to be the nation's first ruling of its kind. The judge said she was doing what has never been done before. "This is uncharted water. It's a novel theory," she said after a daylong hearing in a case testing fundamental constitutional rights.

Prosecutors nationwide are watching the case and say a favorable ruling would provide them with a powerful tool as modern databases become filled with criminals' genetic codes.

The arrest warrant was issued last August, two days before the six-year statute of limitations would have expired in the 1994 rape of a Sacramento woman at her apartment building. The warrant was issued, not against a known suspect, but against a genetic code of the semen sample taken six years earlier from the woman.

A month later, after the statute of limitations would have expired, the DNA sample was matched with the suspect and he was arrested. The judge said, "It is clear that DNA is the most identifying method of identification. As of this date, DNA is unalterable and appears to be the best identifier."

Since the suspect is already in prison on non-related charges, the prosecution was put on hold pending a likely appeal to the California State Supreme Court, and possibly the U.S. Supreme Court.