California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Buza, 230 Cal.Rptr.3d 681, 4 Cal.5th 658, 413 P.3d 1132 (Cal. 2018):
Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial Dist. Court of Nev., Humboldt County (2004) 542 U.S. 177, 191, 124 S.Ct. 2451, 159 L.Ed.2d 292.) "A suspect's criminal history," the high court continued, "is a critical part of his identity that officers should know when processing him for detention," and "[a] DNA profile is useful to the police because it gives them a form of identification to search the records already in their valid possession" for the suspect's criminal history. ( King , at pp. 450451, 133 S.Ct. 1958.) In this respect, the court said, the profile serves the same purpose as a name or fingerprints. ( Id . at p. 451, 133 S.Ct. 1958.) Second, the high court reasoned, "DNA identification can provide untainted information to those charged with detaining suspects and detaining the property of any felon," which is significant because "officers must know the type of person whom they are detaining, and DNA allows them to make critical choices about how to proceed." ( Id. at p. 452, 133 S.Ct. 1958.) Third, the court noted, using DNA samples to determine whether the accused has committed other crimes furthers the state's " substantial interest in ensuring that persons accused of crimes are available for trials. " ( Ibid . ) This is so, it said, because "[a] person who is arrested for one offense but knows that he has yet to answer for some past crime may be more inclined to flee the instant charges," thereby presenting "a risk to law enforcement officers, other detainees, victims of previous crimes, witnesses, and society at large." ( Id. at p. 453, 133 S.Ct. 1958.) Fourth, the court explained, "an arrestee's past conduct is essential to an assessment of the danger he poses to the public," which may determine "whether
[230 Cal.Rptr.3d 691]
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