Did State Violate Privacy Rights of Criminal Defendant by Retaining His DNA Profile in Database After Acquittal?

Making Later Comparison of Profile With Unrelated Crime Scene Unconstitutional

State of Ohio v. Dajuan C. Emerson, Case no. 2011-0486

8th District Court of Appeals (Cuyahoga County)

ISSUE: Under pre-2010 Ohio law, when a suspect in a criminal investigation was ordered by a court to submit a sample of his DNA for profiling, and the suspect was subsequently acquitted in that case, did the state's post-acquittal retention of the defendant's DNA profile in a law enforcement database, and later comparison of that profile against DNA from a different crime for which the subject was not a suspect, violate the subject's Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures?