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Category: Investigative Resource Repository
Investigative Resource Repository

Order on Defendant’s Motion to Suppress Re: Genetic Information (State of Idaho v. Bryan C. Kohberger)

The accused was charged with four counts of murder and one count of burglary where four students were found cut and stabbed to death in their residence. After a hearing conducted on the defendant’s motion claiming violations of the Fourth Amendment’s provisions regarding search and seizure, the trial court denied the defendant’s motions to suppress and addressed the following issues in its rulings:

1) The defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in a knife sheath located at the scene where DNA found on the sheath was associated with the DNA of the defendant. The sheath was also determined to be abandoned by the defendant.

2) A “trash pull” was conducted by law enforcement from waste bins set for pick up outside the residence of the defendant’s parents. The contents of which revealed DNA from the defendant’s father. The trial court ruled that the defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the search and seizure during the “trash pull” in question.

3) The defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the shared common DNA segments of a relative who had uploaded his DNA into a commercial database available to consumers.

4) The fact that law enforcement took certain steps “outside” of the United States Department of Justice Interim Policy Forensic Genetic Genealogical DNA Analysis and Searching does not necessarily require suppression of the evidence as they are not of constitutional dimension and are “internal” guidelines.

February 2025
Investigative Resource Repository

Harvin v. State of Maryland (2024) Opinion

Appeals Court decision upholding admissibility of process utilizing TrueAllele®, a probabilistic genotyping software (PGS). This process was used to interpret DNA mixtures detected on several items recovered during an investigation of a sexual assault of an 83-year-old female victim. The Court’s opinion includes a helpful discussion on experts in general, as well as a discussion on the use of PGS for forensic purposes. The Court also discusses the recently adopted Daubert standard in criminal cases. The Supreme Court of Maryland denied petition for writ of certiorari on January 29, 2025 (petition number 355).
September 2024
FindLaw

State v. Carbo (2024) Opinion – Supreme Court of Minnesota

The Supreme Court of Minnesota held that the defendant in this homicide prosecution has no reasonable expectation of privacy in the semen collected at the crime scene or in the items he had discarded in a communal trash bin. However, there are concurring and dissenting opinions to the majority ruling. An additional issue addressed in this ruling pertained to the trial court improperly excluding alternative perpetrator evidence whereby the conviction was reversed and remanded for that reason.
May 2024
FindLaw

State v. Westrom (2024) Opinion – Supreme Court of Minnesota

The Supreme Court of Minnesota held that the defendant in this homicide prosecution has no reasonable expectation of privacy in a discarded napkin which was retrieved by police and tested for DNA leading to a DNA profile that was associated with a DNA profile recovered from crime scene. Other issues addressed in this ruling include: 1) exclusion of alternative perpetrator evidence, 2) exclusion of the defendant’s forensic podiatry evidence, 3) the state’s closing argument was not improper, and 4) circumstantial evidence was sufficient for conviction.
May 2024
Investigative Resource Repository

Idaho v. Dalrymple – Case Documents

1) State’s Motion in Limine for Non-Disclosure
2) Memorandum in Support of State’s Motion in Limine for Non-Disclosure
3) State’s Motion to Re-Open Previously Filed and Ruled Upon Motion in Limine for Non-Disclosure
4) State’s Objection and Brief in Opposition to Defendant’s Motion to Suppress
5) Defense’s Brief in Support of Motion to Suppress
6) Court’s Ruling on Defense Motion to Suppress
May 2024
Investigative Resource Repository

Defense’s Brief in Support of Motion to Suppress (Idaho v. Dalrymple)

Suspect’s hair that was found from the crime scene of a murder-sexual offense case was subjected to single nucleotide polymorphism extraction and genealogical search. Defense claims these techniques violate the defendant’s Fourth Amendment and the State of Idaho’s privacy rights of a suspect.
April 2024
District Attorney’s Office, Denver, CO

Colorado v. Groshart – Case Documents

1) The People’s Ex Parte Submission & Request for Ex Parte, In Camera Hearing
2) People’s Motion to Admit Evidence of Another Act of the Defendant
3) People’s Response to Defense Motion to Dismiss for Violation of Right to Speedy Trial
4) People’s Response to Defense Motion to Dismiss Due to Outrageous Government Conduct
5) People’s Notice of Intent to Not Mention the Use of Forensic Genetic Genealogy at Trial
March 2024

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