Warrant Clause Permits Collection of Officers' DNA Evidence

Filed August 31, 2015

The Warrant Clause permits collection of DNA Evidence by Mouth Swap to Exclude Officers as Contributors of DNA at a Crime Scene.

Read the Decision HERE

In Bill v. Brewer, the 9th circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of an action brought by three Phoenix police officers who alleged that two other officers violated the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments.  Under a state court order, the officers obtained DNA samples from the Plaintiffs to exclude them as contributors of DNA at a crime scene.

The 9th circuit held that the superior court orders authorizing the collection of Plaintiffs’ DNA satisfied the Warrant Clause of the Fourth Amendment. The panel further held that it was not unreasonable, under the circumstances, to ask sworn officers to provide saliva samples for the sole purpose of demonstrating that the DNA left at a crime scene was not the result of inadvertent contamination by on-duty public safety personnel.