Appellant was convicted of four counts of rape and burglary. In 1987, he had been previously convicted of rape. The 1987 conviction was overturned on a petition for writ of habeas corpus. While appellant was still incarcerated for that conviction, he provided DNA samples under Penal Code section 290.2. Based on the DNA match from those samples, appellant was arrested for the crimes at issue and a search warrant was obtained for additional blood and saliva samples. Appellant filed a motion to dismiss the case or to suppress the DNA evidence, which he claimed should have been purged when his earlier convictions were reversed. That motion was denied, and appellant raised the issue again in this appeal. Here, the appellate court affirmed. There was no constitutional violation or infringment of privacy because the DNA profile was lawfully obtained in connection with the earlier case. Further, although in January 1, 1999, Penal Code section 295 was enacted, which requires expungement of DNA information following a reversal or dismissal, that section was not in effect at the time the DNA match was established.
Case Summaries