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It limits the genetic profiles to be maintained in the databaseonly to people
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who have been convicted of specifically designated felony crimes."
"That's the convicted offender database, then?"
"Yes, judge. But that's not where Ms. Cooper alleges the match to my client
was made. He's not a convicted offender. His profile isn't in that pool."
"Tell me about that."
"The medical examiner's office maintains another DNA system."
McFarland was taking notes. "What's that one called?"
"It's the linkage database, your honor. It's what you might refer to as a
'usual suspect' or 'suspect elimination' base. It's got everything from
arrestees who've never been convicted of anything to bystanders at a crime
scene who get caught up in a sweep."
"By that you mean that biological samples are submitted to this second bank
during investigations by some lawful authorization, either by court order or
voluntarily or "
"Nobody gives DNA voluntarily," Ron said dismissively. "There's always an
element of coercion when the police ask a person to give them a sample of
their blood or saliva. Nobody wants to give their DNA to the government."
"That's absurd, your honor," I said, standing to address McFarland. "It
happens every day without police coercion. Thousands of people all over the
country volunteer to submit samples to exclude themselves during
investigations of violent crime, to help the police in homicides or assaults
involving family and friends, strangers who "
She motioned me to sit down. "You'll have an opportunity to respond, Ms.
Cooper."
"Thank you, judge. I envy you, on behalf of all my colleagues at Legal Aid. At
least one of us has the power to quiet my adversary with the wave of a hand.
May I go on?"
"Certainly, Mr. Abramson."
"There is absolutely no legal authority for the existence of these records in
the linkage database. Ms. Cooper's efforts to use Mr. Carido's profile which
should have been expunged from that computer system months ago violates his
Fourth Amendment freedom from unreasonable search and seizure and his
Fourteenth Amendment right of bodily autonomy and informational privacy."
And clearly violates what Mike liked to call Ron Abramson's Twenty-sixth
Amendment right to be a pompous ass.
"I take it that Mr. Carido was a suspect in some investigation or other
several months back, is that right?"
"Yes, judge. But never charged."
"With murder," I said from my seat. "He's still a suspect in an unsolved
murder. We're not talking about a minor crime with a statute of limitations.
We're talking about a rape-homicide that's still an open case."
McFarland gave me her sternest look. "You'll get your chance, Alex. Mr.
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Abramson, were you Mr. Carido's lawyer in that matter?"
"No, ma'am. One of the young women I supervised was the attorney of record."
"And did she make a motion to expunge Carido's profile from the database?"
I shook my head in the negative while Abramson searched his file.
"Did she?"
"I'm looking, your honor. I can't find any record of that. But beyond that
point, the legislature only authorizes disclosure of the DNA match in the
particular criminal proceeding for which the biological sample was obtained.
The prosecution wants to turn that legal provision on its head and open the
floodgates, keep all the exclusionary samples and just test them whenever it
strikes their fancy."
Abramson was circling his arms in the air for emphasis now, looking more like
someone doing the backstroke than an attorney making a argument in a court of
law.
"So your concern here, if I understand you "
"Is my client's privacy rights, Judge McFarland. Ramon Carido's DNA profile
contains an extraordinary amount of personal information about him. It carries
the entire physical component of his being, and this unregulated and
discretionary attempt to use it by Ms. Cooper and the NYPD is completely
improper and inappropriate."
"Are you done, Mr. Abramson?"
Ron did the obligatory one-hundred-eighty-degree scoping of the courtroom
before he sat down at counsel table, hoping that some one other than the three
remaining-to-be-sentenced perps had witnessed his Clarence Darrow moment.
"Yes, your honor."
"I'll hear you on this, Ms. Cooper."
"Thank you. Just to make this clear at the outset, judge, Mr. Carido
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