Previous Story
‘Warrantless search constitutional as defendant consented to search’
|
Posted on Jan 03 2023
The CNMI Supreme Court has reversed the suppression of DNA evidence in Commonwealth v. Kaipat, 2022 MP 9, saying the defendant voluntarily agreed to the extraction of DNA sample.
In an opinion issued on Dec. 31, 2022, it said that because both the defendant and his parents provided voluntary consent to the search, the evidence should not be suppressed.
In this case, the defendant, then a juvenile, had presented himself to law enforcement as a victim of a crime. At the request of the police, he went with his parents to the police station to give a DNA sample, which law enforcement took without a warrant. After the DNA was tested, the Commonwealth charged the defendant with multiple crimes. The Superior Court granted his motion to suppress the DNA sample and exclude it as evidence obtained through a violation of the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement. The Commonwealth had argued that no warrant was required because the defendant voluntarily consented to the search, but the Superior Court found no voluntary consent.
The Supreme Court found that there was no constitutional violation because both the defendant and his parents provided voluntary consent to giving the DNA sample. They had gone to the police station at the time and date discussed and never objected. The defendant did not provide evidence showing that he or his parents had acted under duress or coercion. (PR/Saipan Tribune)
