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IF QUESTIONING A DEFENDANT ABOUT WHERE HE/SHE LIVES SERVES AN ADMINISTRATIVE PURPOSE AND IS NOT A DISGUISED ATTEMPT TO OBTAIN INCRIMINATING INFORMATION, DEFENDANT’S ANSWER IS SUBJECT TO THE PEDIGREE EXCEPTION TO THE MIRANDA REQUIREMENT; DNA EVIDENCE GATHERED BY THE FORENSIC STATISTICAL TOOL (FST) SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ADMITTED WITHOUT HOLDING A FRYE HEARING (CT APP).

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Fahey, reversing the Appellate Division, over a two-judge dissent, determined: (1) under the facts, the defendant’s answer to the police officer’s question regarding where he lived fell within the “pedigree exception” to the Miranda requirement (and therefore was not suppressible); and (2), the DNA evidence generated by the forensic statistical tool (FST) should not have been admitted without holding a Frye hearing:

We hold that the pedigree exception will not apply even if the pedigree question is reasonably related to police administrative concerns where, under the circumstances of the case, a reasonable person would conclude based on an objective analysis that the pedigree question was a “disguised attempt at investigatory interrogation” … . …

… [T]the pedigree questions were not a disguised attempt at investigatory interrogation … . … [T]he police asked defendant his name, date of birth, and where he lived immediately after their entry to the apartment, before the apartment had been searched and before any contraband had been found. The detective further testified that it is standard practice for all adults found at a location where a search warrant is executed to be handcuffed and asked these pedigree questions, regardless of whether contraband is found during the search. That defendant’s response ultimately turned out to be incriminating does not alter the conclusion that, at the time it was asked, the question was not a disguised attempt at investigatory interrogation by the police … . * * *

Williams [35 NY3d 24] contains our reasoning on the Frye issue with respect to the FST. …

… “FST is a proprietary program exclusively developed and controlled by OCME [New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner],” and … the approval of the DNA Subcommittee was “no substitute for the scrutiny of the relevant scientific community” … . People v Wortham, 2021 NY Slip Op 06530, CtApp 11-23-21

 

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