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28-YEAR PRE-INDICTMENT DELAY IN THIS MURDER CASE DID NOT VIOLATE DEFENDANT’S RIGHT TO DUE PROCESS; DNA PROFILE STEMMING FROM DEFENDANT’S 2008 ARREST MATCHED BLOOD EVIDENCE FROM THE 1984 MURDER (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Chambers, determined the 28 year pre-indictment delay in this murder case did not violate defendant’s due process rights. Defendant was arrested in 2008 and his DNA profile was obtained. He had been a suspect in the 1984 murder and the blood evidence from the murder was linked to the defendant:

… [T]he preindictment delay of more than 28 years was undoubtedly extraordinary, a fact that weighs in favor of the defendant … . However, under the circumstances presented, the People met their burden of demonstrating good cause for the delay … . The record of the Singer hearing supports the hearing court’s determination that the People acted in good faith in deferring commencement of the prosecution until after they were able to match the defendant’s DNA profile with the one found on some of the blood-stained items recovered from the crime scene.

While the defendant correctly points out that DNA testing of the crime scene evidence could have been performed years earlier, there is nothing to suggest that such tests would have yielded any meaningful information, as the defendant’s own DNA profile was not available to investigators for comparative purposes until it was entered into CODIS in March of 2008. Nor are we persuaded by the defendant’s contention that the People could have sought a court order compelling the defendant to produce a DNA sample for analysis before 2008 … . Considering that the outcome of such a proceeding, under the particular facts of this case, would be very difficult to predict … , we are loath to saddle the People with an affirmative duty to embark upon a course that could ultimately prove unsuccessful, and possibly jeopardize an ongoing investigation. People v Innab, 2020 NY Slip Op 01363, Second Dept 2-26-20

 

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