Maryland's chief public defender asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to review and overturn a state high court ruling that police acted constitutionally when they used the DNA sample a homeless man gave them for a rape investigation to link him to an unrelated burglary.

Tagged with: appellate litigation crime dna evidence fourth amendment Paul DeWolfe

In a case involving convicted Baltimore bank robbers, the full 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it will consider whether police need a search warrant to get the cellphone-tower records of suspected criminals in an effort to track down their whereabouts when the crime was committed.

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A Forest Hill man who had been indicted but never prosecuted for child sexual abuse can proceed with his civil rights lawsuit against a Harford County police officer he claims prompted the alleged victim to make the damning allegation and then withheld exculpatory evidence from the successful arrest-warrant application, a Baltimore federal judge has ruled.

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The U.S. Supreme Court should strike down as unconstitutional law enforcement’s warrantless searches and retention of DNA found on lawfully seized items worn or touched by criminal suspects, Maryland’s chief public defender states in papers filed with the justices in a case from Massachusetts.

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Police who receive a person’s DNA sample voluntarily during a criminal investigation may use that sample to investigate other crimes — unless the person has expressly told them not to, a sharply divided Maryland high court ruled Tuesday.

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Police officers may open the flip phone of a person they just arrested and examine its screen saver but need a warrant to search the text messages and other information contained within the device in the absence of a public-safety emergency, Maryland’s top court ruled Monday in a trio of decisions.

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A federal judge has thrown out a class-action lawsuit alleging "overdetention" at Baltimore's Central Booking, a decision that could help end nearly 10 years of litigation over the practices at the city facility.

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The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear the appeal of a convicted rapist who had urged the justices to overturn his conviction and rule the the Maryland State Police violated his constitutional rights by surreptitiously checking the DNA in the perspiration he left on a chair after being questioned voluntarily at an MSP barracks.

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Lifting a book ban heads legal-news roundup that includes comparison of Eric Holder and RFK, drone use by police and a tale of strip searches in two cities.

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Supreme Court may get case asking if people who voluntarily submit to police questioning surrender their claim to the sweat they leave behind on a chair.

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