Macon criminal lawyer argues that rape charges should be dismissed after police destroy DNA evidence
A Macon man accused of rape has asked a judge to dismiss the charge, since DNA evidence which linked him to the crime was destroyed by police in 2006. The man’s attorney argued for the charges to be dropped based on due process grounds.
The Macon Telegraph has the story.
John Paul Battle, 25, was originally sent to prison in 2008 after being convicted of aggravated assault. Last spring authorities found that his DNA matched the DNA police recovered from a rape victim in 2002. The rape victim then picked Battle out of a lineup. Authorities also took a fresh DNA sample from Battle and concluded that the DNA recovered from the victim matched Battle’s.
However, the DNA evidence which came from the 2002 rape was destroyed sometime in 2006. The evidence included swabs, a rape kit and a condom. Battle’s attorney, Allen Wheeler, filed a motion arguing that Battle has due process rights which includes having the original evidence tested by an independent expert. And since that evidence no longer exists, it cannot be independently tested. Wheeler also pointed to a 2003 Georgia law requiring police to preserve biological evidence relating to a defendant’s identity.
Prosecutors argue there is no constitutional violation, because police did not act in bad faith when they failed to preserve potentially exculpatory evidence. The detective in charge of the 2002 rape case marked the evidence to be destroyed in 2005. It is unknown as to why the detective marked the evidence, but Macon Police did state that the detective is no longer employed with the department.
Our criminal defense lawyers have handled numerous cases in which potentially beneficial evidence was destroyed or lost. Cases such as these can involve destroyed DNA samples, shattered cell phones, lost blood and urine specimens, and missing finger prints. In our experience, there is almost always an issue of whether a person’s rights were violated any time this type of evidence is destroyed or lost. If it can be shown that the evidence was destroyed in bad faith, the court may be forced to drop the case against the defendant.
