U.S. SUPREME COURT REVERSES MARYLAND COURT OF APPEALS IN MARYLAND RAPE CASE

June 3, 2013, Salisbury MD – In a 5 to 4 decision released June 3, 2013 the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Maryland Court of Appeals that had ruled Maryland’s DNA Statute was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court decision, in effect, reinstates the conviction of Alonzo King, age 30, formerly of Delmar Maryland.

In 2003, a rape occurred in Salisbury, Maryland. The police had no suspect at that time, but they recovered and submitted DNA to the DNA bank as part of their investigation. In 2009, King was arrested for an unrelated felony assault. Pursuant to Maryland law, a buccal swab sample of his DNA was taken and submitted to the DNA bank. Police were informed later that King’s DNA matched the DNA submitted following the rape in 2003. This evidence resulted in the July 27, 2010 conviction of King for rape in the first degree. King received the sentence of life imprisonment on October 7, 2010.

Following his conviction, King made an appeal. The Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that the DNA collection statute was an unreasonable search and seizure in violation of King’s Constitutional rights. State’s Attorney Matthew A. Maciarello solicited the assistance of Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler who agreed to request an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case and it was argued before them in February of this year.

In the decision written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the Supreme Court found that the collection of DNA from an arrestee was a reasonable part of the routine booking procedures of law enforcement. The Court pointed out that DNA testing provided identification with near certainty. Justice Kennedy compared the collection of DNA from a suspect to the collection of a suspect’s fingerprints. There are, according to the decision, a number of reasons for these collections with the primary difference being the superior accuracy of DNA. Additionally, the Court ruled that while there was a bit more of an intrusion into a suspect’s privacy with DNA collection, that difference is insignificant and outweighed by the more accurate results.

This ruling was shared with the victim in the case who is very happy with the results.

Matthew A. Maciarello wishes to thank the Salisbury Police Department and Barry Tucker who was the lead investigator for this case for their hard work in gaining this conviction originally. He further wishes to thank the Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler and his staff for their exhaustive efforts in presenting this case to the U.S. Supreme Court.