# DNA and fingerprints from an unlawful arrest. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 3, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dna-and-fingerprints-from-an-unlawful-arrest/491868 "2009-04-03T15:31:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dna-and-fingerprints-from-an-unlawful-arrest/491868/1 "2009-04-03T15:31:19Z")
Ok let me give you one of our favorite hypothetical scenarios. Say I have a clean record and no run ins with the police at all. Then one day out of no where I get [wrongfully] arrested for something I did not do. I get fingerprinted and a DNA sample is taken from me. Then all charges are dropped. Do my fingerprint and DNA still remain on file? This could connect me to a future crime…since the arrest was unlawful wouldn’t my fingerprints and DNA be evidence that couldn’t be used against me? Would they have to remove them from the database? A story I read [about a kid who was arrested after turning in a cell phone he found.](http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/92661/Student-arrested-for-being-honest) made me think of this. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dna-and-fingerprints-from-an-unlawful-arrest/491868/2 "2009-04-03T15:37:54Z")
It depends on the jurisdiction. In some places DNA can be saved and in some places it must be thrown away. Local laws and the results of local lawsuits are the deciding factors. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dna-and-fingerprints-from-an-unlawful-arrest/491868/3 "2009-04-03T16:40:52Z")
There is no one good answer to the question. If you assert that the state forcing the individual to yield DNA and fingerprints is a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections regarding due process, absent valid reason to obtain them (like a valid arrest), then one might well assert that invalidation of the arrest requires elimination of the poisoned fruit, like fingerprints and DNA samples. However, it’s not clear that the state is precluded from taking DNA or fingerprints from ANYONE, ANYTIME. Indeed, in light of _Schmerber_, I’d say the state is entitled under the United States Constitution to line us all up and take samples of anything they want, anytime they want (assuming some other constitutionally valid reason to have us “seized”). This would mean that the answer to the question in the OP would depend upon state statutes and/or state constitutional provisions (like the one in the California Constitution protecting “privacy”). ---
**Author:** ![hobscrk777](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a6a055/32.png) [@hobscrk777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hobscrk777)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dna-and-fingerprints-from-an-unlawful-arrest/491868/4 "2009-04-03T16:58:11Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > There is no one good answer to the question. If you assert that the state forcing the individual to yield DNA and fingerprints is a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections regarding due process, absent valid reason to obtain them (like a valid arrest), then one might well assert that invalidation of the arrest requires elimination of the poisoned fruit, like fingerprints and DNA samples. However, it’s not clear that the state is precluded from taking DNA or fingerprints from ANYONE, ANYTIME. Indeed, in light of _Schmerber_, I’d say the state is entitled under the United States Constitution to line us all up and take samples of anything they want, anytime they want (assuming some other constitutionally valid reason to have us “seized”). This would mean that the answer to the question in the OP would depend upon state statutes and/or state constitutional provisions (like the one in the California Constitution protecting “privacy”). The (admittedly brief) wikipedia[article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmerber_v._California)states that Schermber had blood drawn after being suspected of drunk driving. This doesn’t seem to be as sweeping as your claim of the states’ ability to take samples from ANYONE, ANYTIME. Did that case really bear out an interpretation with that much latitude? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dna-and-fingerprints-from-an-unlawful-arrest/491868/5 "2009-04-03T17:11:56Z")
There was a big kerfuffle in the U.K. about this recently: yes, your DNA and fingerprints are retained over here. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dna-and-fingerprints-from-an-unlawful-arrest/491868/6 "2009-04-03T17:23:51Z")
State law determines the circumstances under which someone can have their DNA profile expunged from the system. However, if it ends up in CODIS it’s pretty much there to stay. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dna-and-fingerprints-from-an-unlawful-arrest/491868/7 "2009-04-03T17:33:17Z")
> [@ChrisBooth12](#): > > Then one day out of no where I get [wrongfully] arrested for something I did not do. I get fingerprinted and a DNA sample is taken from me. Then all charges are dropped. Do my fingerprint and DNA still remain on file? This could connect me to a future crime.. **since the arrest was unlawful** wouldn’t my fingerprints and DNA be evidence that couldn’t be used against me? bolding mine just so we’re clear… there’s a huge difference between having charges dropped and an unlawful arrest. If you are arrested, the fingerprints and mugshot are retained even if the charges are later dropped. I believe this is true in all US jurisdictions, but not positive.