Saliva Left on Blood Alcohol Test Mouthpiece as “Abandoned” DNA?

(Orin Kerr) Three weeks ago , I blogged about a Maryland case holding that a defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in his DNA left in a chair at the station house. Here’s a related decision: A new California case holding that a defendant “abandoned” his DNA, relinquishing his Fourth Amendment rights, left on a mouthpiece of a blood alcohol test. (Hat tip: FourthAmendment.com ) The case is People v. Thomas , and it involves a burglary suspect. A DNA sample of the burglar was found at the scene of the crime. Although the opinion downplays this, it seems the police were trailing the suspect and waiting for a moment to collect a DNA sample from him to find a match. They got the chance when the police had reason to think the suspect …

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Saliva Left on Blood Alcohol Test Mouthpiece as “Abandoned” DNA?