Use of force may be applied to collect DNA samples from inmates … – Beatrice Daily Sun

A Lincoln judge has given the OK for the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services to use reasonable force to collect DNA from an inmate refusing to give it voluntarily.

It was the fifth time the state prison system had sought permission to use force to get DNA samples from the 78 inmates who still hadn't provided it to prison staff as of February.

The other motions were in Omaha cases. One since has led to new charges against Brandon Weathers in connection to serial rapes of four women in 2002 and 2004.

DNA can be an important tool used to solve crimes or lead to suspects.

The Nebraska Attorney General's office recently asked a Lincoln judge for an order to allow a Phoenix police officer to get an additional DNA sample from an inmate at the Nebraska State Penitentiary.

After the inmate went to prison in September for a sex assault in Douglas County, his DNA sample was collected.

In December, the Nebraska State Patrol Crime Laboratory matched his DNA, which was uploaded into the Combined DNA Index System, to DNA on a toothbrush taken from a Phoenix home in 2010 by investigators looking into the homicide of a man who had been shot dead in a car outside, according to court records.

State law says a person who had been convicted of a felony or other specified offense as of July 15, 2010, who did not have a sample in the state DNA Sample Bank, was required to have one collected at his or her own expense. The law also applied to people already serving a sentence.

Still, some inmates refused to comply.

In the Lincoln case, Assistant Nebraska Attorney General Kale Burdick said prison employees notified Reuben J. Reyes of his obligation to provide his DNA in April 2013, about two months after he went to prison, and again this May.

Reyes refused, Burdick said in the motion filed June 14.

The same day, Lancaster County District Judge Lori Maret authorized the use of force to get it from the man serving a 20- to 25-year sentence for attempted first-degree assault and use of a firearm to commit a felony for pointing a .380 handgun at his cousin and firing once into the air, then twice more in his cousin's direction, in 2012.

Lincoln police said one of the rounds hit an apartment building. Another hit a car.

Reyes later pleaded no contest.

By Monday, state prisons spokeswoman Dawn-Renee Smith said the number of inmates who hadn't provided DNA was down to six.

She said she couldn't provide a list of the inmates' names because the information is related to their conduct in prison and protected by state statute.

Earlier this month, Corrections Director Scott Frakes said he is committed to collecting DNA samples from every incarcerated person to be in full compliance with state statute.

By policy, inmates who have not provided a DNA sample are ordered to submit it monthly and get written up for each refusal. Misconduct reports that result are referred to the institutional disciplinary committee.

Repeated refusals can lead to up to 90 days of lost good time.

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Use of force may be applied to collect DNA samples from inmates ... - Beatrice Daily Sun