Haskell v. Brown

317 F. Supp. 3d 1095
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedJune 22, 2018
DocketCase No. 09–cv–04779–CRB
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 317 F. Supp. 3d 1095 (Haskell v. Brown) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Haskell v. Brown, 317 F. Supp. 3d 1095 (N.D. Cal. 2018).

Opinion

CHARLES R. BREYER, United States District Judge

In 2014, Defendants brought a Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings, arguing that this case, which challenges California's DNA Act, is foreclosed by Maryland v. King, 569 U.S. 435, 133 S.Ct. 1958, 186 L.Ed.2d 1 (2013). See Mot. (dkt. 151); see also Opp'n (dkt. 159); Reply (dkt. 162); 2014 Mot. Hearing (dkt. 167). The Court did not rule on the motion, however, instead staying the case pending final resolution of a similar challenge to California's DNA Act in state court. See Order Staying Case (dkt. 169). In April of 2018, the California Supreme Court, in People v. Buza, 4 Cal. 5th 658, 230 Cal.Rptr.3d 681, 413 P.3d 1132 (2018), upheld California's DNA Act under both federal and California law as to the felony arrestee in that case. This Court lifted its stay, and sought the parties' views on Buza. See Order Lifting Stay and Directing Briefing (dkt. 170); see also Pls. Br. (dkt. 171); Defs. Br. (dkt. 172); Order Directing Briefing and Setting Hearing *1097(dkt. 173); Pls. Reply (dkt. 175); Defs. Reply (dkt. 176); 2018 Mot. Hearing (dkt. 177). As explained below, the Court now GRANTS Defendant's motion under King and consistent with Buza.

I. BACKGROUND

The Court's December 2009 Order Denying Motion for Preliminary Injunction (dkt. 78) included a lengthy background section, which the Court will not replicate here. In sum, Plaintiffs are individuals who were arrested on felony crimes and whose DNA samples were taken at the station house. FAC (dkt. 56) ¶¶ 13-25. No charges were filed against Plaintiffs Haskell, Ento, or Desai after their arrests. Id. ¶¶ 14, 17, 22. Plaintiffs brought suit in October 2009, alleging that California Penal Code section 296(a)(2)(C), which provides for the mandatory DNA sampling of felony arrestees in California, is an illegal search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment, a violation of their rights to substantive due process under the Fourteenth Amendment, and a violation of their rights to procedural due process under the Fourteenth Amendment. See generally Compl. (dkt. 1). Plaintiffs amended their complaint in December 2009, see generally FAC, and the Court denied Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction that same month, see Order Denying Motion for Preliminary Injunction. A Ninth Circuit panel affirmed. See Haskell v. Harris, 669 F.3d 1049 (9th Cir. 2012).

While this case was pending before an en banc panel, the Supreme Court issued the King decision, upholding Maryland's arrestee DNA law. See generally King, 133 S.Ct. at 1958. The Maryland law authorizes the collection of DNA from individuals "charged with ...a crime of violence or an attempt to commit a crime of violence; or...burglary or an attempt to commit burglary." Id. at 1967. It prohibits law enforcement from processing the DNA sample or placing it into a database without consent until the arrestee is arraigned. Id. And it provides that the sample is to be immediately destroyed if all qualifying charges are later found to be without probable cause, if a criminal action against the individual does not result in conviction, if the conviction is reversed or vacated and no new trial permitted, or if the individual is pardoned. Id. The Supreme Court, rather than limit its discussion to the Maryland law, noted that twenty-eight states "have adopted laws similar to the Maryland Act" and explained that "[a]lthough those statutes vary in their particulars, such as what charges require a DNA sample, their similarity means that this case implicates more than the specific Maryland law." Id. at 1968.

The Supreme Court held that a DNA swab procedure is a search subject to the Fourth Amendment; in analyzing that search, the Court weighed five government interests against the individual arrestees' interest in privacy. Id. at 1970-79. The Court focused primarily on "the need for law enforcement officers in a safe and accurate way to process and identify the persons and possessions they must take into custody," id. at 1970, explaining that " '[i]n every criminal case, it is known and must be known who has been arrested and who is being tried.' " Id. at 1971 (quoting Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial Dist. Court of Nev., Humboldt Cnty., 542 U.S. 177, 191, 124 S.Ct. 2451, 159 L.Ed.2d 292 (2004) ). The Court observed that it "must give great weight both to the significant government interest at stake in the identification of arrestees and to the unmatched potential of DNA identification to serve that interest," and held that, balanced against the "minimal" "intrusion of a cheek swab" and the arrestee's "necessarily...diminished" expectations of privacy, the search was reasonable. Id. at 1977-78. The Court *1098therefore concluded: "When officers make an arrest supported by probable cause to hold for a serious offense and they bring the suspect to the station to be detained in custody, taking and analyzing a cheek swab of the arrestee's DNA is, like fingerprinting and photographing, a legitimate police booking procedure that is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment." Id. at 1980 (emphasis added).

Following King, the Ninth Circuit held that this Court did not err in denying a preliminary injunction on behalf of anyone arrested for, or charged with, a felony. Haskell v. Harris, 745 F.3d 1269, 1271 (9th Cir. 2014) (en banc) (per curium). The Ninth Circuit declined to enter a narrower injunction urged by Plaintiffs, adding that "[i]f plaintiffs believe they're entitled to a preliminary injunction as to a smaller class, they are free to seek it from the district court and we will review it if and when it is presented to us." Haskell

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
317 F. Supp. 3d 1095, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/haskell-v-brown-cand-2018.