Connecticut Supreme Court upholds use of force to obtain inmates' DNA samples
HARTFORD — The Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled that prison officials can use reasonable force to obtain DNA samples from inmates who were convicted of felonies before state law was changed in 2011 to specifically allow such force.
Justices on Monday rejected the appeals of two inmates who challenged the state's authority to take samples of their DNA by force.
The court upheld lower court rulings that said barring the use of force would undermine the 2003 state law requiring all convicted felons in prison to submit a DNA sample for the state's DNA databank, which police use in criminal investigations.
The appeals were filed by former Bristol resident Mark Banks, who was convicted of robbery in 1997, and former Hartford resident Roosevelt Drakes, who was convicted of murder in 2005.
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