Dragnet for DNA assailed - Louisiana man, ACLU oppose sampling; serial killer hunt defended

BATON ROUGE, La. - Nearly 1,000 men have opened their mouths so police investigators could swab saliva and take cheek scrapings in search of DNA that matches that left behind by a serial killer.

But some of the men have raised concerns that the DNA dragnet is too invasive and puts them in the position of having to submit to the "voluntary" testing or be branded as someone who could have killed four women.

"They could have eliminated me as a suspect in other ways. They didn't have to do that," said Shannon Kohler, the only man whose DNA testing was publicly unveiled after he refused to immediately agree to the swabbing.

Police linked the slayings of three Baton Rouge women in July, saying DNA evidence left at each crime scene matched, setting the city on edge with news of a serial killer. The fear expanded to Lafayette Parish, about 50 miles west of Baton Rouge, when police connected a slaying in December to the same man.

At least 800 Baton Rouge-area men have been swabbed for samples of their genetic information, according to police. Within days after linking the fourth killing, Lafayette Parish Sheriff Mike Neustrom said his department had a list of up to 100 men it intended to ask for DNA samples.

Joe Cook, executive director of the Louisiana American Civil Liberties Union, said Monday that the broad net cast to test men around south Louisiana raises constitutional questions.

"In this case, all these people are assumed guilty until they're proven innocent," Mr. Cook said.

The probable cause to determine whether someone should be approached to offer a DNA sample seems flimsy, often based on anonymous tips or the type of pickup a man drives, Mr. Cook said. Investigators believe the killer may drive a 1990s white truck because of several similar sightings reported in connection to the slayings.

"I don't think that's credible evidence to target someone. It's been proven time and again that this type of targeting is bad police work," Mr. Cook said. In addition, "the people who have come forward would appear to have been coerced."

Mr. Kohler, 44, a Baton Rouge welder, said it was suggested by officers that if he refused to voluntarily take the test, his name could become publicly known in connection to the case.

A warrant was filed in November to force Mr. Kohler to submit to a swabbing. A judge issued the warrant based on a 20-year-old burglary conviction - for which Mr. Kohler received a pardon - and tips from two unnamed people. Mr. Kohler also was targeted because he once worked for a company that had a shop on the street where the cellphone of the killer's first known victim was found.

Lynne Marino, the mother of victim Pam Kinamore, said Mr. Kohler was tested because he openly made comments that investigators were on the wrong track.

"I don't know if they used strong-arm tactics in their methods, but I do know the reason they tested him was because he shot his mouth off about knowing more than what he did," Ms. Marino said. "He made himself suspicious."

At that time, fewer than 15 men had refused to provide DNA samples, "the overwhelming majority being more than eager to be formally eliminated from suspicion," according to the warrant.

Baton Rouge Police Chief Pat Englade said detectives made the warrant public not in retaliation for Mr. Kohler's initial refusal to take the test, but because they believed it would help Mr. Kohler in his efforts to get his genetic information removed from any sort of police files or databases.

A comparison of Mr. Kohler's DNA to the killer's cleared Mr. Kohler. But the warrant offered the first confirmation that widespread DNA tests were being used as a key investigative tool to find the killer.

Defense attorney Jim Boren said he had four clients who willingly submitted DNA samples and were cleared.

"Most of the clients I have dealt with said it's not worth the hassle and exposure to resist it because of the positions that they hold in the community," Mr. Boren said.

Mr. Boren and Mr. Cook said they were contacted about a case in which an employer suspended a man until he agreed to give a DNA sample to police.

"My feeling is, why wouldn't you want to use the quickest method to track this guy down?" Ms. Marino said. "Police have already [pounded] pavement and knocked on doors and haven't found him. I know it's a constitutional right, but I feel like if you have nothing to hide, why would you raise a big stink?"

Lt. Craig Stansbury, with the Lafayette Parish sheriff's office, said police in that area have had no problem with taking DNA samples from the men they've approached.

"Due to the circumstances of the case where this individual can strike again, time is of the essence. If this can save somebody's life, I think the public will have no problems," he said.

Mr. Boren said the tests give police an "incredible amount of information about you that they have no right to."

FBI profilers believe the south Louisiana serial killer is a white male responsible for at least four slayings over 15 months - the killings of Gina Wilson Green, 41; Charlotte Murray Pace, 22; Ms. Kinamore, 44; and Trineisha Dene Colomb, 23. Police are looking at other cases to see whether they are linked.

Interesting. In light of the 3 killings that are proven to be by the same attacker, I would think folks that have nothing to hide would be eager to clear themselves of suspicion. PLUS there was yet another murder that is still being checked to see if it was by the serial suspect...

"I don't think that's credible evidence to target someone. It's been proven time and again that this type of targeting is bad police work," Mr. Cook said. In addition, "the people who have come forward would appear to have been coerced."
Mr. Kohler, 44, a Baton Rouge welder, said it was suggested by officers that if he refused to voluntarily take the test, his name could become publicly known in connection to the case.
A warrant was filed in November to force Mr. Kohler to submit to a swabbing. A judge issued the warrant based on a 20-year-old burglary conviction – for which Mr. Kohler received a pardon – and tips from two unnamed people. Mr. Kohler also was targeted because he once worked for a company that had a shop on the street where the cellphone of the killer's first known victim was found.
"It was either submit or get arrested," Mr. Kohler said.
Lynne Marino, the mother of victim Pam Kinamore, said Mr. Kohler was tested because he openly made comments that investigators were on the wrong track.
"I don't know if they used strong-arm tactics in their methods, but I do know the reason they tested him was because he shot his mouth off about knowing more than what he did," Ms. Marino said. "He made himself suspicious."
At that time, fewer than 15 men had refused to provide DNA samples, "the overwhelming majority being more than eager to be formally eliminated from suspicion," according to the warrant.
Only Mr. Kohler's refusal has become public.

Dragnet for DNA assailed - Louisiana man, ACLU
oppose sampling; serial killer hunt defended

Excerpt:

Mr. Kohler, 44, a Baton Rouge welder, said it was suggested by officers that if he refused to voluntarily take the test, his name could become publicly known in connection to the case.

A warrant was filed in November to force Mr. Kohler to submit to a swabbing. A judge issued the warrant based on a 20-year-old burglary conviction – for which Mr. Kohler received a pardon – and tips from two unnamed people. Mr. Kohler also was targeted because he once worked for a company that had a shop on the street where the cellphone of the killer's first known victim was found.

"It was either submit or get arrested," Mr. Kohler said.

Lynne Marino, the mother of victim Pam Kinamore, said Mr. Kohler was tested because he openly made comments that investigators were on the wrong track.

At that time, fewer than 15 men had refused to provide DNA samples, "the overwhelming majority being more than eager to be formally eliminated from suspicion," according to the warrant.

Only Mr. Kohler's refusal has become public.

Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Louisiana ping list!. . .don't be shy.

Man, they got two of the statist shibboleths in one story:

"I know it's a constitutional right, but I feel like if you have nothing to hide, why would you raise a big stink?"

"Due to the circumstances of the case where this individual can strike again, time is of the essence. If this can save somebody's life, I think the public will have no problems," he said.

Geez, to think he forgot For The Children. I guess the Fifth is dead now too. The police publicly revealing your name as uncooperative because you refuse to give testimony about yourself.

A swabbing of the mouth for dna is not invasive, harmful,does not involve saying anything. If you guys lived where women were being killed like this, four are identified as his victims but there are many many more dead women with no dna to test, you might feel differently. I am sick to death of people "standing on their rights" when families are grieviing and this guy will strike again. This is a murderer and a terrible serial killer. These young women were brutally killed. Their rights were never respected by whoever did this. If anyone is questioned and doesn't willingly let his mouth be swabbed because of his "rights" he is holding up and taking up police time and effort and is a first class shit in my mind. Standing on your right when a very minor inconvenience and no intrusion, a swab on the mouth mucosa is painless and risk free, and would help the police who are there to find this killer, standing on your 'rights' is disgusting. Flame away, I am not coming back to listen to you loonies.

This DNA evidence is permanent and will not be discarded by the authorities. I currently do not have the time to go into a detailed argument about this subject, especially because of the numerous subtltiies involved.

The climate of crime and fear that has been created in the last half-century is not a naturally occuring event. The "rights" of criminals has outweighed the rights of the victims. Why do we have so many mass-murders in recent history?

We are seeing the "solutions" to the problem just beginning to emerge. The answer is more security, something that is but a memory to those who grew up in the '50s.

Is it not even remotely possible that some of solutions we are seeing today are the work of the very people who created the problem. Why should people have to be driven to subjection when they can be convinced to beg for it.

The issues of today a are taking on a very visceral quality. Emotions are being manipulated (look at the Dems reaction to the criticism of Clinton).

Of course, we sympathize with those who have been victimized and are still in harms way. It is easy to be remote when one is remote. But I do not like the feeling of being herded toward the pen.

The state and all who support and worship it are growing increasingly frustrated at the fact that they cannot control everything about everybody. The fact that people are uncontrollable and untrackable irritates them to no end. It's not about solving a crime. It's about being able to monitor and track. There will always be killers, and those killers will elude capture. That's just the way it is.

To drag out the big guns of science and massively screen everybody is just fundamentally, viscerally wrong. Just because the "authorities" (loosely speaking) can do it does not mean they should. It may sound harsh, but people get killed -- always have, always will. Don't cast a net over the herd -- get out there and do good police work. If a member of my family, God forbid, were murdered, I still would not expect people to submit to DNA testing to catch the killer.

Scary thing is, I've heard several acquaintances state that they think DNA swabs at birth are an excellent idea, in order to track people through life. Ironic too, that these same people had relatives die in Auschwitz.

In order for the police to search someone, they must have some individualized suspicion. In this case, a mass swab of 1,000 men in the BR is a general search and strictly forbidden by the 5th amendment.

Your anger is misplaced. It should be directed at the cops who knew for the past several years that 30-40 single women in the BR area had turned up dead but did nothing about it. This investigation is soooo inept, that the best thing Pam Kinamore's mother can do would be to hire a PI.

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