Ann Arbor resident Blair Shelton was boarding a bus in 1994 when local police stopped him and asked for proof that he had submitted a DNA sample to officials as part of a serial rapist investigation.
Blair said he felt like he "wasn't even in the United States" because the police singled him out to due his race.
Three years later, the Michigan State Police have announced that they will no longer keep DNA records of suspects who have been cleared of wrongdoing in criminal investigations - and Shelton, who was stopped by police nine times during the search for the Ann Arbor rapist, couldn't be more pleased about the decision.
"How does that make me feel? Great," Shelton said, noting that the actions of local police reminded him of the way black citizens used to be treated in apartheid South Africa.
Shelton filed a civil suit with Washtenaw County Circuit Court in April 1995, claiming that law enforcement officials had trampled on his constitutional rights by repeatedly questioning him and demanding the return of his DNA records.
About a year later, Washtenaw County Judge Kurtis Wilder ordered the Michigan State Police to turn over all of Shelton's DNA records. The state police appealed the decision before the Michigan Supreme Court, which upheld Wilder's decision, according to Richard Lowthian, director of forensic science for the Michigan State Police.
Lowthian said state police did not want to turn over Shelton's samples because they are required to keep all blood samples of potential suspects as part of their "standards for accreditation."
Michael Steinberg, Shelton's lawyer and legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union in Michigan, said his client's request that DNA samples be returned was based on a state law that says police cannot keep DNA records of innocent people.
During the search for serial rapist Earvin Mitchell, who was identified in 1994, police took blood samples from more than 160 black men who were seen in the Ann Arbor area, Steinberg said.
Steinberg said his client was coerced into giving a blood sample, and that a high reward and other factors contributed to an investigation that got out of control.
"Police (practiced) a policy of trying to obtain as many blood samples from DNA testing as they could," Steinberg said.
Shelton referred to the investigation as "out of control, in terms of hysteria" and said he lost a job because police came to his workplace and told his employers that he was a suspect in the investigation.
Steinberg said police had little description of the suspect besides the fact that he was black.
Steinberg said several Law students from the University's chapter of the Lawyer's Guild assisted him with the case.
"There were a number of students that helped while things were still going on," he said.
Lowthian said his office is not pleased about having to turn over the DNA records, but will comply with the ruling.
"Although we're not happy with the decision to give up our business records, we don't have any choice," Lowthian said. "The court has ordered it, we have no more appeals. We've exhausted our appeals so we will comply."
The Michigan State Police Crime Laboratory plans to send letters in the next few weeks to each of the men who contributed blood samples, giving them the option of either having their records returned or destroyed.
11-21-97
| Previous Article | Next Article |
should be sent to: daily.letters@umich.edu | should be sent to: online.daily@umich.edu |