Coleman v. Bradshaw

Filing 194

DECISION AND ORDER - Petitioner's Motion to Compel National CODIS Run of DNA Profile (Doc. No. 182) is denied. Signed by Magistrate Judge Michael R Merz on 5/19/2011. (kpf1)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO
WESTERN DIVISION AT DAYTON
TIMOTHY L. COLEMAN,
:
Petitioner,

Case No. 3:03-cv-299
:

District Judge Edmund A. Sargus, Jr.
Magistrate Judge Michael R. Merz

-vsMARGARET BRADSHAW, Warden,
:
Respondent.

DECISION AND ORDER

This capital habeas corpus case is before the Court on Petitioner’s Motion to Compel
National CODIS Run of DNA Profile (Doc. No. 182). Petitioner notes that on January 3, 2008, this
Court ordered the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification (“BCI”) to run DNA samples relevant to
this case in the national data base (Doc. No. 144). However, when BCI filed its Notice of
Compliance, it reported it was unable to conduct a national search because that capacity is controlled
by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Petitioner seeks an order compelling BCI to run a national
search.
BCI has responded that the Motion seeks an unavailable remedy because “BCI does not have
the ability or legal authority to conduct manual keyboard searches of NDIS.” (Memo in Opp., Doc.
No. 186, PageID 2206.) It further claims the request is moot because it has asked the FBI to run the
search and the FBI has denied the request. Id. Attached as Exhibit B to the BCI Memo is an email
from the FBI Laboratory explaining that the request could not be performed “because your request

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does not meet the criteria established for performing NDIS searches. Specifically, the profile does
not meet the minimum number of loci for searching.”
Petitioner responds (Doc. No. 188) that BCI could have made the submission to the FBI
sufficient by a process called “deduction.” Furthermore, Petitioner says, the FBI has given no
adequate explanation of why it requires a minimum of seven loci. Petitioner asserts “[t]he FBI, for
purposes of their own investigation, would surely run a keyboard search on less than seven (7) loci.
In fact, undersigned has heard from a DNA expert that the FBI has run profiles with less than seven
(7) loci.” Id. PageID 2217.
The Motion to Compel is denied. Petitioner offers no scientific authority for the “deduction”
process and it is certainly not something of which judicial notice can be taken. Petitioner offers no
evidence for the proposition that the FBI would do a search on as few loci as were submitted and
the unattributed hearsay testimony of an “expert” is not acceptable evidence for determining that the
FBI is somehow inappropriately responding to this case.
May 19, 2011.
s/ Michael R. Merz
United States Magistrate Judge

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