Innocent Suspects Worry About DNA Sampling

B A T O N  R O U G E, La., June 1 -- While this week's arrest of serial killer suspect Derrick Todd Lee came as a relief to local residents who were afraid to walk the streets alone, there now may be 2,000 men in the Baton Rouge area worried for another reason.

Their DNA was collected voluntarily or by court order during a sweeping dragnet, and now they want to know what police are going to do with it.

Brock Hamlin, a graduate student at Louisiana State University, fit the physical description of the suspect, and, when asked, voluntarily let police test his DNA. He now is angry that the state may keep his results in its DNA databank, and may sue if they do.

"They say, 'Well, you can do us a favor: Just let us swab you,' and I say, 'Well, if I am doing a favor for you, no problem,' " Hamlin said.

"The fact that I am in there, possibly with people who have committed sexual assaults … have murdered people or were suspicious, I am concerned about that," he said.

Concerns Over DNA of the Innocent

Getting a DNA swab from Derrick Todd Lee was key to linking him to the slayings of at least five women in southern Louisiana since September 2001.

Like Hamlin, Lee allowed police to obtain a DNA sample from him as part of their investigation for an unrelated disappearance in the town of Zachary, a suburb of Baton Rouge. Attorney General Richard Ieyoub said Lee did not resist when investigator Danny Mixon asked Lee for a swab for a DNA sample.

After giving the sample, Lee became nervous and fled to Atlanta, where he was later arrested. He was charged with murder and aggravated rape in the killing of Carrie Yoder, 26, a Louisiana State University student who became the serial killer's fifth suspected victim in March. Authorities say DNA evidence removed from her body matched that taken from the other four victims.

But although DNA evidence is an integral part of solving crimes like the Louisiana slayings, Phillip Reilly, a DNA expert and attorney, said there may be implications for people besides those like Hamlin who gave DNA samples.