The use of DNA evidence is expanding. In a recent case George Varriale v. State of Maryland, the Court of Appeals opinion released on August 11, 2015 held that a person who voluntarily gave a DNA profile which was later found to implicate the Defendant in an earlier unrelated case was an appropriate use of the DNA profile. The Court of Appeals held that the lawful use of the DNA was not limited only to the rape investigation for which the DNA sample was taken.

Accordingly, an earlier case involving a burglary some years prior, the use of the DNA was upheld. In addition the Court of Appeals rejected the Defendant’s contention that his Fourth Amendment rights were violated when his DNA profile was added to a law enforcement data base. The Court held that the State could utilize the sample and had no obligation to obtain before using the sample in another unrelated investigation.