State v. Doe
Decision Date | 03 December 1975 |
Docket Number | No. 7331,7331 |
Citation | 115 N.H. 682,371 A.2d 167 |
Parties | STATE of New Hampshire v. John DOE. |
Court | New Hampshire Supreme Court |
Warren B. Rudman, Atty. Gen., and Robert V. Johnson, II, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Edward N. Damon, Concord, Atty., for the State.
Arthur E. Robbins, and Vincent J. Nardi, II, Concord, for Mr. Doe.
The issue in this case is whether the contents of the affidavit and the evidence presented orally under oath were sufficient to support the issuance of a search warrant to take blood samples, saliva samples, and hair samples from the head and public area of John Doe. A warrant was issued by Keller, C.J., who transferred Doe's objections prior to execution of the warrant.
On May 20, 1975, a twenty-twp-year-old white woman was found dead on a bed in her apartment in Concord. The affidavit and evidence under oath submitted in support of the warrant contain among other facts and circumstances the following: An autopsy was performed and it was determined that death was due to strangulation. John Doe, a black man, admitted to the police that on May 20, 1975, he was living in an adjoining apartment in the same building as the victim and that he knew her and knew that she was living alone. A friend of the victim living in the same building told the affiant that the victim had told her that around May 10, 1975, at about 2 a.m., Doe had come to her apartment and asked her to go to a party with him, and that she declined. Affiant has no reason to believe that this person has any reason to distort what was told to her. A sister of the victim told a police officer that the victim had told her that Doe told her he wanted to see her in the nude and she was 'afraid of a colored guy living next door to her.' Fellow employees of the victim told the police that the victim gave them the impression she was afraid of a black man married to a white woman living near her and who was always hanging around her doors and windows. A person who stated he was a friend of Doe's told the police that a few days before the victim was found dead, he and Doe were watching the victim come out of her apartment and that Doe remarked 'some day I'm going to get me a piece of that white meat.' Doe admitted that he had been drinking on the night of May 19-20 and told the police that he left work at about 12:45 a.m. and was driven to his apartment where he arrived at about 12:50. He said that he work his wife to tell her he heard the victim and her husband fighting. Doe's wife stated that this occurred at 1:05 a.m., after previously having stated that it had been at 1:30 a.m. She also stated she had not heard any sounds of fighting.
Stains on the pillow on which the victim's head rested, on testing, were found to be type A blood. Seminal stains on a towel revealed that the subject was a secreter and had type AB or B blood. The affiant on May 21, 1975, found fingerprints on the outside window in front of the victim's apartment which were partly smudged and in a position which indicated the person had slid the window open. These were found to match the fingerprints of Doe who could not successfully explain how his prints got on the window. Several hairs were found on the sheets of the bed where the victim was found, and one on her abdomen and one on her left hand. Laboratory tests showed all these hairs to be of Negroid origin. All other black men living in the apartment house consented to give samples of their blood, hair and saliva. The victim's husband took a polygraph test given by a reliable and qualified operator who determined that he was being truthful when he denied causing the death of his wife. The position of the clothing around the victim's neck and the presence of fresh scratch and abrasion marks on her neck formed the basis of the affiant's opinion that the killer did not have short fingernails. The victim's husband's fingernails on May 20 were short, while Doe's, which were examined several days later, were slightly longer than normal.
Before issuing the warrant, the trial justice heard sworn testimony of the affiant with regard to the credibility of the persons named in the affidavit who had given information, and of the captain in charge of the State Police Criminal Laboratory, who testified as to the competency and reliability of the persons who performed the various tests and as to the importance of obtaining samples from Doe to either rule him out as a suspect or establish a relationship or consistency with the items and materials found at the scene.
At a later hearing before the issuance of the warrant, the justice heard evidence from the same captain and from a doctor at the New Hampshire Hospital as to the manner in which the samples would be taken and the amount thereof. This testimony revealed that there would be no pain involved in taking the hair or saliva samples and the blood sample would be less than that required for a blood alcohol test. The evidence given under oath before the warrant was issued may, of course, be considered along with that contained in the affidavit. State v. Titus, 107 N.H. 215, 220 A.2d 154 (1966); State v. Salsman, 112 N.H 138, 290 A.2d 618 (1972); State v. Moreau, 113 N.H. 303, 306 A.2d 764 (1973).
The warrant provides that the samples shall be taken at the New Hampshire Hospital and prescribes the quentities to be taken, that the blood shall be taken under the supervision of a named doctor, and that the hair and saliva samples shall be taken by the captain of the crime laboratory. It further provides that Doe shall be detained only during the time necessary to transport him to and from the hospital and not over two hours at the hospital.
We begin by disposing of any claim that the evidence with respect to the informers was insufficient to establish the reliability of their information or their credibility. The identity of each person giving information was disclosed by name in the affidavit, their relationship to the victim and Doe was set forth, the employment of some was given, and the absence of any circumstances which would suggest the presence of any motivation to falsify was asserted. The...
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