SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - A sexual assault victim whose DNA was used to link her to a crime can proceed with her lawsuit against the San Francisco Police Department, a federal magistrate judge has decided.
Judge Alex Tse ruled on July 20 to deny the defendants' motion to dismiss the lawsuit of a woman known as Jane Doe in court papers. He found she has stated a Fourth Amendment claim for which qualified immunity for the defendants doesn't apply.
That alleged Fourth Amendment violation is that the use of her DNA exceeded the scope of the consent given. She agreed in 2016 to give a DNA sample in order for the SFPD to investigate her sexual assault.
She claims the San Francisco Police Department maintained her DNA in its database for more than six years and routinely ran crime scene evidence, including her DNA, through the database without her consent.
Doe further claims her DNA was "likely tested" in thousands of criminal investigations even though the department had no reason to believe she was connected to any of the unrelated crime scenes.
She alleges the San Francisco Police Department's actions were an unconstitutional invasion of privacy and resulted in her being unlawfully arrested on allegations of burglary in December of 2021, for which charges were eventually dropped.
She claims she has suffered emotional distress, a loss of sense of security, dignity and pride as a result of the defendants' violation of her constitutional rights.