People v. Konther

Summary

The California Court of Appeal affirmed Kevin Michael Konther’s convictions and 140-years-to-life sentence for sexual offenses. The published portion of the opinion holds that a defendant has no reasonable expectation of privacy in semen abandoned at a crime scene, and therefore law enforcement’s use of investigative genetic genealogy on that biological material did not violate the Fourth Amendment. The court declined to reach the merits of Konther’s challenge to evidence of uncharged assaults, finding any assumed error harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.

Holdings

1. Police did not conduct a Fourth Amendment search by conducting genetic testing of DNA contained in semen Konther voluntarily abandoned at the scenes of two rapes. Because Konther had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the abandoned property, the warrant requirement was not implicated.
2. Even assuming the trial court erroneously admitted Konther's statements concerning other uncharged assaults, any error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt because the DNA evidence, Konther's admissions concerning the charged rapes, his knowledge of crime-specific facts, and corroborating evidence overwhelmingly established his guilt.

Questions Presented

1. Whether law enforcement conducted a warrantless Fourth Amendment search by using investigative genetic genealogy and genetic testing to analyze DNA contained in semen Konther left at two crime scenes.
2. Whether the trial court's admission of Konther's statements about other uncharged assaults required reversal, including in light of the corpus delicti rule and Evidence Code section 1108.

Disposition

affirmed