East Area Rapist Suspect's Attorney Asks For Cease To DNA Collection
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The defense attorney for the suspected East Area Rapist made a surprising court appearance with her client Wednesday morning, requesting that the court stop law enforcement from collecting any more DNA or pictures of Joseph DeAngelo's private parts.
The judge said won't rule on this motion until Thursday morning. And he'll also consider whether to open sealed search warrant documents for the media.
They are two major decisions experts say can shape this case.
Cameras were not allowed in court, but just like his arraignment, Joseph DeAngelo was rolled in, handcuffed to his wheelchair.
His public defense attorney asked Sacramento Judge Michael Sweet to stop law enforcement from obtaining any more potential evidence from the east area rapist suspect, including the following:
-major case fingerprints
-biological materials (DNA)
- photographs of Joseph DeAngelo's entire body, including his penis.
"That gets kind of intrusive and I can understand why the defense attorney wouldn't want to have that," said Bob Blasier.
Bob Blasier knows all about DNA. He served as OJ Simpson's defense attorney--specializing in forensics.
"Body pictures are a little different because they would want to take him into a room and undress him," he said.
He also says the prosecution may try to use those pictures of his naked body to compare against clues from his alleged attacks forty years ago.
"At this point, it is a bit of a stretch because the crimes were so long ago. He's not likely to have any marks on his body from that many years ago," he said.
That'll be up to the judge to decide.
For now, it's not the only motion he's reviewing. Another motion filed by several print news organizations aims to unseal DeAngelo's arrest warrant and search warrants, obtained by detectives.
"The defendant has a right to a fair trial and if controlling the media is going to guarantee him to get a fair trial those are two rights that conflict with each other," said Blasier.