US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

297.  (a) (1) The laboratories of the Department of Justice that are
accredited by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors
Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB) or any certifying body
approved by the ASCLD/LAB, and any law enforcement crime laboratory
designated by the Department of Justice that is accredited by the
ASCLD/LAB or any certifying body approved by the ASCLD/LAB, are
authorized to analyze crime scene samples and other samples of known
and unknown origin and to compare and check the forensic
identification profiles, including DNA profiles, of these samples
against available DNA and forensic identification data banks and
databases in order to establish identity and origin of samples for
identification purposes.
   (2) Laboratories, including law enforcement laboratories, that are
accredited by ASCLD/LAB or any certifying body approved by the
ASCLD/LAB that contract with the Department of Justice pursuant to
Section 298.3 are authorized to perform anonymous analysis of
specimens and samples for forensic identification as provided in this
chapter.
   (b) (1) A biological sample obtained from a suspect in a criminal
investigation for the commission of any crime may be analyzed for
forensic identification profiles, including DNA profiles, by the DNA
Laboratory of the Department of Justice or any law enforcement crime
laboratory accredited by the ASCLD/LAB or any certifying body
approved by the ASCLD/LAB and then compared by the Department of
Justice in and between as many cases and investigations as necessary,
and searched against the forensic identification profiles, including
DNA profiles, stored in the files of the Department of Justice DNA
data bank or database or any available data banks or databases as
part of the Department of Justice DNA Database and Data Bank Program.

   (2) The law enforcement investigating agency submitting a
specimen, sample, or print impression to the DNA Laboratory of the
Department of Justice or law enforcement crime laboratory pursuant to
this section shall inform the Department of Justice DNA Laboratory
within two years whether the person remains a suspect in a criminal
investigation.  Upon written notification from a law enforcement
agency that a person is no longer a suspect in a criminal
investigation, the Department of Justice DNA Laboratory shall remove
the suspect sample from its data bank files.  However, any
identification, warrant, arrest, or prosecution based upon a data
bank or database match shall not be invalidated or dismissed due to a
failure to purge or delay in purging records.
   (c) All laboratories, including the Department of Justice DNA
laboratories, contributing DNA profiles for inclusion in California's
DNA Data Bank shall be accredited by the ASCLD/LAB or any certifying
body approved by the ASCLD/LAB.  Additionally, each laboratory shall
submit to the Department of Justice for review the annual report
required by the ASCLD/LAB or any certifying body approved by the
ASCLD/LAB which documents the laboratory's adherence to ASCLD/LAB
standards or the standards of any certifying body approved by the
ASCLD/LAB.  The requirements of this subdivision do not preclude DNA
profiles developed in California from being searched in the National
DNA Database or Data Bank (CODIS).
   (d) Nothing in this section precludes local law enforcement DNA
laboratories from maintaining local forensic databases and data banks
or performing forensic identification analyses, including DNA
profiling, independently from the Department of Justice DNA and
Forensic Identification Data Base and Data Bank Program.
   (e) The limitation on the types of offenses set forth in
subdivision (a) of Section 296 as subject to the collection and
testing procedures of this chapter is for the purpose of facilitating
the administration of this chapter by the Department of Justice, and
shall not be considered cause for dismissing an investigation or
prosecution or reversing a verdict or disposition.
   (f) The detention, arrest, wardship, adjudication, or conviction
of a person based upon a data bank match or database information is
not invalidated if it is determined that the specimens, samples, or
print impressions were obtained or placed or retained in a data bank
or database by mistake.