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Leftwich v. State

The extraction of the defendant's DNA upon his release from incarceration on unrelated charges did not violate his Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights.

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A Fulton County jury found Raleigh Duane Leftwich guilty of rape,1 kidnapping,2 aggravated assault with intent to rape,3 and aggravated assault with intent to rob.4 On appeal, Leftwich argues that the trial court erred by 1 ruling that the seizure of his DNA by prison officials, which led to his arrest for these charges, did not violate his constitutional rights; 2 ruling that the statutes of limitation were properly tolled as to the kidnapping and aggravated assault charges; 3 giving an incorrect statement of law in response to a jury note; and 4 denying his motion for directed verdict on the issue of venue. For the following reasons, we affirm. Viewing the facts in the light most favorable to the verdict,5 on the evening of December 31, 1994, 19-year-old E. C. was abducted at gunpoint from the Lenox Square Mall parking lot. E. C. was forced into a car, blinded with a pair of gold sunglasses with painted-over lenses, and driven to an unknown location, where she was raped. The attacker demanded that E. C. give him her address, and he threatened to kill her and her family if she reported the rape. The attacker returned E. C. to Lenox Mall, and the attacker’s DNA was collected from her in a rape kit. The DNA was not matched to a suspect at that time, but a genetic profile of the attacker’s DNA was added to the Combined DNA Index System database “CODIS” in 1999.

In the meantime, on May 23, 1995, Leftwich was indicted by a Gwinnett County jury on various charges unrelated to the attack on E. C. Leftwich pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to 35 years, with 15 years to serve in prison, followed by 20 years probation, and his judgment of conviction was entered on April 23, 1996.

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