Juvenile Adjudication for a Gross Misdemeanor “Arising out of the same set of circumstances” as a charged felony authorizes submission of DNA Exemplar.

In the Matter of the Welfare of:  M.L.M., Minn.Ct.App., 4/20/10.  M.L.M. stole enough clothes from an unnamed department store to get herself charged in juvenile court with a felony.  In juvenile court, she admitted to an amended gross misdemeanor theft offense; the juvenile court adjudicated her and ordered her to submit to a DNA test.  She objected, saying that requiring a DNA test when she was not adjudicated of a felony was a violation of the Fourth Amendment (and Article 10 of the state constitution) and a violation of equal protection. 

This question, applied to adults, is currently before the Minnesota Supreme Court, State v. Johnson, 777 N.W.2d 767 (Minn. 2010), reviewed granted, 4/20/2010.  I wrote about the court of appeals opinion here.  For much the same reasons, the appellate court finds no fourth amendment or section 10 violation by requiring a juvenile who has been adjudicated of a gross misdemeanor arising out of the original felony offense to submit to a DNA exemplar.  The appellate court goes on to reject an equal protection claim, applying a rational basis standard of review.