Attorneys spar over admission of DNA evidence in Walgreens killer case | Courts
An El Paso County judge on Friday ruled that DNA evidence taken from Joshua Johnson, who is accused of killing 17-year-old Riley Whitelaw in a Colorado Springs Walgreens last year, can be used at his upcoming jury trial, despite protests from Johnson’s attorneys.
Defense attorneys representing Johnson filed a motion to suppress all DNA evidence at trial taken from Johnson on the grounds that his Fourth Amendment rights were violated by police after his arrest.
Johnson pleaded not guilty to a first-degree murder charge in the killing of Whitelaw, his co-worker, in a Walgreens breakroom on June 11, 2022. An autopsy report by the El Paso County coroner found Whitelaw had died of “multiple sharp force injuries.”
It was reported after her death that Whitelaw made complaints to her manager about Johnson, who had made her uncomfortable, and requested different hours so she would no longer have to work with him, according to police. However, when Whitelaw asked for additional hours, she was told it would require her to work with Johnson.
Johnson was arrested a day after Whitelaw’s death by Colorado State Patrol while walking along Interstate 25 outside Trinidad.
According to Johnson’s attorney, Deana O’Riley, after Johnson was arrested police took swabs of the injuries on his body and confiscated the clothes he was wearing without a search warrant or verbal consent from Johnson. O’Riley stated that a search warrant wasn’t granted until hours after police had already conducted the DNA swab and confiscated Johnson’s clothes.
Riley Whitelaw
As a result, O’Riley stated that any subsequent DNA samples taken from Johnson should also not be admissible in trial because the initial DNA evidence — that she claims was taken illegally — taints all further DNA evidence taken from Johnson.
“This is a warrantless search, and a violation of the Fourth Amendment,” O’Riley said. “There was a serious violation of Mr. Johnson’s rights.”
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Prosecutor Brent Nelson argued that all DNA evidence taken from Johnson should be admissible in trial, including the evidence taken from officers prior to a search warrant being granted.
Nelson argued that officers were within their right to conduct the search on Johnson and take swabs due to the “visible observations of the officers” and a desire to preserve any evidence on Johnson’s body or clothes.
The prosecution called one witness to the stand during the motions hearing: Colorado Springs detective Steven Aulino, who conducted the interview with Johnson after the arrest. Aulino stated during his testimony that he saw visible scratches and blood on Johnson and his clothing, and in an attempt to preserve an potential evidence he and another Colorado Springs detective took swabs of the visible injuries and blood on Johnson’s body, as well as confiscating his clothes.
The samples taken from Johnson during that interview came back positive with DNA of Whitelaw, Judge Eric Bentley noted at one point during the proceedings.
After hearing arguments from both sides Bentley ruled against the defense’s motion, determining that there was no Fourth Amendment violation by law enforcement and that all DNA acquired can be used at Johnson’s upcoming trial.
“The evidence (the DNA samples taken off Johnson the night he was arrested) was subject to immediate disappearance,” Bentley stated during his ruling. “There was probable cause to arrest Mr. Johnson, and probable cause to believe those swabs would result in evidence of a homicide.”
Johnson is scheduled to begin his trial next month on Sept. 25, but he and his attorneys will return to court prior to that for his pre-trial readiness conference scheduled Sept. 7.
Johnson remains in custody at the El Paso County jail on a $10 million bond, and faces the lone charge of first-degree murder for allegedly killing Whitelaw.
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