THE Office of the Attorney General’s criminal division will appeal the trial court’s ruling regarding suppressed DNA evidence in the case against 17-year-old Kenneth Thomas Blas Kaipat who is accused of raping a 24-year-old woman on June 2, 2019.
Superior Court Associate Judge Wesley Bogdan on Aug. 27, 2021 denied the defendant’s motion to suppress as to clothing and one of the DNA samples, but granted it as to the second DNA sample, acting chief prosecutor Chester Hinds said in an email.
“The AG’s office believes the suppressed DNA evidence is crucial to its case and has filed a notice of appeal and will be appealing that order,” Hinds added.
At this time the court has not continued the trial, he said.
“We believe there will be a new trial date, as the DNA issue will be appealed. There are also several more outstanding pre-trial motions that still need to be heard, but there is no official date set for those hearings at this time,” Hinds added.
Kaipat was charged with three counts of sexual assault in the first degree, two counts of sexual assault in the second degree, aggravated assault and battery, assault with a dangerous weapon, strangulation, and burglary.
Represented by attorney Brien Sers Nicholas, Kaipat has asked the court to suppress any evidence seized from the defendant, including DNA evidence that may be used against him at his trial.
Nicholas said the government needed to obtain a search warrant before seizing any saliva samples from Kaipat, but “none was obtained from this court,” he added.
Kaipat’s parents filed two separate affidavits stating that they had not given the police consent to obtain any DNA from their son.
The government, which is represented by Assistant Attorney General Samantha Vickery, stated: “The court should note the unique situation presented by the facts of this case: at the time of the collection of both DNA samples and his clothing, defendant had claimed to be a victim, and the evidence was being collected in the normal course of the investigation as though he was a victim.”
This incident was reported on June 2, 2019, Vickery said.
“Defendant claimed that he was a second victim in this attack and was treated as such. He was taken to the hospital by his parents, as defendant was a minor at the time of the incident. On the same date, June 2, 2019, Crime Scene Technician [or CST] Edward Cepeda Jr. was directed to go to the hospital to take photos of both victims and collect any necessary evidence.”
After taking photos of the victim and Kaipat, Cepeda proceeded to collect Kaipat’s clothing, Vickery said.
“When defendant was released from the hospital on June 2, 2019, he was invited to the Criminal Investigation Division of [the Department of Public Safety] to give his statement. Defendant’s parents consented to this and drove him to the station. Detective Buddy Igitol asked for and received verbal consent from defendant’s mother…to collect defendant’s DNA. CST Edward Cepeda Jr. took a buccal swab from defendant as well as scrapings from the fingernails of both of his hands pursuant to this consent. On June 3, 2019, Detective Igitol met with defendant’s parents again and requested verbal consent to collect a second DNA sample from their son. The mother gave verbal consent. On June 5, 2019, [the parents] brought the defendant to CIB where that DNA sample was collected,” Vickery said.
“Defendant’s clothing was legally obtained and should not be suppressed,” she added.
“Defendant was considered a victim at the time the clothes were collected — it is common practice for police to collect and inventory the clothing of an assault victim at the hospital for evidentiary purposes,” Vickery said.
“Defendant was a minor at the time of the offense, so it is his parents who are responsible for giving consent. Defendant’s parents first gave consent for their son’s DNA to be extracted by Buddy Igitol on June 2, 2019. A buccal swab and fingernail scrapings were collected on that date. The next day, June 3, 2019, Detective Igitol met with both of defendant’s parents and requested consent for a second DNA collection. Defendant’s parents provided verbal consent. The second DNA collection, a buccal swab, was performed on June 5, 2019,” Vickery reiterated.
