CBS13 interviews Professor Imwinkelried about judge allowing photographs of Golden State Killer suspect

On May 3, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael Sweet entered a new order, over defense objection, in the pending prosecution of Joseph James DeAngelo, the suspected East Area Rapist/Golden State Killer. In part, the order provided the defendant must permit the police to photograph his genitalia.

Later that day, Sacramento’s CBS13 news station interviewed Professor Ed Imwinkelried about the order, and broadcast part of the interview.

In the broadcast portion of the interview, Professor Imwinkelried initially explained that the order did not violate the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. The Supreme Court has limited the scope of the privilege to “testimonial” information and ruled that the privilege does not extend to a subject's physical characteristics.

Professor Imwinkelried added that at this early stage in the prosecution, the issue was whether the photographs could potentially yield relevant evidence. That would be the case, for example, if one or more of the rape victims had reported that during the assault, they noticed that the rapist’s genitalia had some peculiarity. At trial, the photographs could then be used to help establish the defendant’s identity as the perpetrator.

Professor Imwinkelried is the author of a two-volume treatise, Uncharged Misconduct Evidence.