By Philip P. Pan, Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 30, 1998; Page A01
Prince George's County police are asking every man they interview in connection with the rape and slaying of a popular hospital nursing administrator to provide saliva samples for DNA testing and submit to fingerprinting, and authorities say they plan to ask all 400 male hospital employees to do the same, if necessary.
The apparently unprecedented request in a police investigation in this country has prompted complaints from employees that their rights are being violated and that detectives say the submissions are voluntary but are threatening men with possible court orders if they do not comply.
"The police are resorting to a dragnet search here, which is exactly the kind of technique the Fourth Amendment was written to outlaw," said Art Spitzer, legal director of the Washington area's chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, who was notified of the procedure by an upset hospital employee. "That's not the way law enforcement is supposed to work in this country, rounding up everybody on the theory that one of them must be guilty.
"That's equally true whether you're talking about searching everybody's house or everybody's saliva," Spitzer said. "People have a right to go about their lives without interference from the police unless there are facts that focus suspicion on them."
Police spokesman Royce Holloway said detectives are asking every man they interview -- about 50 so far -- to voluntarily provide fingerprint and saliva samples to help them narrow the pool of possible suspects in the Jan. 13 strangulation slaying of Sherry Crandell, 50, in her office at Prince George's Hospital Center.
Holloway said investigators have not concluded that an employee committed the crime. But he said they hoped to obtain samples from every male employee, as well as some patients, and compare them to fingerprints found at the scene and DNA evidence obtained from Crandell's body. None of the men asked for samples has refused, police said.
Holloway also said that people who refuse to cooperate would not immediately be classified as suspects but that "the information they supply would certainly be under scrutiny."
Although most states maintain DNA databases of people convicted of crimes, Spitzer said he was only aware of police in Britain using widespread DNA testing to solve crimes. There have been three highly publicized investigations in Britain that have utilized DNA samples of large groups of people -- usually individuals who lived close to a crime scene -- to identify a suspect.
DNA samples also have been taken selectively in cases to determine whether certain suspects match DNA evidence found at a crime scene. Police also have used DNA testing of small groups of people to rule out suspects and focus an investigation.
Spitzer said that he would be "surprised if some police chief or sheriff in the U.S. hasn't had this bright idea before" but that he didn't know of any.
Detectives began their interviews with people who would have had easy access to Crandell's fourth-floor office, including janitors and maintenance workers, police said.
Spitzer said that detectives are free to ask for fingerprint and saliva samples but that they should make it clear that compliance is voluntary.
The Maryland State Police crime laboratory is conducting the DNA tests and will cover the costs, but it was unclear yesterday how expensive the process will be, Holloway said. He also said he expects the samples to be destroyed after the investigation is complete, but that would be up to the state crime lab.
Veronica Turner, president of a hospital union that represents about 900 housekeepers, maintenance workers, dietitians and other workers, said several men have complained that they are being bullied into providing the samples.
She said some of the men were worried that blacks were being singled out for special scrutiny -- hospital officials confirmed that most of its employees are black -- and others accused detectives of threatening to tell hospital management if they did not cooperate.
"I've heard people who are frightened to do this. They feel this is against their will, that they're innocent and shouldn't have to do all of this," said Turner, who declined to name any of the men to protect their privacy. "They're upset. They're scared and frightened."
Turner said she is not yet objecting to the process but intends to monitor it closely to ensure her employees know their rights.
She said she spoke with a detective about the complaints. "The detectives said they we're going to get them one way or another, and I didn't like that threat," Turner said.
The ACLU and the police agreed that a blanket court order to compel all men to provide samples would be all but impossible to obtain. Spitzer said police would need to show probable cause sufficient to convince a judge that each particular individual is a suspect.
Holloway denied that detectives are trying to intimidate employees into providing the samples and said such behavior would be improper.
"To my knowledge, I don't feel any detectives are making any threats, explicit or implied," he said. "To solve a crime, detectives are not going to break the law or threaten anyone with any retribution for not cooperating."
Lisa Schiller, a hospital spokeswoman, said the hospital would not punish employees who refused to cooperate. "As far as we know, it's voluntary," she said. "We're hoping everybody cooperates because we want Sherry's murderer caught, but [the conduct of the probe] is up to the police."
The hospital, its staff and police are offering a $26,000 reward in the case. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Solvers at 301-735-1111.
© Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company