Opinion ID: 1057956
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Defendant Transou

Text: Defendant Mack Transou was convicted in 1999 of the Class E felony offense of driving after being declared a motor vehicle habitual offender. See id. §§ 55-10-613(a), 55-10-616(b). The offense date was May 14, 1997. Transou was subsequently incarcerated for his infraction. During intake processing at the prison, Transou signed a consent form and submitted to a blood draw. A DNA analysis was performed and the results were submitted to CODIS. Transou's DNA profile was eventually matched to profiles developed from forensic evidence obtained in two unsolved crimes: the reported rape of S.K. in December 2001 and the reported rape of C.T. in March 2002. Transou was subsequently charged with both sets of offenses. In both cases he filed a motion to suppress the evidence obtained pursuant to the 1999 blood draw taken while he was in prison. [3] The motions were consolidated in the trial court for a single hearing on January 9, 2003. At the suppression hearing, Teresa Patterson, a licensed practical nurse, testified that she had been employed by the Department of Correction to draw blood samples from inmates. She explained the procedure: The first thing we would do as they entered intake would be explain the procedure to all the inmates because there was a consent form to sign. After the inmates sign the consent form, they would be brought into the lab room where the blood would be drawn, labeled at the same exact time, packaged at the exact same time and then sealed. Ms. Patterson identified a consent form bearing her signature dated September 7, 1999. This form also bears Transou's name at the location indicating consent to a blood draw. Ms. Patterson stated that inmates would occasionally object to having their blood drawn and that there was an administrative procedure in place to address those objections. The consent form dated September 7, 1999, and bearing Transou's name was admitted into evidence. It is titled Consent for DNA Analysis and provides, in pertinent part, as follows: I, Mack Transou, understand that I am being requested to allow the health professional to collect a blood specimen as required in statute TCA § 40-35-321, collection of biological specimens for DNA analysispersons convicted of certain offensescondition of release from imprisonment. TCA § 40-35-321 provides that any person convicted of violating or attempting to violate § 39-13-502 (Aggravated Rape), § 39-13-503 (Rape), § 39-13-504 (Aggravated Sexual Battery), § 39-15-505 (Sexual Battery), § 39-13-522 (Rape of a Child), or § 39-15-302 (Incest), must provide a biological specimen for the purpose of DNA analysis. Furthermore, TCA § 40-35-321 provides that any person convicted of any felony offense committed on or after July 1, 1998, must provide a biological specimen for the purpose of DNA analysis. The biological specimen will be forwarded to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation which shall maintain it as provided in § 39-6-113. If a person convicted of violating or attempting to violate § 39-13-502, § 39-13-503, § 39-13-504, § 39-13-505, § 39-13-522, § 39-15-302, or § 40-35-321 [sic], and committed to the custody of the commissioner of correction for a term of imprisonment, does not provide a biological specimen for the purpose of DNA analysis before completion of the person's term of imprisonment, that person may not be released on parole or otherwise unless and until such person provides such a specimen. If an inmate is convicted of a disciplinary offense for refusing to provide a biological specimen, he/she shall forfeit the opportunity to earn behavior sentence credits until such time he/she provides a biological specimen. If applicable, previously earned behavior sentence credits shall not be forfeited. A person refusing to provide a biological specimen may at a later date provide a specimen. For those persons refusing to provide a specimen, a due process hearing shall be provided by the disciplinary board. The consent form contains two alternative signature lines for the inmate: one following the statement By signing this I acknowledge that I understand the above mentioned and the other following the statement I am refusing to participate in the DNA testing process. Transou's signature appears on the first of these lines. Transou testified at the suppression hearing about the circumstances surrounding the blood draw: You know, we was kind of in a rush when we went through there. They just told everybody just go through these forms here and fill them out and sign them. You know, I didn't even take time to read, you know, what I was signing. You just went through there. They had something like six forms. We went through them and signed them, and theythey drawed the blood. Concerning his knowledge about participation in DNA testing, Transou also testified, Technically it was not required when I went through. They just started this back in 2000. On cross-examination, Transou admitted he had been in and out of jail most of his adult life. Consequently, he was very well familiar with the criminal justice system. He was familiar with the law library at the prison and had done research there, even filing motions on his own behalf. Transou identified his signature on two motions he had filed with the court, and on a letter he had sent the court. He acknowledged the importance of reading documents before signing them. He acknowledged previous familiarity with the Consent for DNA Analysis form. He acknowledged having signed the September 1999 Consent for DNA Analysis form, but contended that he did so in order to avoid a disciplinary action. On redirect, Transou maintained that he wasn't given a choice about whether to submit to the blood draw. Connie Howard testified that she is the state administrator for CODIS. She explained that CODIS is a local, state, and national database for DNA profiles developed from forensic evidence collected in criminal investigations and from convicted offender samples. According to Ms. Howard, a sample from Transou collected on September 7, 1999, was submitted to CODIS. The trial court denied Transou's motion to suppress, ruling that at the time he signed the consent form Transou knew the DNA collection statute did not apply to him, and that when considering [Transou's] educational level, his familiarity with the criminal justice system, and his acknowledgment that he was familiar with the consent form he signed on 9/7/99, [Transou] intelligently, knowingly, and voluntarily consented to having his blood drawn. Following the denial of his motions to suppress in both cases, Transou was tried before a jury in each one. In the case involving victim C.T., Transou was convicted of one count of rape and one count of sexual battery. In the case involving victim S.K., Transou was convicted of one count of rape and one count of aggravated burglary. Because Transou contests the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his convictions for the offenses committed against S.K., [4] we set forth the Court of Criminal Appeals' summary of the proof adduced at his trial for these offenses: [5] In the early hours of the morning on December 23, 2001, the victim, [S.K.], awoke to the sound of [Transou] crashing through her bedroom door. [Transou] grabbed her and though the victim fought to push him away, he succeeded in raping her. When the police arrived, they found the victim visibly upset and extremely frightened. Although the victim identified [Transou] at trial, on the morning of the assault she was only able to give investigators a general description of her assailant, including his general age, height, weight, race, and clothing. Police determined that [Transou] had broken in and fled through the victim's back door, as evidenced by the broken glass, cut screen, and damage to the door itself. Investigators were not able to collect any usable fingerprints from the victim's home. The victim was taken to the emergency room, where physicians performed an examination and sexual assault kit. An examination of the sexual assault kit revealed the presence of semen. DNA from semen collected as part of the sexual assault kit was compared with DNA from a sample of [Transou's] blood, and they matched. According to the crime lab technician who testified at trial, the probability that another person besides [Transou] would have the exact DNA profile is one out of a number so large that it exceeds the current world population. Specifically, the crime lab technician testified that, based on the statistics, no person other than [Transou] could have been the source of the semen collected during the physical examination of the victim. Based on this proof the jury convicted Transou of one count of rape of S.K. and one count of aggravated burglary. The trial court subsequently sentenced Transou to concurrent terms of sixteen years and fifteen years of incarceration, respectively.