Subdivision 1. Preservation. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all appropriate governmental entities shall retain any biological evidence relating to the identification of a defendant used to secure a conviction in a criminal case until expiration of sentence unless earlier disposition is authorized by court order after notice to the defendant and defense counsel. No order for earlier disposition of this evidence shall be issued if the defendant or defense counsel objects.
The governmental entity need retain only the portion of such evidence as was used to obtain an accurate biological sample used to obtain a conviction. If the size of the biological sample requires that it be consumed in analysis, the Minnesota Rules of Criminal Procedure shall apply. If evidence is intentionally destroyed after the filing of a petition under section 590.01, subdivision 1a, the court may impose appropriate sanctions on the responsible party or parties.
Subd. 2. Definition. For purposes of this section, "biological evidence" means:
(1) the samples obtained in a sexual assault examination kit; or
(2) any item that contains blood, semen, hair, saliva, skin, tissue, or other identifiable biological material present on physical evidence or preserved on a slide or swab if such evidence relates to the identification of the defendant.
History:2005 c 136 art 12 s 8