RaquinMercer LLC In The News
The Daily Record Announces 2022 Leaders in Law
TDR News – April 8th, 2022
In 2014, Isabelle Raquin began working with the Montgomery County Adult Drug Court Program, a voluntary treatment program designed to reduced recidivism for adult offenders suffering from drug and alcohol dependence. Three years later, Raquin started her private practice, RaquinMercer LLC, and the Drug Court program asked her to continue working with the program in an attorney liaison position…
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Isabelle Raquin interviewed by France TF1 National News
TFI News – January 2021
Isabelle Raquin interviewed by France TF1 News about former President Trump’s legal entanglements
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Steve Mercer interviewed by Judge Alexander Williams, Jr.
Perspectives On Justice – January 2021
Steve Mercer interviewed by Judge Alexander Williams, Jr. on Post Conviction – Expungement, Pardons, Commuting Sentences.
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Special Announcement
RaquinMercer LLC – December 2020
RaquinMercer is pleased to announce its newest association: the Honorable Gary E. Bair, recently retired from the Circuit Court for Montgomery County Maryland, is joining RaquinMercer as Of Counsel.
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Washingtonian : Washington DC’s Top Lawyers.
Washingtonian Magazine – December 2020
Isabelle Raquin is featured in the Washingtonian Magazine’s top criminal defense lawyers for 2020. Every other year, the Washingtonian Magazine endeavors to compile a list of the best legal talent in the Washington, D.C. region. This year, RaquinMercer’s Isabelle Raquin joins the list of prominent Washington and Maryland lawyers. She is truly a top choice for your criminal defense representation in Maryland.
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Ethics and Privacy Risks in DNA Familial Searches
DC Bar Magazine – October 2018
“To Catch A Criminal Amateur genealogists use popular genealogy websites such as MyHeritage, 23andMe, and Ancestry to sleuth out familial DNA matches, unearthing connections to long-lost…”
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DNA & Crime Fighting: Science of Sleuthing
Full Measure News – October 21, 2018“When a notorious serial killer was arrested earlier this year thanks to the DNA of a relative… it opened the door to a sea change in crime fighting…”
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Why Private DNA Databanks are the Next Big Privacy Battleground
NBC News: Think – May 22, 2018
“Your DNA is the Next Big Privacy Battleground Are we on the verge of another Cambridge Analytica-type meltdown? Lawyer Stephen Mercer thinks so…”
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Signing up for 23andMe? You Might be Exposing Your Family to the FBI
KUOW.ORG 94.9 – May 3, 2018
“The Golden State Killer’s arrest last week brought closure to victims and community members affected by a ten year spree of rapes and murder. The trail went cold in 1986…”
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A DNA Database Helped Find A Suspected Serial Killer. How Is Your Privacy Affected?
WBUR On Point – May 3, 2018
“More than a million Americans are sharing their DNA with ancestry websites. That helped the cops find the Golden State Killer. Good police work, but troubling implications for privacy…”
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Baltimore to Pay Largest Settlement in City History
Pro Publica – May 2, 2018
“Owens’ steadfastness “paid a large dividend here,” Mercer said. “He was willing to go to trial and risk it all and only settled when there was a number that speaks loudly to his…”
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DNA Familial Searching
Vox: Today, Explained – May 1, 2018
“Sean Rameswaram talks with Steve Mercer about the DNA familial searching in the Golden State Killer case opening Pandora’s box.”
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Golden State Killer Case
FOX5 DC – April 27, 2018
“The Golden State Killer Case Raises Privacy Concerns About DNA Submitted to Genealogy Websites Steve Mercer interviewed by FOX5 DC. WASHINGTON… “
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In Hunt For Golden State Killer, Investigators Uploaded His DNA To Genealogy Site
NPR: The Two-Way – April 27, 2018
“As they sought a breakthrough in the cold case of the man known as the Golden State Killer…”
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Use of DNA in Serial Killer Probe Sparks Privacy Concerns
Winston-Salem Journal – April 27, 2018
“SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Investigators who used a genealogical website to find the ex-policeman they believe is a shadowy serial killer and rapist who terrified…”
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When the Only Way to Go Free is to Plead Guilty
Vox & Pro Publica – February 21,2018
“A Baltimore case shows just how far prosecutors will go to keep a win on the books. In 1987, police detectives — who’d later be made famous by David Simon, creator of The Wire…”
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The Case of James Owens of Baltimore, MD
The Atlantic – September 7, 2017
“Having been convicted really defines who you are—it becomes itself a prison,” Mercer said. “Once out, with a conviction still on your shoulders, having maintained your innocence…”
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A Not So Perfect Match
CBS: 60 Minutes – March 23, 2007
“…Stephen Mercer disagrees. “Of course they’re gonna come up with analogies that seem to do away with any sense of wrongdoing or any sense of violation of privacy…”
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Stop and Spit : VICE News Tonight on HBO
HBO: Vice News – November 18, 2016
Featured on HBO’s VICE News, Steve Mercer was featured as Antonia Hylton visits one police department where collecting genetic information has become routine.
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Scrooge Comes to Prince George’s County
The Washington Post – December 25, 2015
“Juvenile courts have become real-life Scrooges to young adults trying to turn their lives around after troubled childhoods. The courts are imposing unnecessary…”
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Family DNA Searches Seen as Crime-Solving Tool, and Intrusion on Rights
New York Times – January 27,2017
“The leads have dried up in the killing of a young woman in Queens during a jog last summer. Tips about potential suspects have gone nowhere…”
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The Freedom Plea: How Prosecutors Deny Exonerations by Dangling the Prison Keys
Pro Publica – September 7,2017
“Baltimore men, yet prosecutors would only let them go if they agreed to controversial plea deals. Despite new evidence undermining the…”
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FBI Notifies Crime Labs of Errors Used in DNA Match Calculations Since 1999
The Washington Post – May 29,2015
“The FBI has notified crime labs across the country that it has discovered errors in data used by forensic scientists in thousands of cases to calculate the chances that DNA…”
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The “Grim Sleeper” is Winning Over Skeptics
Los Angeles Times – October 25, 2015
“The Controversial DNA Search that helped nab the “Grim Sleeper.” He roamed the streets of Sacramento for six years, raping women as they walked to work or headed home…”
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Pros & Cons of High-Tech DNA Forensics
Scientific American – March 1, 2013
“A new technique that searches DNA databases has generated controversy because it can draw innocent people into criminal investigations. A number of law enforcement…”
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Forensic Genealogy
AZCentral – September 15, 2016
“How Forensic Genealogy Led to an Arrest in the Phoenix ‘Canal Killer’ Case The man accused in Phoenix’s “Canal Killer” case may have his ancestors to blame for his 2015 arrest…”
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Policing DNA, Digital Government, “Super Gang” Trial
The Takeaway – September 15, 2016
“The Controversial DNA Search that helped nab the “Grim Sleeper.” He roamed the streets of Sacramento for six years, raping women as they walked to work or headed home from…”
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Familial DNA Testing
PBS: R&E – May 16, 2008
“The practice of “familial searching” is causing a conflict between solving crimes and protecting privacy. Police can now take DNA from a crime scene and compare it to millions of DNA…”
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