Opinion
37835.
DECIDED NOVEMBER 4, 1981.
Paternity; constitutional question. Clayton Superior Court. Before Judge Miller.
McAllister Roberts, J. Dunham McAllister, for appellant.
Charles J. Driebe, James E. Thompson, Harry A. Osborne, Arthur K. Bolton, Attorney General, for appellee.
Appellant Raines is a defendant in a suit to determine paternity. See Code Ann. Ch. 74-3. Appellant denied being the father and objected to being ordered to submit to an "HLA" blood test. See Code Ann. § 74-306. Appellant claims that Code Ann. § 74-306 violates the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Art. I, Sec. I, Par. XIII of the Georgia Constitution (Code Ann. § 2-113). The trial court ruled that the aforesaid code section does not violate either the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution or Art. I, Sec. I, Par. XIII of the Georgia Constitution. We affirm.
The section reads, in part, as follows: "As soon as practicable after an action has been brought the court upon motion of the plaintiff, the defendant, or any other interested party, may order the mother, the alleged father, and the child to submit to any blood tests, including human leucocyte antigen (HLA) testing if available, which have been developed or established for purposes of disproving or proving parentage and which are reasonably accessible."
"... nor shall any person ... be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself ..."
"No person shall be compelled to give testimony tending in any manner to incriminate himself."
Requiring appellant to submit to a blood test for the purpose of proving or disproving paternity, pursuant to Code Ann. § 74-306, would not compel appellant to be a witness against himself within the meaning of the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution, Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757, 760-765 ( 86 S.C. 1826, 16 L.Ed.2d 908), nor would such procedure compel him "to give testimony tending in any manner to incriminate himself" within the meaning of the Georgia Constitution. Strong v. State, 231 Ga. 514, 519 ( 202 S.E.2d 428) (1973). Creamer v. State, 229 Ga. 511 ( 192 S.E.2d 350) (1972). Judgment affirmed. All the Justice concur.
See also 21A AmJur2d, Criminal Law, § 948. It is generally recognized that it is not a violation of the privilege against self-incrimination to require submission to blood analysis tests.