Accused subway shooter Frank James says the FBI took DNA swabs and questioned him in lockup without telling his attorneys

• The FBI questioned and took DNA from accused subway shooter Frank James, his lawyers allege.
• His attorneys said they weren't informed first, calling it a violation of James' rights.

Attorneys for Frank James — the 62-year-old man accused of opening fire on a New York City subway train on April 12 — have accused FBI agents of taking his DNA and questioning him in lockup without notifying his lawyers first.

Attorneys Mia Eisner-Grynberg and Deirdre D. von Dornum say that FBI entered James' cell at MDC Brooklyn on April 26, 12 days after he was assigned public defenders, and took multiple cheek swabs.

The attorneys accused the agents of violating James' rights.

"Using a swab on a person's inner cheek in order to obtain DNA evidence is a search, subject to constitutional scrutiny," the attorneys wrote. "Though many understate the nature and extent of the encroachment when a person is subjected to swabbing for DNA, such a procedure is an 'intrusio[n] into the human body' and amounts to 'an invasion of cherished personal security.' "

In a response filed Thursday afternoon, the goverment denied that James was questioned when his DNA was obtained — a process that had already been approved by a judge.

"It is the government's understanding that in the brief period required to take the buccal swab samples, the defendant was not questioned by and made no relevant statements to the law enforcement officers who executed the search warrant," Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ian C. Richardson, Sara K. Winik, and Ellen H. Sise wrote. "The executing law enforcement officers also did not direct the defendant to sign any documents."

Prosecutors allege that James entered a Manhattan-bound N-train in Brooklyn on April 12 wearing a hard hat and construction jacket, deployed a smoke canister, and opened fire — shooting 10 people.

Over a dozen more people were injured in the chaos.

The shooting sparked a city-wide manhunt, which ended with James' arrest on Manhattan's lower east side more than 24 hours later. He was charged with terrorist acts or other violent acts on mass transit — a federal charge that comes with a possible life sentence.

James, who had a history of arrests in New York and New Jersey and made hundreds of unhinged and hate-filled videos on social media, was able to buy the 9mm Glock handgun at an Ohio gun dealer in 2011, police said.