Baltimore Crime Lab Director Fired

Following the revelation that Baltimore crime analysts have been contaminating evidence with their own DNA, the director of Baltimore's crime lab has been fired.

Edgar Koch, who had been the city lab's director for the past decade, was fired Tuesday because of the DNA contamination and other "operational issues," said police spokesman Sterling Clifford...

The problem in Baltimore came to light when a new DNA supervisor in the lab, Rana Santos, began entering employee DNA samples into a database and comparing them against "unknown" genetic profiles found in evidence from crime scenes.

Santos' work has revealed about a dozen instances out of 2,500 in which a previously unknown genetic profile turned out to be that of a lab employee, Clifford said. The analysis is continuing, he said, with more employees' DNA being entered into the database and more unknown samples being re-examined.

Although Clifford has tried to downplay the seriousness of the situation, Baltimore's crime lab is the biggest and busiest in the state, and questions about possibly contaminated evidence have led to overturned convictions in other cities across the country. This is also not the first time the Baltimore lab has been called into question.

Three years ago, (chief of the forensics division at the state public defender's office Patrick) Kent's forensics division launched a campaign against the crime lab's methods of analyzing gunshot residue, tiny particles left behind when a gun is fired. Police practices and disorganization at the lab led to contamination and unreliable gunshot residue test results, Kent said. He said his office is still sifting through years of cases to check for potentially false gunshot residue tests.

Although insufficient funding does not seem to be a contributing factor in the contamination, the potential damage to hundreds of ongoing cases could be disastrous for Baltimore police and public defenders. The fact that similar problems have occurred in other cities across the country suggests the need for stringent national guidelines to be put in place, in order to ensure no conviction is jeopardized by sloppy workplace standards again.

For the full story, click here

Hiatus

As you've probably figured out from the lack of activity here, real life has intervened and made it difficult for me to find time to manage the CLP Forum blog. So for now, it's on hiatus, but we hope to be back at some point in the future. Thanks for your patience and support.

Jan

What Forensic Science Issues Should We Be Concerned About in 2008?

I have my own answers to that question, and I hope you will let me know yours.

Over the next few posts, I'm going to name some of the areas that are of concern, in no particular order, because frankly there are so many to consider it would be hard to rank them.

The essential thing you can do to begin to address any of those concerns is to let your local, state, and federal legislators know that forensic science is important to you. We need to do all we can to ensure that these issues are on their radar.

I especially encourage those of you who work in the fields of forensic science, law, law enforcement, death investigation, missing persons, and other investigative and justice-related professions to let us know what you see as priorities and problems that need to be addressed.

If you want to post here, just let me know. If you need to do that anonymously, you can comment anonymously here, or send a message to me. I can be reached at this address: contact ---- @ ---- crimelabproject.com (Leave out the dashes and spaces.) Please put "CLP Blog" in your subject line.

Jan Burke

What I Want For Christmas

The apprehension and conviction of two murderers.

One, the person who killed Blake (pictured above) and Chynna Dickus in Franklin, Indiana in July, 2006. You can read more about that case here.

If you know anything about that case, please contact Franklin authorities.

The other is the person (perhaps persons) who murdered 23-year-old Cameron Wilson, who was killed in Tehachapi, California on or about April 26, 2007. If you know anything about this case, please contact the Kern County Sheriff's Department. Cameron was the son of my friend Anna. His young son has been left without a father.

These families will be without their loved ones this Christmas. If you can be of any help in these cases, please contact detectives as soon as possible.

The Girl Next Door

On Saturday, December 15. at 8pm, ET/PT, CBS will present "The Girl Next Door", about the use of forensic sculpture to reconstruct the face of a long dead and buried homicide victim, to establish her identity.

The technique, a blend of science and art, was pioneered by Mikhail Gerasimov , in what was then the Soviet Union and has been growing in importance in criminal investigation.

I haven't seen it, but it sounds intriguing.
EJW

Sherlock Holmes and True Crime in the Big City

On Wednesday, December 19th, at 6:30 PM, Mystery Writers of America will sponsor a panel discussion about writing and researching true crime. This free event takes place at the Mid-Manhattan Public Library, 40th Street and 5th Avenue.
The panels includes E.W. Count, Paul La Rosa, Mary-Ann Tyrone Smith , and your correspondant, E.J. Wagner.( I will of course, stress forensic science and the contributions of Sherlock Holmes.)
The moderator is Jane K. Cleland.

Michigan to close labs

A story by Mike Martindale and George Hunter in the Detroit News reports that the state legislature has decided that it will help to remedy its budget woes by closing two of the state's seven crime labs. As the article reports, law enforcement agencies and prosecutors across the state opposed this decision:

"The people who will be affected the most by this, unfortunately, are the victims of crime," said James Langtry, chief of operations for the Macomb Prosecutors Office.

"I would hate to have a rape case where we're in front of a judge and we have to ask for an adjournment because the DNA hasn't gotten back from the lab yet, but I can see that happening. Already there is a six-month wait to process DNA, and this certainly isn't going to help."

Michigan's legislators are practicing a false economy here. Trials will be delayed, jail and investigation costs will rise, and worst of all, the lives and safety of the people of Michigan will be put at risk. Forensic science is not a luxury item. It is an integral part of fair and efficient law enforcement and justice systems.

The legislators should have a long talk with folks in Oregon, where the state still struggles with problems caused when labs there were closed as a budget measure a few years ago. Seen now as a tremendous error in judgment, Oregon also learned that forensic science labs are not light switches that can be turned on and off every time someone wants to save a buck or two.

Experienced forensic scientists, such as the ones who will be losing their jobs in Sterling Heights and Marquette, won't come running back when the state decides it made a mistake. There is a national shortage of firearms examiners and other forensic science specialists. That means that if the state realizes what a boneheaded move this is, and reopens those labs, they'll very likely be asking whoever tries to get them going again to train less experienced workers while coping with the pressures of increasing backlogs. As we have seen again and again, that's a recipe for disaster.

Don't think for a moment that this colossal error will only affect people within Michigan's borders. We've also seen this in other cases. Recently, a delay in processing DNA in Montana delayed the solution of a murder case in Texas. Criminals are capable of travel.

While one reason to support greater federal assistance for labs is that local jurisdictions
may not have the resources they need, we must also make local and state decision-makers aware that forensic science labs should not be easy targets for budget cuts. The thinking is often that only the people who work inside the lab — usually relatively few in number — will make much of a stink about such cuts. As the story in the Detroit News reports:

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard pointed out the decision laid 50 percent of $2 million in budget cuts to a division that accounts for less than 10 percent of the State Police's total budget.

This despite the fact that the move dismays law enforcement:

[Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel said,] "They know the crime lab is the No. 1 support service we request from the State Police."

So if you live in Michigan, show the legislators that these labs aren't friendless. Put yourself in the shoes of the victims and their families who will wait months for answers that could be easily obtained from untested evidence. Think of detectives who will be frustrated because their investigations are stalled by crime lab backlogs. Consider how unsafe your state will be if those criminals who could be caught with the help of forensic science are allowed to go free. Take the few minutes needed to contact your Representative and your State Senator, and tell them Michigan needs all seven of its state crime labs.