Post by SoulTrainOz on Jun 21, 2006 22:06:28 GMT -5
The Houston crime lab is poised to resume DNA testing, Police Chief Harold Hurtt announced Tuesday, more than three years after the exposure of shoddy DNA work touched off a forensics scandal that cast doubt on evidence in thousands of criminal cases.
"Some of you have been waiting (for years) for this information," Hurtt said at a news briefing with Mayor Bill White, several City Council members and top police officials present. "I know I have been waiting for 2 years."
A national forensic association on Monday awarded accreditation to the Police Department crime lab's DNA division, clearing the way for HPD analysts to perform DNA tests for the first time since that division was closed in December 2002. Accreditation certifies that labs meet minimum standards.
The DNA division was the first to come under scrutiny for flawed analyses and was the only portion of the lab that still remained shuttered after a years-long effort to retrain personnel, retest evidence in hundreds of cases and restore public confidence in the Houston Police Department's ability to accurately process evidence in high-stakes criminal cases.
Convictions challenged
While HPD is prepared to reopen its DNA division, some questions raised by its practices remain unresolved. An independent investigation of the crime lab is ongoing and dozens of cases in which analysts' work was flawed await adjudication. Police officials shut down the DNA division after an audit revealed the use of unqualified personnel, lax protocols and facilities that included a roof that leaked rainwater onto evidence.
Since then, private labs have tested all HPD cases that required DNA analysis and errors have been exposed in the work of other lab divisions, including those that test drugs, body fluids and firearms. 2 men have been released from prison, one after serving more than 17 years for a rape that new forensic tests show he did not commit, and the Legislature has increased the oversight of all crime labs statewide.
During that time, the Police Department has taken internal steps to revamp its crime lab, including hiring a new director and DNA division chief and shuffling personnel so that no one who performed DNA tests when the division was closed remains there. The number of analysts in that division, which includes analysts performing other biological tests, has increased from 9 to 12.
"They have come a long way," said Ralph Keaton, who oversees the accrediting arm of the American Society of Crime Lab Directors, which certified the DNA facility. "There are safeguards, procedures and training in place that certainly was not there three years ago."
Other experts, however, including two who helped expose HPD's problems, caution against viewing accreditation as a guarantee of the quality of a lab's work.
"It's a start and a step up from where they used to be," said Elizabeth Johnson, a California-based, independent DNA analyst. "But almost every lab whose work I look at is accredited and I still see mistakes - from minor to serious - coming out of those labs."
William Thompson, a professor at the University of California-Irvine who reviewed dozens of cases from HPD's crime lab, agreed. He noted that accreditation assures only that minimum standards are met.
"This is not the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval," he said.
One-year accreditation
Unlike a traditional accreditation, which can last for up to five years, the certification that HPD received will expire in one year, Keaton said. It was limited because analysts were performing tests only on mock cases - not working with material from actual cases - at the time they were evaluated. A 2003 Texas law prohibits unaccredited labs from processing evidence.
Michael Bromwich, a former U.S. Justice Department official who has led an independent investigation of the crime lab for more than a year, called earning accreditation an "important milestone" for HPD.
"We wish the new DNA analysts well as they begin working real cases," he said. "The analysts in the rebuilt DNA section can't erase the profound problems of the past, but they have earned this fresh start through dedication and hard work. Now the real challenges begin."
(source: Houston Chronicle)
"Some of you have been waiting (for years) for this information," Hurtt said at a news briefing with Mayor Bill White, several City Council members and top police officials present. "I know I have been waiting for 2 years."
A national forensic association on Monday awarded accreditation to the Police Department crime lab's DNA division, clearing the way for HPD analysts to perform DNA tests for the first time since that division was closed in December 2002. Accreditation certifies that labs meet minimum standards.
The DNA division was the first to come under scrutiny for flawed analyses and was the only portion of the lab that still remained shuttered after a years-long effort to retrain personnel, retest evidence in hundreds of cases and restore public confidence in the Houston Police Department's ability to accurately process evidence in high-stakes criminal cases.
Convictions challenged
While HPD is prepared to reopen its DNA division, some questions raised by its practices remain unresolved. An independent investigation of the crime lab is ongoing and dozens of cases in which analysts' work was flawed await adjudication. Police officials shut down the DNA division after an audit revealed the use of unqualified personnel, lax protocols and facilities that included a roof that leaked rainwater onto evidence.
Since then, private labs have tested all HPD cases that required DNA analysis and errors have been exposed in the work of other lab divisions, including those that test drugs, body fluids and firearms. 2 men have been released from prison, one after serving more than 17 years for a rape that new forensic tests show he did not commit, and the Legislature has increased the oversight of all crime labs statewide.
During that time, the Police Department has taken internal steps to revamp its crime lab, including hiring a new director and DNA division chief and shuffling personnel so that no one who performed DNA tests when the division was closed remains there. The number of analysts in that division, which includes analysts performing other biological tests, has increased from 9 to 12.
"They have come a long way," said Ralph Keaton, who oversees the accrediting arm of the American Society of Crime Lab Directors, which certified the DNA facility. "There are safeguards, procedures and training in place that certainly was not there three years ago."
Other experts, however, including two who helped expose HPD's problems, caution against viewing accreditation as a guarantee of the quality of a lab's work.
"It's a start and a step up from where they used to be," said Elizabeth Johnson, a California-based, independent DNA analyst. "But almost every lab whose work I look at is accredited and I still see mistakes - from minor to serious - coming out of those labs."
William Thompson, a professor at the University of California-Irvine who reviewed dozens of cases from HPD's crime lab, agreed. He noted that accreditation assures only that minimum standards are met.
"This is not the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval," he said.
One-year accreditation
Unlike a traditional accreditation, which can last for up to five years, the certification that HPD received will expire in one year, Keaton said. It was limited because analysts were performing tests only on mock cases - not working with material from actual cases - at the time they were evaluated. A 2003 Texas law prohibits unaccredited labs from processing evidence.
Michael Bromwich, a former U.S. Justice Department official who has led an independent investigation of the crime lab for more than a year, called earning accreditation an "important milestone" for HPD.
"We wish the new DNA analysts well as they begin working real cases," he said. "The analysts in the rebuilt DNA section can't erase the profound problems of the past, but they have earned this fresh start through dedication and hard work. Now the real challenges begin."
(source: Houston Chronicle)