Thursday, May 11, 2006

Fifth Report of the Independent Investigator for the Houston Police Department Crime Laboratory and Property Room /

PDF - http://www.hpdlabinvestigation.org/reports/060511report.pdf
Michael R. Bromwich
"Major issues are defined as "problems that raise significant doubt as to the reliability of the work performed, the validity of the analytical results, or the correctness of the analysts' conclusions."
The report — the fifth since Bromwich and his team of forensic experts were hired by the city early last year — also focuses on what are described as several pervasive problems at the crime lab. Those problems include:
• The failure of serologists and DNA analysts to report reliable results — which in some cases might have helped to prove that suspects were innocent.
• The failure to perform serology testing (blood typing) in the 1980s in cases where there was available evidence that, if tested, might have developed information about whether suspects could have been included or excluded as potential donors of blood evidence.
• Strong evidence of contamination frequently affecting the results of DNA testing.