Lab tech allegedly faked result in drug case; 7,827 criminal cases now in question

[bananas]

Source: NJ.com

A lab technician for the State Police allegedly faked results in a drug case, and has drawn into question 7,827 criminal cases on which he worked, according to state officials.

Kamalkant Shah worked as a laboratory technician for the State Police laboratory in Little Falls and was found to have "dry labbed" suspected marijuana, according to a Feb. 29 memo to Public Defender Joseph Krakora from Deputy Public Defender Judy Fallon. Shah's essentially accused of making up data.

"Basically, he was observed writing 'test results' for suspected marijuana that was never tested," Fallon said in the memo.

The memo was released Tuesday on the New Jersey Municipal Court Law Update Service's website.

Shah was removed from lab work on Dec. 10 as soon as the problem was discovered, said Peter Aseltine, spokesman for the Office of the Attorney General. Shah, who received a salary of $101,039, was suspended without pay effective Jan 12, he said.

Shah has not been charged with any crime, and is believed to have retired, Aseltine said.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.nj.com/passaic-county/index.ssf/2016/03/state_police_lab_tech_allegedly_faked_results_in_p.html

[rpannier]

1. Retired...

I'd like to think that's a cutsey euphemism for saying he's going to jail
But, we all know he's not and likely won't

[Judi Lynn]

2. You may recall this happened in Houston, as well:

Probe finds crime lab faked results in 4 cases

Crime lab faked results in 4 cases, probe finds
The allegations — the first aimed at HPD's drug unit — could be the harshest yet

ROMA KHANNA and STEVE MCVICKER, Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Published 5:30 am, Wednesday, June 1, 2005

Houston Police Department crime lab analysts fabricated findings in at least four drug cases, an independent investigator reported Tuesday, including one in which a scientist performed no tests before issuing conclusions that supported a police officer's suspicions. The allegations of so-called "drylabbing" — concocting results without conducting analyses — may be among the most serious leveled thus far in the more than two years since the crime lab came under scrutiny.

The report, released Tuesday, also casts doubt, for the first time, on the laboratory's largest division, controlled substances, which tests substances suspected of being drugs and performs about 75 percent of HPD's forensics work. The latest problems bring to five the number of crime lab disciplines where errors have been exposed — including DNA, toxicology, ballistics and the blood-typing science of serology.

" 'Drylabbing' is the most egregious form of scientific misconduct that can occur in a forensic laboratory," Michael Bromwich, a former U.S. Justice Department official leading an investigation of the HPD lab, wrote in the report.

"In the crime lab, the instances of drylabbing took the form of controlled substances analysts creating false documentation intended to reflect analytical procedures that were never performed."

More:
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Probe-finds-crime-lab-faked-results-in-4-cases-1494739.php

[center]~ ~ ~[/center]

Scores of cases affected after HPD crime lab analyst ousted

Investigation finds evidence of lying, tampering by tech
By Brian Rogers |
June 18, 2014 | Updated: June 19, 2014 2:10pm

Scores of pending criminal cases and past convictions could be in jeopardy in the wake of revelations that a former Houston Police crime lab technician resigned after an internal investigation found evidence of lying, improper procedure and tampering with an official record.

Former DNA lab technician Peter Lentz worked on 185 criminal cases, including 51 murders or capital murders, according to letters sent out by the Harris County District Attorney's Office and obtained by the Houston Chronicle through an open records request.

"It's a mess," said Gerald Bourque, an attorney who has several cases in which Lentz tested the DNA evidence, including two capital murder cases, one of which went to trial earlier this year. "If you're not following protocol, there's potential for contamination, transference, all kinds of stuff."

This is the latest in a series of problems to surface in recent months at HPD. A city-commissioned study showed the department failed to investigate 20,000 crimes with workable leads.

More:
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Scores-of-cases-affected-after-HPD-Crime-Lab-5562835.php

[bananas]

3. And Massachusetts

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-crimelab-massachusetts-idUSBREA231XL20140304

World | Tue Mar 4, 2014 2:07pm EST

Massachusetts crime lab tech who faked drug tests was sole 'bad actor': state

BOSTON | By Scott Malone

A former Massachusetts state crime-lab chemist who admitted to faking drug test results was the sole "bad actor" at the facility, but lax management allowed her to carry on for nine years, an official review released on Tuesday concluded.

In a case that shook the foundations of the state's criminal justice system, chemist Annie Dookhan last year acknowledged faking tests on evidence in drug cases involving some 40,000 people from 2002 to 2011.

More than 300 people convicted of drug violations have been released from prison as a result.

A review by the state's Inspector General found that there had been warning signs throughout Dookhan's tenure at the Boston lab, which is now closed. In her first two years on the job, she tested more than 8,000 samples a year, more than double her next-most productive colleague.

<snip>

[Gungnir]

4. and Minnesota

Source: MPR

July 2012

The problems at the crime lab, acknowledged by lab employees in court testimony last week, have thrown thousands of past and pending cases into question. The St. Paul Police Department crime lab provided drug testing for the Minnesota State Patrol and law enforcement in Dakota, Washington and Ramsey Counties. People currently facing charges of drug possession could receive lesser sentences as prosecutors and defense attorneys look for ways to resolve cases.

...
The legal fallout could also reach far beyond the Twin Cities. Stuart, the state public defender, said his attorneys will investigate other crime labs in Minnesota to look for similar problems. There are about 20 crime labs in Minnesota, Stuart said, and most are not accredited.

See main story for links to these stories:
• Senior police officials knew of lab problems
• St. Paul police chief vows changes
• Drug testing suspended at crime lab
• No written procedures for drug lab testing
• Crime lab under scrutiny in drug case
• Mother guilty of killing baby wins appeal
• Ramsey County medical examiner under investigation

http://www.mprnews.org/story/2012/07/26/law/crime-lab-legal-fallout

1) RICO charges against senior police officials who knew of problems, the DAs for knowingly using unaccredited labs, lab employees for making sh*t up. RICO? see: RICO a powerful tool in APS test-cheating case
2) Unaccredited labs and unwritten procedures for drug testing??? Why didn't defense attorneys know this??? Should be one of the very first things the DA has to present is current accreditation. Do any of the police officers have their license? Did the DA ever actually get a law degree? Anybody checking the first boxes on the list???

[killbotfactory]

5. Fraud committed by authority figures sums up a lot of human history. nt

[NBachers]

7. And San Francisco- Twice, that we know of -

Former SF Crime Lab Technician Sentenced For Cocaine Possession Madden’s actions and other problems at the laboratory led to the temporary closure of the drug analysis unit and the district attorney’s dismissal of hundreds of criminal cases that depended on evidence analyzed there.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Caputo, who said that more 700 cases were dismissed, unsuccessfully argued that that factor and the need for deterrence would justify a prison sentence.

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2013/07/19/former-sf-crime-lab-technician-sentenced-for-cocaine-possession/

And now it's happening again!
WHISTLEBLOWER: SAN FRANCISCO CRIME LAB SCANDAL DATES BACK YEARS The San Francisco police crime-lab technician and a supervisor implicated in alleged misconduct that could jeopardize hundreds of criminal cases failed a DNA proficiency exam last year and were barred from processing evidence, documents show.

It’s the latest embarrassment for the crime lab, where the 2010 theft of cocaine evidence by a drug-tester ultimately led to the dismissal of 1,700 criminal cases on which she had worked.

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Technician-boss-in-S-F-police-lab-scandal-6169230.php

[Democat]

6. This person should be in jail for a long time

If you kidnap one person, you go to jail.

If you potentially send seven thousand innocent people to jail, nothing happens?

[unc70]

8. Not just drugs in NC

SBI lab results of all types in all types of cases, including murder.

[Gregorian]

9. Isn't this what the drug war was all about?

Just put the fuckers in jail because it's hugely profitable. Plus, hippies and pot smokers never put up a fight. Easy targets, easy profits, keep the liberals from voting. Easy peasy.

Isn't capitalism fun?

[NCjack]

10. Only a foolish or poor defendant would accept a prosecutor's drug report from a police lab.

Budgets are now so sparse that police labs are not adequately staffed, equipment is worn, there is insufficient time to train technicians to tune and calibrate analyzers, sufficient QC samples are not run, etc. If I were ever charged with illicit drug use based on a police lab test, the first thing I would do is find a lawyer who knows about quantitative chemical analysis and instrument control. How to find such a lawyer? Have your prospective lawyer describe the approach to be taken. It must include: obtaining and reading the lab's operating procedure manual, QA/QC manual, QC results for 7 days before and thru 7 days after your test was done. What were the results for all samples for that 15 day period. What is the make and model of the chemical analyzer that was used? When was it made? Is it now obsolete? What are the interferences? How is the analyzer calibrated? How often? Between calibration, what is the sensor's drift? Is QC chart used to accept/reject QC sample results? Where does ... (You get the idea.) I know a case in a metropolitan county where over a period of 3 days before and 3 days after, all defendents' sample results were the same. The instrument was broken. The defendant's lawyer discovered that horrible mess and subpoenaed the lab manager to testify in court. The prosecutor thought the county's case was strong, and proceeded to court. The manager was unavailable to testify and judge tossed the case.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

11. Too bad he wasn't doing the reverse.

Just for MJ, all testing NEGATIVE. Then this guy would be my hero. Now, not so much.

[DavidDvorkin]

12. In that case, he would have ended up in jail

That's my guess, anyway.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

13. But thousands of "criminals" would go free! good trade-off, AFAIK.

[DavidDvorkin]

14. No argument there.