UPDATE: CRIME LABS IN AMERICA; HOUSTON POLICE CRIME LAB PLAGUED BY BACKLOG: HOUSTON CHRONICLE REPORTS;

"THE BACKLOGS CAUSE TWO MAJOR PROBLEMS IN THE JUSTICE SYSTEM, SAID JOANNE MUSICK, PRESIDENT OF THE HARRIS COUNTY CRIMINAL LAWYERS ASSOCIATION. FIRST, SHE SAID, BECAUSE PEOPLE OFTEN ARE ARRESTED BEFORE EVIDENCE IS PROCESSED, INNOCENT PEOPLE ARE JAILED AND FORCED INTO PRELIMINARY LEGAL PROCEEDINGS UNNECESSARILY. SECOND, CRIMINALS WHO MAY BE IDENTIFIED THROUGH FORENSIC TESTING ARE ABLE TO REMAIN ON THE STREETS AND, POTENTIALLY, COMMIT NEW CRIMES."

REPORTER BRADLEY OLSON: THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE;

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BACKGROUND: The Houston Chronicle recently reported that although fingerprinting has been viewed by the public as a practically infallible crime-fighting tool with accuracy rates approaching 100 percent for years, its problems are not unique - and incorrect results at labs across the nation produce doubts about a discipline once thought of as an exact science. The paper continues to do an excellent job in reporting the effect that the crisis is crime labs throughout America is having on its criminal justice system - and the need for an overhaul. Nor is America unique. This Blog has reported major problems with crime labs elsewhere in the world - most recently Australia.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The Houston Police Department has developed a backlog of more than 300 cases in which firearm forensics have not been performed, the third major area of evidence awaiting analysis to build up as the crime lab works to achieve full legitimacy after being engulfed in scandal for years," the January 26, 2010 Houston Chronicle story by reporter Bradley Olson begins, under the heading "Backlog woes continue at HPD lab."

"Despite years of effort aimed at cleaning up the problems that led to the wrongful convictions of at least four men, backlogs for thousands of cases also have developed in rape kits and fingerprint analysis," the story continues.

"Although the recent issues highlighted in an audit of HPD's fingerprint unit do not involve the crime lab — the two are separate entities — police in both instances have cited ongoing staff shortages, retirements and training requirements to explain the backlog of evidence.

“We're not sitting back here and twiddling our thumbs,” said Crime Lab Director Irma Rios.

Labs across the country have backlogs, and the department has added staff, upgraded facilities and procedures, and is poised to begin using robotics in about 15 months to decrease the number of cases, she said.

“We're accountable, we realize we have a tremendous responsibility ... These backlogs didn't occur overnight, they took many, many years,” Rios said.

2 big problems

Police officials said evidence in cases with suspects or involving violence has been prioritized, but the ballooning backlogs have forced the city to spend millions outsourcing forensics in the middle of a budget crunch.

The backlogs cause two major problems in the justice system, said JoAnne Musick, president of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association.

First, she said, because people often are arrested before evidence is processed, innocent people are jailed and forced into preliminary legal proceedings unnecessarily. Second, criminals who may be identified through forensic testing are able to remain on the streets and, potentially, commit new crimes.

“Every time you turn around, there's another backlog that's either bigger or exists in another part of the lab,” Musick said. “The fact that we've made improvements in DNA (analysis) meant that we allowed firearms and prints to sit on the back burner.”
Robotic analysis

City Council is poised to hire the International Forensic Science Laboratory and Training Centre for an $80,000 contract to clear the 325 cases in the most recent firearms backlog.

Rios said she hopes the contract, which is being funded with a grant, will help the lab take a sizeable chunk out of the backlog within 15 months, at which point robotic analysis will help clear what remains.

The lab will receive 500 hours of on-site assistance in examining firearms and firearms-related evidence, such as assisting in matching signature markings left on fired bullets with those used in other crimes through existing databases.

The contract is only the latest City Council has approved to reduce evidence backlogs. Last week, it approved $4.2 million in contracts with four companies tasked with reducing a backlog of 4,000 rape kits, some of which date to the 1980s, that require DNA analysis and remain untested by the crime lab. And in December, council approved a nearly $3 million contract to reform HPD's embattled fingerprint comparison unit.

6,000 fingerprint cases

An audit commissioned by the department found problems with fingerprint analysis in more than 250 cases, prompting a review of all the violent crime cases in the last six years. The consultants also will attempt to close a fingerprint analysis backlog of more than 6,000 cases.

“The crime lab is still broken, notwithstanding what the previous administration said about it,” said Councilwoman Jolanda Jones, a criminal defense lawyer. “Unless and until we get out of the business of operating the crime lab, we're going to continue to have the same problem. We're going to have to continue to outsource and pay extra money for consultants to come in and try to fix our mess.”

Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos said the backlogs “delay justice” and further highlight the need for an independent lab, something the mayor and many council members support.

“The conundrum is, when you look at the budget of a police department, they have to make Hobson's choice of whether they have officers on the street or whether they hire and staff laboratories,” she said.

Using the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office, which is independent of any law enforcement agency and now is the county's forensic analysis clearinghouse, would be the best solution to HPD's crime lab problems, she said."

The story is accompanied by a side-bar headed "Untouched evidence", as follows:

""The Houston Police Department has three major backlogs in its evidence analysis, including:

• Firearms forensics: More than 325 cases; $80,000 contract with private firm sought to reduce backlog

• Rape kits: More than 4,000; $4.2 million in contracts with four companies approved last week to reduce backlog

• Fingerprints: More than 5,000 cases are being reviewed by consultants after a damning audit, and more than 6,000 cases have not been analyzed by HPD's fingerprint unit, which is separate from the Crime Lab; nearly $3 million contract with private consultants approved last month."

The story can be found at:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6836933.html

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com'