"THE SUCCESSFUL OPERATION OF GOVERNMENT IS PREDICATED UPON A SERIES OF CHECKS AND BALANCES, SOMETHING ALL AMERICAN SCHOOLCHILDREN KNOW. THE POINT OF THOSE CHECKS AND BALANCES, IN WHICH EACH BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT IS LINKED IN SUCH A WAY AS TO PREVENT THE ABUSE OF POWER, IS INTEGRAL TO THE SURVIVAL OF DEMOCRACY AS WELL AS THE SYSTEM’S INTEGRITY. ALTHOUGH SOMETIMES LESS THAN PERFECT, IT GENERALLY WORKS. THAT’S A MODEL THE STATE SHOULD EMULATE WHEN IT COMES TO OPERATING THE SBI’S LAB.
FOR JURORS AND THE PUBLIC TO HAVE FAITH IN THE STATE’S CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM, THE APPEARANCE OF ANY IMPROPRIETY MUST BE AVOIDED. THE BEST WAY TO DO THAT WHERE THE LAB IS CONCERNED IS TO IMPLEMENT A SYSTEM OF CHECKS AND BALANCES, WITH REGULAR OVERSIGHT AND A BETTER SYSTEM OF ACCOUNTABILITY."
EDITORIAL: JACKSONVILLE DAILY NEWS;
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BACKGROUND: Seventeen years ago, Taylor was convicted of the September, 1991 murder of Raleigh prostitute Jacquetta Thomas, 26, whose body was found dumped on South Blount Street in Raleigh. Taylor, 47, said he spent the night of September 25, 1991 drinking and doing drugs with friends while he drove around southeast Raleigh to buy crack cocaine. Taylor said he believed police latched on to him for the murder because he and a friend drove along a dirt path off the same cul-de-sac where Thomas's body was found. Taylor and the friend smoked crack, but his SUV got stuck as they tried to drive away. They abandoned the SUV and walked to a nearby street to get a ride. Taylor testified they saw what they thought was a body but didn't report it to police. When Taylor returned in the morning to get the SUV, the police were already there. During several days of testimony, a parade of witnesses poked holes in the original evidence against Taylor. A SBI agent testified that while initial tests on some items from Taylor's sport utility vehicle were positive for blood, follow-up tests were negative. Those negative tests were not revealed to the jury that convicted Taylor. A dog training expert testified that the bloodhound that investigators said found the scent of the victim on Taylor's SUV was not trained in scent identification. A jailhouse snitch who said that Taylor confessed his involvement in Thomas's killing to him stood by his original testimony, but did admit that Taylor got the method of killing wrong. Johnny Beck, the man who was in Taylor's SUV on the night of the murder, testified neither he nor Taylor were involved in Thomas's death. Taylor had exhausted his appeals, but the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission reviewed the evidence against him last year and recommended the case to the three judge panel for further review. The commission is the only state-run agency in the country that investigates claims of innocence. Now the Commission has declared him innocent - the first time an inmate has been freed through the actions of the state's Innocence Inquiry Commission.
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"North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper recently implemented a review of the State Bureau of Investigation’s crime lab. The review grew out of the reversal last month of Greg Taylor’s sentence," the March 14, 2010 the Jacksonville Daily News editorial begins, under the heading "Crime-lab review ensures confidence."
"Convicted of murder, Taylor was adjudicated by a panel created to review cases with exculpatory evidence and found innocent of the 1991 crime for which he was originally sent to prison in Wake County" it continues.
"Part of that review process included revealing testimony that at the time of Taylor’s initial trial the SBI lab not only failed to disclose evidence that helped Taylor’s case, but actually covered it up. The result of that finding placed into question both the administration and workings of the lab, which is used by virtually every local law enforcement agency in the Tar Heel State.
A review that will encompass both the lab’s practices and hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of criminal cases handled by the lab over the past two decades will soon begin. At the helm of that review are two former FBI agents, one of whom is the former special agent in charge for North Carolina and another who worked as part of an inspection team for the FBI’s own labs.
The two — Chris Swecker and Mike Wolf — will be responsible for double-checking the lab’s practices and ensuring its integrity, as well as making recommendations for future operations.
It’s not only a good idea in view of the circumstances uncovered by Taylor’s case, but something that should become common practice in the future.
The successful operation of government is predicated upon a series of checks and balances, something all American schoolchildren know. The point of those checks and balances, in which each branch of government is linked in such a way as to prevent the abuse of power, is integral to the survival of democracy as well as the system’s integrity. Although sometimes less than perfect, it generally works. That’s a model the state should emulate when it comes to operating the SBI’s lab.
For jurors and the public to have faith in the state’s criminal justice system, the appearance of any impropriety must be avoided. The best way to do that where the lab is concerned is to implement a system of checks and balances, with regular oversight and a better system of accountability.
No man should go to prison because of failures within the system. When that happens, everyone loses. Continued oversight and a system that allows for transparency in the processing and reporting of evidence is necessary if this land of the free is to remain that way."
The editorial can be found at:
http://www.jdnews.com/opinion/review-73885-implemented-confidence.html
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
