"Evidence tampering poses one of the gravest threats to law enforcement and the judicial system. It undermines public confidence in law enforcement. It burdens the entire system as law enforcement and courts struggle to deal with the fallout It opens the door to defense attorneys who, exercising their rightful prerogatives, will press for investigations and second looks into past cases. And in cases where such tampering did take place, it weighs on law enforcement and forensics personnel who carry out their duties responsibly but nonetheless are sometimes burdened through guilt by association. All this, of course, on top of the assault on justice that evidence tampering by definition inflicts."
Editorial: Wikipedia informs us that, "The Omaha World-Herald, based in Omaha, Nebraska, is the primary daily newspaper of Nebraska, as well as portions of southwest Iowa."
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BACKGROUND: (David) Kofoed's work came into question after his 2006 investigation into the slaying of a rural Cass County couple, Wayne and Sharmon Stock. Detectives zeroed in on the couple's nephew and his cousin, but found no physical evidence tying the two to the killings. They managed to get a confession from the nephew, but he retracted it the next day. A day later, Kofoed said he found a drop of one of the victims' blood in a car linked to the suspects that had already been combed over by another forensic investigator. The suspects were charged with murder and jailed for several months before being released because prosecutors determined the confession was unreliable and didn't fit the facts of the case. A man and woman from Wisconsin eventually pleaded guilty to murdering the couple and are serving life prison terms. The FBI began investigating Kofoed after the slain couple's nephew filed a lawsuit alleging civil rights violations. The agency's findings led authorities to charge Kofoed with evidence tampering in April. During his trial, Kofoed blamed the speck of blood found in the car on accidental contamination. But Cass County District Judge Randall Rehmeier said he didn't buy it, and that the evidence showed Kofoed intentionally planted the blood in the car...Kofoed has not been charged in any other investigation. He remained free on bond, but was due back in court for sentencing. He faced up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. ...Before issuing his verdict, Rehmeier said there were similarities between that investigation and one in which a man, Ivan Henk, was convicted of murdering his young son, whose body was never found. In both cases, there were confessions by the suspects and a lack of physical evidence to corroborate them until Kofoed found a speck of blood that had previously been overlooked, the judge said.
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"Evidence tampering poses one of the gravest threats to law enforcement and the judicial system," the June 8, 2010 Omaha World-Herald editorial begins, under the heading, "Dangers of tampering."
"It undermines public confidence in law enforcement," the editorial continues.
"It burdens the entire system as law enforcement and courts struggle to deal with the fallout.
It opens the door to defense attorneys who, exercising their rightful prerogatives, will press for investigations and second looks into past cases.
And in cases where such tampering did take place, it weighs on law enforcement and forensics personnel who carry out their duties responsibly but nonetheless are sometimes burdened through guilt by association.
All this, of course, on top of the assault on justice that evidence tampering by definition inflicts.
The conviction and sentencing of David Kofoed, former director of the Douglas County crime lab, provides an obvious example. Now a situation at the Omaha Police Department provides a second.
It’s still being determined whether two Omaha police officers actually planted marijuana. In any case, a defense attorney is pressing for information from the internal police investigation.
Preventing evidence tampering hinges on two basic approaches: culture and protocols.
Culture: Law enforcement and forensics personnel need to receive the message, loud and clear, from the very beginning of their training that planting evidence is beyond the pale. And the operating cultures in law enforcement agencies need to reinforce that all-important fact.
Protocols: Operational rules can’t guarantee that the integrity of an investigation won’t be violated, but they clearly offer one of the primary safeguards."
The editorial can be found at:
http://www.omaha.com/article/20100608/NEWS0802/706089979/-1
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;