STORY: "New Jersey lab tech's purported test faking can't be widely used in other drug cases," by reporter Kibret Markos, published by the Record on May 6, 2016.
GIST: "The case of a State Police lab technician who recently was removed from work for reportedly faking a drug test result cannot be invoked to cast doubt on the credibility of unrelated test results prepared by his colleagues, a judge in Paterson ruled on Friday. Judge Scott Bennion in Superior Court in Paterson denied a request by defense lawyers who argued that the alleged misconduct of the technician, Kamal Shah, could implicate thousands of other reports generated from the same lab in Little Falls, where Shah worked for more than 10 years. Authorities said earlier this year that Shah, a longtime forensic scientist, was removed from work in December after a colleague saw him “dry-labbing” a marijuana sample, or write a test result without actually conducting the test. The state Attorney General’s Office notified all county prosecutors in the state about Shah’s removal and instructed them to contact defense attorneys in cases in which Shah was involved in preparing lab reports. Forensic scientists test samples seized at crime scenes to determine whether the samples are indeed illegal drugs. They prepare lab reports that are then used by prosecutors as evidence in court against drug defendants. Shah was involved in more than 7,800 cases during his time at the lab, authorities said. Prosecutors have said that retesting the samples that were previously tested by Shah would be sufficient to remedy the problem. However, defense attorneys have argued that no sample that was handled by Shah should ever be trusted, and that the only remedy would be to dismiss charges or throw out convictions that are based on Shah’s lab reports. Bennion’s ruling on Friday stems from a drug case in which three Paterson defendants are charged with possession of cocaine, PCP and Ecstasy with intent to distribute. Prosecutors submitted a lab report indicating that the substances seized were illegal drugs. The report was prepared at the same lab where Shah worked, though by a different forensic scientist.........At a hearing last month, prosecutors referred to testimony by the lab’s director, Cynthia McSweeney, who said that there are up to 17 forensic scientists at the lab who prepare thousands of reports a year, and that the alleged misconduct of one scientist should not implicate everything that comes out of the lab. Defense attorneys, meanwhile, argued that Shah’s purported misconduct reflects a lack of quality control at the lab, and that a trial jury should be allowed to hear their argument in weighing the credibility of a report from the Little Falls lab.........Shah has since retired from his $101,039-a-year job, although his pension has been suspended pending a probe of his conduct. McSweeney said during her testimony last month in Bennion’s courtroom that Shah is under a criminal investigation."
The entire story can be found at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.
The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.
Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com;
Harold Levy; Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
