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"Reformers have for years recommended that all forensic labs be independent from law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies' and this is a key reform promoted by The Justice Project (2008). But fixing these problems is only half the answer' because half of the wrongful convictions attributed to misleading forensic evidence involved deliberate forensic fraud' evidence tampering' and/or perjury.
From "The Elephant in the Crime Lab," by co-authored by Sheila Berry and Larry Ytuarte; Forensic Examiner; Spring, 2009; http://www.t-mlaw.com/blog/post/the-elephant-in-the-crime-lab/
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"Virginia
Gov. Terry McAuliffe has approved pardons for the four former sailors
who became known as the "Norfolk Four" in a 1997 rape and killing,
saying police intimidated them into falsely confessing to the crimes. "These
pardons close the final chapter on a grave injustice that has plagued
these 4 men for nearly 20 years," spokesman Brian Coy told Fox News
Tuesday. DNA
evidence matched a fifth man, Omar Ballard, to the crimes against
Michelle Moore-Bosko. He confessed to being the only one responsible. Three
of the men — Danial Williams, Joseph Dick and Derek Tice — were granted
conditional pardons in 2009 by then-Gov. Tim Kaine and released from
prison because of doubts about their guilt, but their convictions
remained on the books. The fourth man, Eric Wilson, who was convicted
only of rape, had already been released. Wilson
failed to get his conviction overturned in court because he had already
completed his sentence when he brought the challenge. Because Wilson is
a convicted rapist, he was forced to register as a sex offender and
barred from adopting his stepson. A
federal judge vacated Williams and Dick's convictions in October,
declaring that "no sane human being" could find them guilty. Tice had
his convictions erased in 2009. Attorneys
for the men argued absolute pardons from the governor carried greater
weight than court rulings and were essential to helping the men rebuild
their lives and reputations. They had long said they confessed only
after being intimidated by police. Williams,
who lived in the same apartment building as Moore-Bosko, has said he
was told he would face a capital murder charge — punishable by death —
if he didn't confess. He said he caved because he wanted the 11-hour
interrogation to be over. "I
just couldn't take it anymore," Williams said during an April 2015
hearing. "I couldn't take being called a liar, the pressure." Dick also has said he was threatened with the death penalty. The
detective who questioned the men, Robert Glenn Ford, was convicted in
2011 of extortion and lying to the FBI in unrelated cases. He is serving
12 ½ years in prison for taking tens of thousands of dollars from drug
dealers in exchange for getting them favorable treatment at sentencing.
