Deceased crime lab employee Kevin Brown: San Diego. On-going trial in federal wrongful death lawsuit brought by his widow...CBS8 Investigative Producer David Gotfredson reports that the retired San Diego Police Department detective at the center of the lawsuit has taken the witness stand...“Everything in the affidavit was true,” the former SDPD detective, Michael Lambert, told the jury under oath. Lambert’s homicide investigation began in 2012 when testing on vaginal swabs from a cold-case murder at Torrey Pines beach found low levels of DNA matching the lab employee, Kevin Brown. In his 2014 search warrant affidavit, detective Lambert wrote that cold-case detectives were assured, "cross DNA contamination is not possible." In court Thursday, multiple witnesses testified contamination is, indeed, possible in any police crime lab, especially back in 1984 when the evidence from Torrey Pines murder was processed. In previous testimony, the criminalist who handled the 1984 Torrey Pines murder evidence, John Simms, admitted that contamination may have occurred. That’s because lab workers, including Brown, routinely brought their own semen into the lab in 1984 to use as control samples, Simms testified."

BACKGROUND: "When he died, cold-case detectives were investigating Brown, 62, for his possible involvement in the 1984 strangulation of 14-year-old Claire Hough at Torrey Pines State Beach. They’d linked him through DNA testing to sperm cells found on a vaginal swab collected during the autopsy. According to the lawsuit, detectives recklessly rejected the most obvious explanation for the sperm: accidental cross-contamination in the police lab. Brown had worked there then as a criminalist. He didn’t process the Hough evidence, but he and others routinely kept their own semen samples on hand as known standards to check the efficacy of testing methods, the suit says. It describes contamination by lab employees as “a well-recognized, well-documented, and frequent occurrence,” and identifies 41 instances of it happening at the San Diego Police Department since 2001.Brown suffered from depression and anxiety most of his life, and the suit says his final downward spiral can be tied to unconstitutional police misconduct during the investigation. It accuses the lead detective, Michael Lambert, of misleading a judge when he got him to sign a search warrant, omitting key facts about possible lab contamination, and downplaying the criminal behavior of a convicted rapist who was also tied to the murder through DNA testing."

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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "In her federal lawsuit, Brown’s widow alleges the search warrant was obtained under false pretenses and officers seized personal property beyond the scope of the warrant. The stress of being named a homicide suspect resulted in Brown taking his own life, the lawsuit claims. Brown had a long history of depression and anxiety, according to court testimony. “I did nothing to put pressure on him,” testified Lambert, who is being defended by the San Diego City Attorney’s office. Lambert was an SDPD detective for 25 years before retiring in 2017."

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STORY: "Retired SDPD detective at center of wrongful death lawsuit takes the stand," by Investigative Producer David Gotfredson, published by CBS8 on February 6, 2020.

SUB-HEADING: "Lambert testified he never lied in search warrant affidavit to search crime lab worker's home."

GIST: "A retired San Diego Police Department homicide detective testified Thursday he did not lie in a search warrant affidavit in order to seize property from a former police crime lab employee.

“Everything in the affidavit was true,” the former SDPD detective, Michael Lambert, told the jury under oath.

Lambert’s homicide investigation began in 2012 when testing on vaginal swabs from a cold-case murder at Torrey Pines beach found low levels of DNA matching the lab employee, Kevin Brown. In his 2014 search warrant affidavit, detective Lambert wrote that cold-case detectives were assured, "cross DNA contamination is not possible." In court Thursday, multiple witnesses testified contamination is, indeed, possible in any police crime lab, especially back in 1984 when the evidence from Torrey Pines murder was processed. In previous testimony, the criminalist who handled the 1984 Torrey Pines murder evidence, John Simms, admitted that contamination may have occurred.  That’s because lab workers, including Brown, routinely brought their own semen into the lab in 1984 to use as control samples, Simms testified. Low levels of Brown’s semen DNA were found on the evidence swabs. In her federal lawsuit, Brown’s widow alleges the search warrant was obtained under false pretenses and officers seized personal property beyond the scope of the warrant. The stress of being named a homicide suspect resulted in Brown taking his own life, the lawsuit claims. Brown had a long history of depression and anxiety, according to court testimony. “I did nothing to put pressure on him,” testified Lambert, who is being defended by the San Diego City Attorney’s office. Lambert was an SDPD detective for 25 years before retiring in 2017."

The entire story can be read at:

https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/investigations/lambert-takes-stand-in-wrongful-death-lawsuit/509-2d5be0f8-1d6d-4df1-92ad-f72fd3bb8b40
 

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html 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;

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FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."

Lawyer Radha Natarajan:

Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;

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