READ PART ONE: (at the link below)...(Areli Escobar: Texas: Much maligned Austin Crime lab: Part One:.."Austin's unreliable crime lab could lead to another wrongful execution," The Appeal (Reporter Jerry Iannelli) reports..."Dubious DNA evidence - and a potential coverup in the Travis County DA's office - are at the heart of a recommendation that Areli Escobar gets a new trial.
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/3635091760635990106
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: Several local civil-rights and victim advocacy groups are petitioning the City Council to change the proposed mission statement and "activities" before this comes to a vote on Thursday. The same groups aim to champion changing the lab's governing structure soon after the new department is created. This debate has been a long time coming, and it speaks poorly of Austin PD's leadership that crime-lab independence hasn't happened before now. The lab has been a mess for a while now and independence from law enforcement has been considered a best practice for more than a decade. In the Harris County example, scientists are encouraged to be scientists; in Austin, the city manager views them as an agent of law enforcement. "
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POST: Beyond "aid" to law enforcement, crime-lab independence speaks to scientist's differing priorities from cops," published by 'Grits for Breakfast' on Feb 1, 2021.
GIST: The debate over making Austin's crime lab independent from the police department - which the City Council will take up on Thursday - inadvertently helps demonstrate why such change is necessary.
Austin's city manager Spencer Cronk for years has balked at making the crime lab independent. Now that the community has made such "decoupling" a part of "reimagining" the police budget, he has had little choice but to embrace the idea. But he's doing so in the most tepid, pro-cop way imaginable.
Here's the proposed ordinance, which places the crime lab under control of the city manager with no independent oversight board. Check out the vision statement for the new agency, then let's compare it to Harris County's forensic science center.
The Forensic Science Department shall be engaged in the administration of criminal justice in support of state, federal, and local laws, and shall aid law enforcement in the detection, suppression, and prosecution of crime. In carrying out this purpose, the Forensic Science Department shall:
• Conduct objective, accurate and timely analyses of forensic evidence supporting the administration of criminal justice, and perform related services;
• Allocate substantially all of its annual budget to such criminal identification activities; and
• Be responsible for the following services in support of criminal justice: crime scene investigation; evidence management; firearm/toolmark examination; seized drug analysis; toxicological analysis; latent print examination; DNA analysis; and related forensic services as may be now or later developed for public safety purposes.
• Establish such policies, management control agreements, and procedures as necessary to carry out its purposes and activities stated above.
By contrast, here's the Mission/Vision statement for the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science:
The Mission of the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences is to provide medical examiner and crime laboratory services of the highest quality in an unbiased manner with uncompromised integrity.
Vision
To provide consistent, quality death investigation and laboratory analysis for the benefit of the entire community.
To create a technological strongpoint for legal agencies to facilitate justice in criminal and civil proceedings.
To establish an academic environment for training in the field of Forensic Science.
Notice the difference? In Harris County, the "mission" is about quality science that benefits everyone. In Austin, the proposed mission is to "aid law enforcement in the detection, suppression, and prosecution of crime" and to "Allocate substantially all of its annual budget to such criminal identification activities."
If the department allocates "substantially all" of its budget to "identification," will it be able to implement the sort of quality-assurance systems needed to prevent false convictions? Will the department spend adequately on scientists' professional development? They haven't in the past. Nothing in the proposed ordinance reflects any of the myriad problems that put the lab on the "decouple" list in the first place.
In the Harris County example, scientists are encouraged to be scientists; in Austin, the city manager views them as an agent of law enforcement.
These are quite different approaches, reinforced by different governance structures: The Austin City Manager has suggested the crime lab report to him just like other departments. By contrast, the Harris County lab director reports directly to the county commissioners court. The Houston lab - itself spun off from the police department - has its own independent board.
Several local civil-rights and victim advocacy groups are petitioning the City Council to change the proposed mission statement and "activities" before this comes to a vote on Thursday. The same groups aim to champion changing the lab's governing structure soon after the new department is created.
https://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2021/02/beyond-aid-to-law-enforcement-crime-lab.html
