Bad Labs

This is the reason that we can never become complacent about lab reports, never just take them at face value -- because labs get it wrong, make mistakes, and sometimes just outright cheat. Here's yet another example, following OKC and the FBI, of a lab gone bad. Or, perhaps, just revealed for what it really is.

Detroit Police Lab Is Closed After Audit Finds Serious Errors in Many Cases

Here are excerpts from the NY Times article:

The Police Department here shut down its crime laboratory on Thursday after an audit uncovered serious errors in numerous cases. The audit said sloppy work had probably resulted in wrongful convictions, and officials expect a wave of appeals in cases that the laboratory processed.

* * * *

David E. Balash, a retired State Police official who consults on firearms cases, said the audit’s findings could lead to payouts of hundreds of millions of dollars in lawsuits.

“I would have never anticipated that it would have been this systemic,” Mr. Balash said. “It’s almost incomprehensible.”

This ought to make any defense lawyer think twice before stipulating to a lab report.
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