Michelle Malkin:
Junk science endangers lives. Forensic junk science in the hands of overzealous prosecutors, ignorant police detectives and reckless experts threatens liberty.
There is a crisis in America’s government-run crime labs — and it’s not just the result of a few rogue operators. The problem is long-festering and systemic.
In April, Massachusetts state crime lab chemist Annie Dookhan made national headlines after investigations and lawsuits over her misconduct prompted the state’s Supreme Judicial Court to order the largest dismissal of criminal convictions in U.S. history.
Prosecutors were forced to dismiss a stunning 21,000-plus drug cases after Dookhan admitted to forging signatures, misleading investigators and purposely contaminating drug samples en masse over nearly a decade. Dookhan pleaded guilty to dozens of charges of obstruction of justice, perjury and tampering with evidence. Hundreds of defendants have had their convictions tossed on appeal.
Despite a district judge concluding that her actions were “nothing short of catastrophic,” Dookhan served a measly three years in prison before being released last spring.
Another Massachusetts state crime lab worker, Sonja Farak, abused her position to pilfer and ingest the drugs she was supposed to be testing over an eight-year period. Instead of cleaning up, two former assistant attorney generals covered up for Farak and misled a judge who last month dismissed several of the cases tainted by the narcotics-addicted lab worker. Upwards of 10,000 prosecutions may eventually be overturned.
When one who is paid be the government abuses the said position that results in a citizen”s liberties being reduced or stripped said government official should be shot.
Let the word go forth from the EPA to drug addicted lab techs, abuse power at your own risk.
⚡️ NOT NEWS! ⚡️
The FBI crime lab admitted less than 10 years ago their procedures were WRONG, flawed, incorrect.
——————BUT YOU KNOW WHAT?——————
As soon as any critical eye shifts towards the: police, prosecutors, crime labs, courts, prisons THE RIGHT RIGHT SQUEALS LIKE STUCK PIGS.
“Oh why do you hate law and order? The police are NEVER in error! Why would you support the criminal? The legal-industrial-complex is flawless!”
Yeeeeah…..apparently not. Are any of you at all, I mean, more than 0% surprised the government is fraudulent, abusive, criminally negligent, covering up their own errors at the public’s expense? I’m not.
Shoula listened to people like me. The police/legal complex needs 24 hour scrutiny, regardless of your caterwauling.
Could have seen that coming when they started giving degrees in Criminal Justice and Crime Scene Investigation at DeVry.
LOL ^^^
🌞 If I may add one more thought 🌞
I implore all of you. For the love of God, please stop defending the parts of gov’t that is your personal sacred cow. Conservatives know that nearly ALL of gov’t is abusive and unaccountable, not just the IRS and parts you don’t like.
Haven’t we suffered enough abuse? Please, if you’re ever on a jury, the gov’t has earned not an iota of the benefit of the doubt. Yes, you want crime to be punished, but at what sacrifice? So that we live in a police-state that will prosecute and lock us up with false evidence if that’s what it takes?
💥 Isn’t this scenario more constitutional? 💥
We don’t out-source our constitutional rights to gov’t police, but instead use the tools we have a right to use: the 2nd amendment and right to defend ourselves. Isn’t that better than having gov’t step in and monitor our safety for us? Look what we have now? A weak population that needs 24 hour babysitting, over-stretched police, corrupt crime labs, and abuse of its citizens. –pitiful. Please re-consider your loyalties to the legal industrial complex, and re-focus on The People and their rights.
There’s no doubt that there is junk science out there that is resulting in, or going to result in cases being tossed out. But contrary to what’s been stated the problem does not lie with the cops or (to a degree) with the crime labs themselves but rather several, kind of non connected items.
The first is the Judiciary for allowing questionable evidence into a trial. Too often the Judge doesn’t understand this evidence or the way in which it was collected and presented and will allow it in and allow the defense to call an expert witness to refute it. Thus the accuracy of these tests falls upon the jury who know less then the Judge and how smooth talking the experts are. The second is the DA who’ll scream for this evidence, rushing the lab and leading to errors. In addition the DA doesn’t understand the evidence and how it was obtained. Finally, I think the worst culprit in all of this is Hollywood. From the moment DNA and carpet swatches in the trunk fo a car made it into a script Hollywood writers have been making up fiction and educating the public with it. Stories abound with jurors wondering why the DNA took weeks to develop instead of being ready the next day like on that CSI story they saw. There are lot’s more examples of the wonders performed on TV that cause problems in real courtrooms. There’s nothing you can do about a lot of this because the science seems to be changing constantly but Judges and DA’s that are a lot more circumspect about the type and quality of forensic evidence they let into their courtrooms would be a start. Hell, maybe a public service announcement that’s shown to jurors done by the stars of these TV shows telling them what the reality of CSI is would help a lot.
“Expert testimony” for sale to the highest bidder.
Exculpatory evidence never revealed nor given to the defense.
John Edwards. What more do you need to know?
Duke lacrosse.
Nifong, prosecutorial misconduct, lying expert witness, crooked police, prosecutor running for reelection, buried exculpatory evidence, lying ER nurse, lying sack of crap “victim”, NAACP, pot bangers, university, main stream media, feminists, SJWs, pile on.
Completely innocent young men.
I haven’t read all the posts, but when you put affirmative action scientists to work on DNA shit, what do you expect?
Think Nifong and Duke Lacrosse.