The City of Detroit will be paying $1 Million to Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office to have one year’s worth of evidence investigated. That’s a lot of money. This is the perfect example of why it is better to pay a little extra up front, to have a sufficient number of properly trained laboratory analysts, to ensure the quality and accuracy of forensic tests.
The Detroit City Council has approved spending nearly $1 million to fund a special unit of the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office to review years’ worth of evidence processed by the now-closed Detroit Police Department crime lab.
The agreement establishes the Forensic Evidence Review Unit for the sole purpose of reviewing cases in which evidence from the DPD Crime Lab — closed in 2008 after an audit showed that weapons ballistics tests were erroneous in 10% of 200 criminal cases — was used in criminal trials.
County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said Tuesday that five cases already are slated to be retried as a result of tainted evidence. Mayor Dave Bing’s group executive for safety, Saul Green, also addressed the council on the agreement.
Under the agreement, the city would cover the costs of the unit for three years. It will pay up to $989,527 from the Detroit Police Department budget for review work that has been performed since April 2008 through this April.
Worthy said her office is reviewing five years’ worth of cases. At least three people will be hired to staff the unit.
After the meeting, Worthy said she is bothered “that we may possibly have some convictions with faulty evidence.”
“We don’t know how far we have to go back.”
The Michigan State Police has been handling much of Detroit’s evidence testing since the lab closed.
Originally posted on Freep.com.
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