Another Case for Independent Laboratory Re-Analysis

A recent review of foren­sic work in the New York State Police foren­sic lab sys­tem has found very seri­ous deficiencies.

A report released by Inspector General Joseph Fisch found that not only was State Police foren­sic sci­en­tist Garry L. Veeder per­form­ing defec­tive tests between 1993 and 2008, but that his super­vi­sors either failed or were not sci­en­tif­i­cally qual­i­fied to review his work to dis­cover the errors.

An offi­cial of the state police and a rep­re­sen­ta­tive of state pros­e­cu­tors insisted Thursday that Veeder’s mis­takes had not resulted in any wrong­ful con­vic­tions. However, the report could be ammu­ni­tion to defense attor­neys seek­ing to over­turn the verdicts.

Veeder, a civil­ian employee, was inter­viewed by Fisch’s inves­ti­ga­tors on May 7, 2008. Shortly after­ward, he sub­mit­ted his retire­ment papers, effec­tive at the end of that month.

A week later, Veeder was noti­fied that the state police wanted to ques­tion him about his lab­o­ra­tory work and, on May 23, 2008, he com­mit­ted sui­cide by hang­ing him­self in his garage.

“In let­ters drafted imme­di­ately before the sui­cide, Veeder, sim­i­lar to his admis­sions dur­ing the inter­nal lab­o­ra­tory inquiry, lamented his poor judg­ment and fail­ure to fol­low lab­o­ra­tory pro­to­cols,” Fisch’s report said.

According to the report, test­ing defi­cien­cies were found in nearly 100 of the 322 cases involv­ing trace evi­dence han­dled by Veeder from 1993 to 2008.

Of course the pros­e­cu­tion doesn’t feel the mis­takes resulted in any wrong con­vic­tions. The pros­e­cu­tion believes every­one they charged is guilty, so regard­less of what any wit­ness says on the stand, the right per­son is con­victed. The dan­ger lies in how much weight the jury gave to the fraud­u­lent testimony.

He falsely reported per­form­ing the required tests to the state police, Fisch’s inves­ti­ga­tors found.

According to Fisch’s report, Veeder repeat­edly told inves­ti­ga­tors he had not been prop­erly trained in all of the foren­sics work he was expected to perform.

The inspec­tor gen­eral also crit­i­cized Veeder’s trainer and super­vi­sor, Anthony Piscitelli, for fail­ing to insist that Veeder per­form all of the required fiber tests and for approv­ing some of Veeder’s work.

Fisch’s office also crit­i­cized R. Michael Portzer, who reviewed Veeder’s work, for not being sci­en­tif­i­cally qual­i­fied to do so.

“Cutting cor­ners in a crime lab is seri­ous and intol­er­a­ble,” Fisch said in a state­ment released by his office Thursday. “Forensic lab­o­ra­to­ries must adhere to the high­est stan­dards of com­pe­tence, inde­pen­dence and integrity.”

Please read the entire Law.com arti­cle here.

Independent re-analysis is the only way to ensure these types of errors don’t make their way into the court­room. The adver­sar­ial sys­tem works not only for lawyers, but also sci­en­tists. This is where Forensics Guy, Inc. and Forensic Analysis Consulting Services, Inc. can help. Feel free to con­tact us with ques­tions about how we can meet your inde­pen­dent foren­sic sci­ence needs. Whether you are a police agency, pros­e­cu­tor, defense attor­ney, or pri­vate cit­i­zen, we can help.