If Arkansas can come up with a simple way to allow analysts to testify without seriously effecting their ability to continue their laboratory duties, why all the hand-wringing and whining in other states?
The link allows examiners at the crime lab to testify without leaving their office.
“I’m very pleased with it and I’ve encouraged the prosecutors and defense attorneys to agree to do it,” Storey said. “It allows technicians to spend their time working in the lab rather than driving up and down I-40. It certainly does not adversely effect the testimony of the crime lab technicians and it saves the state a lot of time and money.”
The system was implemented because of the huge amount of travel time involved for evidence examiners testifying around the state. Crime lab officials say employees spend as much as half their time traveling.
It also allows examiners to work on other cases in the lab right up until they are summoned to testify.
“We like to use it whenever we can,” Washington County Prosecuting Attorney John Threet said. “You’re talking about a six-hour minimum drive (from the crime lab in Little Rock to Fayetteville and back). It saves them a lot of time.”
Read the complete Northwest Arkansas News article.
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