Judge Forces Discovery of Documents Realted to San Francisco Crime Lab Controversy

Apparently at least one San Francisco judge is con­cerned about the lack of com­mu­ni­ca­tion between the police, pros­e­cu­tors and crim­i­nal defense attor­neys in San Francisco, regard­ing the con­tro­versy related to the San Francisco PD Crime Lab drug test­ing sec­tion.

A San Francisco Judge has ordered the police and the District Attorney to turn over more than 1,100 pages of doc­u­ments related to the city’s embat­tled crime lab.

Judge Anne-Christine Massullo is seek­ing whether author­i­ties knew about alleged mis­han­dling of drug evi­dence and with­held it from defense attorneys.

Massullo could decide if the infor­ma­tion is rel­e­vant in the upcom­ing cocaine-sales trial of Mario Bell.

Bell’s attor­ney said on Tuesday he will ask for a dis­missal if the doc­u­ments reveal author­i­ties pre­vi­ously knew about any drug test­ing problems.

Troubles sur­faced at the lab March 9 after alle­ga­tions that for­mer long­time tech­ni­cian Deborah Madden stole cocaine evi­dence. Madden has not been arrested or charged.

An inves­ti­ga­tion has halted drug test­ing at the lab as pros­e­cu­tors have dis­missed over 250 drug cases until evi­dence can be prop­erly tested.

Originally posted on the San Jose Mercury News.