Criminal defense attorneys are always face roadblocks when they try to exercise their client’s constitutional right to confront their accuser. In the case of breath alcohol testing, this usually means the defense isn’t allowed access to the “source code” for the breath tester…that is the computer programming that controls the behavior of the breath tester.
In
[Continue Reading Crime Lab Staff to Take the 5th…]
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
[Continue Reading Judge Orders Discovery of Documents Realted to San Francisco Crime Lab Controversy…]
Apparently a drug analyst in San Francisco was skimming some drugs off the top of her cases…
…25 drug cases dismissed at the Hall of Justice because of questions surrounding the police crime lab and a former technician there who is suspected of stealing and using drug evidence.
On Tuesday, police said they were shutting down the lab immediately
[Continue Reading San Francisco Evidence Theft, and Police Cover-up…]
A 1993 homicide conviction was recently overturned by a judicial review panel. The reason? The state didn’t disclose information to the criminal defense attorney (or even the jury), that would potentially exculpatory to the defendant.
Remember in the United States we have an adversarial legal system. Attorneys for both sides basically try to “sell”
[Continue Reading Another Example of Why Greater Transparency is Needed in Crime Labs…]
Apparently criminal defense attorneys think highly of the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences (SWIFS). If you recall, we posted an entry a while back about SWIFS. Briefly an employee was terminated for purportedly not passing training milestones. The ex-employee contends he was fired for whistle-blowing about deficiencies in the crime lab.
Below is information from
[Continue Reading More info on the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences…]