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Thursday, February 03, 2011

Ind. Courts - "Errors found in Indiana state lab toxicology tests: Mistakes that audit uncovered could lead to overturned verdicts"

Updating a long list of earlier toxicology entries, Mark Alesia and Tim Evans report today in a lengthy story in the Indianapolis Star that:

The first major report from an audit of the Indiana State Department of Toxicology further brings into question the validity of potentially hundreds of drug and alcohol tests performed at the lab in recent years.

The findings from the audit, provided to The Indianapolis Star, showed errors in about 200 of 2,000 marijuana tests reported to law enforcement as having positive results. That includes about 50 described as "a conscious manipulation of results" by lab workers. * * *

[Former Marion County Prosecutor Scott Newman, who was hired to fix the agency] acknowledged there is potential for numerous verdicts to be overturned and cases to be dismissed, although not every error is necessarily connected to a wrongful conviction. Some of the problems may not be significant enough to change the outcome of cases. * * *

Newman said the agency is notifying lawyers involved in the 200 cases and preparing for an onslaught of inquiries, including those from defense attorneys who want their own expert to review test results.

The audit eventually will cover every case from 2007 to 2009 in which the lab reported a positive result -- more than 10,000 overall. But Newman said the initial findings are troubling enough that he probably will extend the audit back to 2006. The audit, conducted by outside scientists, is of paper records. * * *

In addition to notifying prosecutors and defense attorneys, Newman said there is also the complex task of working with lawyers on a plan for uniform standards for handling legal challenges. That plan, he said, should "ensure there's some fundamental fairness about what's going on statewide."

Newman said he has begun working on suggestions based on the degree of error by the lab and the seriousness of the crime. That would help determine what role a potentially flawed test result played and whether a case is dismissed outright or fought in court.

[Steve Johnson, executive director of the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council] said that although it will be important for the legal community to work out basic guidelines for handling troubled cases, most will have to be sorted out individually.
Other questions remain

Another question is what to do about guilty pleas that might have been influenced by preliminary test results reported by the Department of Toxicology without the more detailed, and required, confirmatory testing.

Also unclear: the cost to taxpayers for fixing the errors by Indiana University and the department, and where the audit will lead.

"Everybody asks, 'How far back do you go to satisfy the urge for justice?' " Newman said. "There's really no legal answer to that question. Anybody who suffers a continuing legal disability because of a bad lab result deserves relief."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 3, 2011 08:10 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts