This post is an idea that has been simmering with me for a long time, so it is not particularly “timely” in terms of current events (except for the one noted at the bottom), but it does show how deeply, but almost invisibly, the criminal justice system can be corrupted on behalf of police and prosecutors.
When starting a long story, it’s always best to start at the beginning. Unfortunately in this case, It’s hard to find the beginning, so let’s start with the catalyst: In 2009, the National Academy of Sciences published its long-awaited report on the state of forensic science in the US: “Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward.” While being careful to moderate their findings and recommendations, the report was scathing. Many forensic techniques were simply not based on actual science and when subjected to actual science analysis, where found to be “junk.” The FBI crime lab had already endured several scandals involving hair microscopy, bullet-lead analysis and bite-mark analysis. Faulty arson-investigation techniques lead to the almost certain wrongful conviction and execution of Cameron Todd Willingham in Texas. An additional issue was that even when proper the evidence was based on acceptable scientific methods; labs would over-state findings, alter or simply fabricate findings due to pressure from, or loyalty to, the police and prosecutorial agencies that they served.
The NSA report made many recommendations to increase the accuracy and integrity of forensic science in the US, but the most important, in my view, was to create forensic labs that were independent of police and prosecutors, rather than controlled by them. In 2011, Washington DC became the first, and so far the only, jurisdiction to follow the NAS recommendation and established the Department of Forensic Sciences as an independent agency. The department began operations in October 2012 and quickly obtained accreditation. Internationally recognized forensic expert Dr. Max Houck was the director and, working with the lab’s legal counsel, he immediately implemented a policy that ensured that both prosecutors and defense attorneys had equal access to forensic evidence, something that is virtually unheard of in most jurisdictions. Of course, the department still had to rely on many police officers as forensic investigators until civilians could be recruited and trained, but DC was on its way to establishing a truly independent forum of forensic analysis.
That all came to a screeching halt in 2014, when Michael Ambrosino the Assistant US attorney in charge of prosecuting DNA and forensic cases in Washington DC, expressed “concerns” about protocols used in the D.C. DNA lab to interpret complex DNA mixtures. In January 2015, he stopped sending DNA sample to DC DFS and began sending them to Bode Technology Group, a private lab in Virginia, whose supervisor of forensic casework, Andrea Borchardt-Gardner, was also … Ambrosino’s girlfriend.
The US Attorney’s office then hired a panel of outside experts that were critical of the lab’s interpretive techniques, and recently elected DC Mayor Muriel Bowser (more on that later) quickly contacted another outside agency to audit the lab, report findings were similar to the critique of the US Attorney’s panel. It is interesting to note, however, that the criticisms leveled at the lab in these reports, were techniques and methods of analysis that are widely used and accepted by the majority of other forensic labs across the country , as noted by Dr. Jay Seigel, in his resignation letter when he resigned in protest form the DC DFS board of directors (in fact, the FBI taught the forensic “experts" it trained how to testify in a way that implied far greater certainty than their tests could support, part of the criticism of the DC lab). It is also important to note that the accrediting agency, hired by the Mayor, met with the US Attorney’s office prior to their audit, but the Public Defender’s office request to attend the meeting was denied.
As a result of these highly publicized (by the Mayor and US Attorney’s office) reports, the director and many of the top officials at the DFS lab were fired or forced to resign. Director Siegel clearly stated that the firings and forced resignations were not based on science, but political interference so typical in DC.
It was not until October of 2015 that the other shoe dropped: After a “nationwide” search, the DC Forensics labs announced the hiring of a new manager of its forensics unit after firing all of its top staff over the summer. The “most qualified” candidate in the entire country was none other than: Andrea Borchardt-Gardner.
That’s right! The most qualified DNA manager in the entire country to run the one and only “independent” forensics lab in America was the girlfriend of the prosecutor who tries DNA and forensic cases in that jurisdiction.
Oh, and back to Mayor Bowser, she was able to unseat the sitting Mayor, Vincent Gray, in the democratic primary in April of 2014, despite the fact that the sitting Mayor had a double-digit lead over the field in January. How did that happen? Well, the US Attorney for DC, Ron Machen, held a press conference a month before the election to announce the plea bargain of a local businessman who had been corrupting DC politics for decades, and STRONGLY implying that the sitting Mayor would be the next indictment. That swung the primary to Bowser. Just yesterday, the new US Attorney (the one who replaced Machen) announced that the investigation of the former Mayor would being dropped for lack of evidence, after an investigation that lasted over 4 years.
But, through the combined efforts of the US Attorney and the Mayor, the independent Department of Forensic created under Mayor Gray, is no longer independent.
And you thought Marion Barry was corrupt?
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