Earlier today, two former FBI agents released a scathing review of blood work done by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation's lab. The convictions of over 200 inmates are now in doubt.
According to the new review, the cases involved SBI lab reports that were overstated, misleading or omitted important information about negative test results that would have been favorable to the defendants. The SBI's lab work is often powerful evidence in criminal cases, shaping decisions at the heart of a defense that include decisions about plea bargaining or how to cross examine witnesses.
The audit examined 15,000 cases from 1987 to 2003. Of these, they found 269 instances where the lab either failed to report negative or inconclusive results, filed misleading reports or overstated lab results. At present, 80 of the defendants are still in jail and five died in prison. Included are seven death-row inmates, three of which have been executed.
While policy has since been changed, it's still cold comfort to those still in prison--and to those who died in custody.
The most ghastly case is that of Desmond Carter, who was executed for a March 1992 murder. Carter confessed to the crime after SBI analyst Duane Deaver stated that a sample he tested was Carter's blood. However, Deaver didn't tell anyone that a second test to confirm the result turned up negative. Deaver is the same SBI analyst whose botched handling of a sample from Greg Taylor resulted in him being exonerated earlier this year and started the current scrutiny of the SBI's practices. Taylor had spent 17 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit.
The AP reports that two of the other questionable convictions involve the murder of James Jordan, Michael Jordan's dad. An SBI analyst claimed to find blood, but didn't report that four subsequent tests were inconclusive.
It's not been a good last 48 hours for the SBI. Yesterday, it emerged that for years, the SBI frequently identified prescription drugs by simply looking through a pharmaceutical manual rather than testing them.
These revelations should shock anyone's conscience. I say once more--the only solution is for the SBI to be placed under court supervision.