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Lab Results

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August 02, 2003, 08:13
JB
Lab Results
After a lot of media pontificating, here are the results of a grand jury investigation in the HPD lab:

HOUSTON

Grand jury: No wrongdoing at labs

A grand jury investigating the Houston police crime lab's troubled DNA section said Friday that it could find no criminal wrongdoing.

"We had the unique opportunity to look at this situation from the top to bottom, and anywhere else we saw fit to look, to see who truly bore criminal responsibility for their actions, or, more appropriately, their lack thereof," the anonymous grand jury wrote in a statement provided by state District Judge Mary Lou Keel's court.

In June, two top officials at the lab resigned rather than be fired, and five employees were suspended. For the DNA section leader, who earlier had retired, a recommendation was placed in his file that he not be rehired.

The DNA section of the police crime lab was closed in December after an outside audit revealed serious deficiencies, including a lack of training, insufficient documentation and possible contamination of DNA samples.

The audit resulted in a review of more than 1,300 cases where DNA analysis was done by the police lab. So far, 369 cases have been sent to a private DNA lab for retesting.

Retest results have been returned in 24 cases. Results were confirmed in 19 cases and overturned in one; inconclusive preliminary results have been received in four others.