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Houston Crime Lab Fabricated Test Results

By TChris, Section Misconduct
Posted on Tue May 31, 2005 at 08:48:01 PM EST
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by TChris

The crime lab in Harris County, Texas is so pathetic that Houston's Chief of Police called for a moratorium on Harris County executions if the convictions were based on the lab's analysis of forensic evidence. It has been clear for some time that the lab's scientists lacked adequate training and supervision. (More TalkLeft coverage here and here.)

An independent investigator revealed today that the problem extended beyond incompetence.

[I]nitial examination of data from the lab has uncovered a practice called "drylabbing," which is considered the most egregious form of misconduct in a forensic lab.

At least four times, lab analysts fabricated data from tests that were never conducted. The practice may have been widespread, as the lab analysts worked largely unsupervised for six years.

Houston isn't the only city that suffers from sloppy police science. Lousy lab work almost caused an innocent man to be executed in Virginia. A Cleveland lab analyst's lie led to 13 years of unjust imprisonment. A lab analyst in Washington also falsified his testimony. The fingerprint unit in Boston was shut down after a man spent six years in prison on the basis of a mistaken print identification. The FBI's fingerprint analysis can be just as bad. And the list goes on and on.

< New Terror Suspect Claims Entrapment | Court Limits Testimony Against Awadallah >

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    Houston Crime Lab Fabricated Test Results | 16 comments (16 topical)
    Re: Houston Crime Lab Fabricated Test Results (none / 0) (#1)
    by DawesFred60 on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:29 PM EST
    Did I see the words "Fabricated test results"? that is insane but normal in many state, someone is getting paid off here. how sad for the people that have been killed by the state with the test lab info. just would love to see some people go to prison over this madness.

    Re: Houston Crime Lab Fabricated Test Results (none / 0) (#2)
    by scarshapedstar on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:31 PM EST
    Well, you know, you wanna make a freedom omelet you gotta blah blah clinton did it.

    Re: Houston Crime Lab Fabricated Test Results (none / 0) (#3)
    by Johnny on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:32 PM EST
    this is 100% not surprising.. In order to appear "tough on crime" politicians need convictions... And if the true freedom based way of actually presenting a case to convince jurors does not work, they resort to this crap...

    Re: Houston Crime Lab Fabricated Test Results (none / 0) (#4)
    by Pete Guither on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:32 PM EST
    The irony is that "appearing" tough on crime can actually be soft on crime. If your trumped up evidence ends up convicting an innocent person, then the actual murderer is walking around free, and you're not even looking for him. Same thing is true for prosecutors who refuse to consider DNA tests for those who were convicted years ago, etc. They'd rather let the real criminals roam free than admit they might have been wrong.

    Re: Houston Crime Lab Fabricated Test Results (none / 0) (#5)
    by Jlvngstn on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:32 PM EST
    Why is there not outrage from the right for these innocent victims? Because when law and order commit crimes it is a "bad apple" and when a common criminal breaks the law they are irredeemable? The talking heads were all over Geragos for defending olewhatshisname and Johnny Cochran (rip) was the butt of major criticism from the right punditry, but you never see 20 minutes a night on Scammity and Dolmes or O'Liar, or the idiot blonde show committed to the gross injustice inflicted on those abused in this manner. "if you were arrested you must be guilty of something" is a sick thought process..

    Re: Houston Crime Lab Fabricated Test Results (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:32 PM EST
    "just would love to see some people go to prison over this madness." Well, if somebody was executed on the basis of fabricated lab reports, the persons responsible belong on death row--I don't believe in capital punishment as a rule, but if anyone deserves it . . .

    Re: Houston Crime Lab Fabricated Test Results (none / 0) (#7)
    by pigwiggle on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:32 PM EST
    Drylabbing? Unreal. I recently watched a PhD thesis defense where the candidate had spent 5 years to come up with no result. She stood up and defended five years of work for which the only result was her five years of work were unable to produce a result (and passed). I don’t know what this says about her competency but it says loads about her integrity. These folks were charged with a monumentally important task. If they were unable to produce a result, due to incompetence or otherwise, that is the result. This is criminal and should be prosecuted. If anyone was wrongly killed by the state, these folks should be charged with first-degree murder. If anyone wrongly served jail time, these folks should serve double. Oh, and spinning this as the fault of conservatives is more than a little pathetic, come on folks.

    Re: Houston Crime Lab Fabricated Test Results (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:32 PM EST
    Good morning PW, A few comments, First, I would argue that not getting a result can be a valid result that contributes to scientific knowledge and is defensible in a Thesis. Years ago I worked in an Astrophysics lab as an administrative person. A guy I remember well spent five years trying to measure certain particles in Outer Space. He doesn't design an experiment on his own but is advised as to methodology and experimental design by his thesis committee. Well, this poor kid (who was extremely smart) calculated measurements for holes through which these particles passed. The holes were ultimately too big and didn't catch (and thus measure) these particles. I remember his disappointment and anger that his thesis had to be of the kind you described, Pig. Something along the lines of "we know that particle X cannot be measured by holes of this size". Another situation, however, would be an experiment that failed to deliver a result but in this eliminated a theory of why something happens. To make something up, let's say that a Ph.D. student spent his/her five years studying whether a certain protein prevents the mutation of cells causing cancer. A Thesis stating that "we now know that this protein is not a source" could be valuable information. Therefore, if the methodology is good and the thesis sound, I say give the poor suffering student their degree so they can earn enough to pay off their student loans. Re the blaming of conservatives - I would argue here that the privatizaton/corporatization of jails, combined with the Republican platform's zealous anti-crime crusading for the last 25 years, justified by political gains, racism and a "war on drugs" and gangs, has led to a prosecutorial zeal that, combined with the idea of victims "rights" in creating a punative, subjective bias in our courts.

    Re: Houston Crime Lab Fabricated Test Results (none / 0) (#9)
    by Patrick on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:32 PM EST
    JL, I'm on the right, and I find this conduct outrageous and criminal.
    Because when law and order commit crimes it is a "bad apple" and when a common criminal breaks the law they are irredeemable?
    It frequently is a bad apple, but I personally only use that argument when people take those incidents of misconduct and try to paint an entire professional as criminal. Not just cops, but lawyers (Well they reall are all bad)too. Oh yeah, and many times that bad apple is irredeemable as are many in the prison system.

    Re: Houston Crime Lab Fabricated Test Results (none / 0) (#10)
    by Jlvngstn on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:32 PM EST
    P, I specifically mentioned right punditry, not right commenters. Significant difference, but am glad you consider it criminal and abhorrent.

    Re: Houston Crime Lab Fabricated Test Results (none / 0) (#11)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:32 PM EST
    Right on Johnny...more and more it seems getting the right guy is secondary to getting a conviction. Whether the guy convicted actually did it doesn't seem to be of concern to anyone. Sad but true.

    Re: Houston Crime Lab Fabricated Test Results (none / 0) (#12)
    by pigwiggle on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:32 PM EST
    mfox- I agree that no result is actually the enumeration of methods that don’t work, and is worthy of merit. In fact this has been the bulk of my work for the last four years. There are an infinite number of ways to do something wrong and a finite number of ways to do it correctly, sometimes only one way. I believe that most conservatives actually want the criminal justice system to be ‘tough on crime’ and not just keep up the appearance. Consequently these folks should, and I’m sure do, want the real perpetrators caught and convicted. If the general sense of this drive for justice motivates a few lab techs to cut corners and manufacture results they need to be punished, and according to my sense of justice, severely. Ill pat myself on the back here; I found out his morning that thanks to some results I produced in the last year my group will receive $0.5 million over three years from the DOE hydrogen fuel cell initiative; some of which will pay my salary. There is a great deal of pressure for results in my lab but I have never once considered manufacturing data and I believe that none of my colleagues have. Really, it is short sighted; I think anyone too incompetent to produce defensible results is likely too incompetent to cover their forgery.

    Re: Houston Crime Lab Fabricated Test Results (none / 0) (#13)
    by Dadler on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:33 PM EST
    wow, we all think fabricating results is bad. aren't we all going out on a limb this afternoon?

    Re: Houston Crime Lab Fabricated Test Results (none / 0) (#14)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:33 PM EST
    Crime lab hanky panky doesn't seem to be a 'few bad apples', it seems to be part of the prosecutorial system. From the FBI labs,to state labs we hear about it over and over. The worst that happens is someone gets suspended (with pay, which is what I call a vacation) or resigns only to get hired by another crime lab. The lowest rated tech in our labs wouldn't keep their jobs for a minute if they practiced the outcomes based research that these labs do.

    Re: Houston Crime Lab Fabricated Test Results (none / 0) (#15)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:33 PM EST
    As far as negative results go:"Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won't work." Thomas A. Edison

    Re: Houston Crime Lab Fabricated Test Results (none / 0) (#16)
    by DawesFred60 on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:34 PM EST
    Oh god this is not what justice should do. but bin laden must be loving it.

    Houston Crime Lab Fabricated Test Results | 16 comments (16 topical)