FORT WORTH -- Earlier this year, a supervisor in the crime lab at the Tarrant County medical examiner's office noticed two unbroken seals on rape kits that supposedly had been screened already by a serologist.
A day later, the serologist, who had reported "negative" results on the rape kit tests, was suspended, and crime lab officials examined the seals of every rape kit he had tested since he was hired in 2006.And then the office filed a self-complaint with the Texas Forensic Science Commission. It was the first self-reported complaint the commission has received from a Texas crime lab, a commission official said.That's the kind of swift action needed to stamp out "dry labbing" -- the practice of reporting forensic tests without doing them, the state's top forensic panel said."They are a model for other laboratories facing similar things," said Lynn Robitaille, counsel for the Texas Forensic Science Commission. "Laboratories face challenges, and the way those challenges are handled, that is the most critical thing.''At its quarterly meeting Friday in Austin, commission members commended the lab and also concluded that the serologist had committed "professional misconduct."The serologist resigned from the lab March 23.Critics, including some of the nation's forensic scientists, say "not so fast.""They are going to do a commendation to the lab for doing its job -- for doing the bare minimum?" said Amy Driver, a forensic scientist in Washington, D.C., who hosts a blog on the forensic science community.A deeper examination is needed because the findings call into question the serologist's previous work, they said.When someone has done something "grossly dishonest,'' said Maine forensic scientist Thomas L. Bohan, "you have to really suspect everything that person has done."How can crime lab officials be assured that other problems don't exist?, they asked."If I was put in prison based on a test that guy had done and if I was the attorney who represented someone based on the DNA test, I'd be hammering down the door of the courthouse to get my appeal in,'' said Driver, who is a firearms examiner and an expert on crime-scene reconstruction."That's outrageous."An investigative panel of the commission announced at the meeting Friday that the lab doesn't need to do further testing.Members also said that no criminal charges would be filed by the Tarrant County district attorney's office. A DA spokeswoman said she could not provide further clarification Monday. Ron Singer, the ME's crime lab director, did not return calls requesting comment Monday.In the self-complaint to the state commission, Singer outlined steps the lab took to try to fix problems that could unjustly tip the scales in a criminal case.The serologist's work was frequently re-examined by the lab's DNA analysts while the serologist was employed, the complaint stated. Mistakes appeared to have been an oversight over "approximately a one-year time frame" when the serologist "had significant distractions in his personal life," the complaint stated.As many as five incidents of dry labbing were "isolated and sporadic," the lab reported.Crime lab officials emphasized the rape kits were thoroughly reviewed. "Other available kit items in each of the cases were sampled and tested appropriately,'' according to the complaint.The lab is accredited by the American Society of Crime Lab Directors.The state commission is expected to release a draft report of the findings at its Oct. 5 meeting, Robitaille said.Tarrant County Medical Examiner Nizam Peerwani is a former chairman and Lance Evans, a Tarrant County defense attorney, is a former member of the nine-member forensic commission. Richard Alpert, assistant Tarrant County district attorney, is a current member.Yamil Berard, 817-390-7705Twitter: @yberardHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
