SBI audit reveals 230 cases tainted by shoddy work
Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 9:41 am
It is unfortunate that the actions of a few bad apples can soil the reputation of many...
August 19, 2010: Scathing SBI audit says 230 cases tainted by shoddy investigations
The North Carolina justice system shook Wednesday as an audit commissioned by Attorney General Roy Cooper revealed that the State Bureau of Investigation withheld or distorted evidence in more than 200 cases at the expense of potentially innocent men and women.
The full impact of the disclosure will reverberate for years to come as prosecutors and defense attorneys re-examine cases as much as two decades old to figure out whether these errors robbed defendants of justice. Some of the injustices can be addressed as attorneys bring old cases back to court. For others, it's too late: Three of the defendants in botched cases have been executed.
Read more: Scathing SBI audit says 230 cases tainted by shoddy investigations
The News & Observer reported this month in a series, Agents' Secrets: Junk Science, Tainted Testimony at the SBI that analysts across the laboratory push past the accepted bounds of science to deliver results pleasing to prosecutors. They are out of step with the larger scientific community and have fought defense attorneys' requests for additional information needed to review the SBI's work. Cooper last month dismissed SBI Director Robin Pendergraft after she struggled to answer questions about SBI cases and policies.
August 19, 2010: Scathing SBI audit says 230 cases tainted by shoddy investigations
The North Carolina justice system shook Wednesday as an audit commissioned by Attorney General Roy Cooper revealed that the State Bureau of Investigation withheld or distorted evidence in more than 200 cases at the expense of potentially innocent men and women.
The full impact of the disclosure will reverberate for years to come as prosecutors and defense attorneys re-examine cases as much as two decades old to figure out whether these errors robbed defendants of justice. Some of the injustices can be addressed as attorneys bring old cases back to court. For others, it's too late: Three of the defendants in botched cases have been executed.
Read more: Scathing SBI audit says 230 cases tainted by shoddy investigations
The News & Observer reported this month in a series, Agents' Secrets: Junk Science, Tainted Testimony at the SBI that analysts across the laboratory push past the accepted bounds of science to deliver results pleasing to prosecutors. They are out of step with the larger scientific community and have fought defense attorneys' requests for additional information needed to review the SBI's work. Cooper last month dismissed SBI Director Robin Pendergraft after she struggled to answer questions about SBI cases and policies.