Nashville Criminal Law Report : Nashville DUI Lawyer & Attorney : Rob McKinney Law Firm : TN Criminal Defense, Domestic Violence : Cheatham, Davidson, Montgomery Counties

I just ran across some great information by Christine Funk. Ms Funk is a criminal defense lawyer in Minnesota. Here is her interview of  M. Fredric Rieders, Ph.D. Dr. Rieders is a forensic toxicologist and CEO at NMS Labs.  http://www.nmslab.com/  In this interview, Dr. Rieders provides basic information about what a forensic toxicologist does and how the work can assist law enforcement in assessing the significance of toxicological findings

Here is the link to Ms Funk's podcast on crime lab issues.

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Numerous problems in San Francisco's forensic crime lab have resulted in hundreds of drug cases being dismissed and hundreds more are under investigation.The root of the problem are accusations that an employee of the San Francisco Police Department's crime lab was stealing cocaine.

Lab Tech Deborah Jean Madden is under investigation for theft and possibly evidence tampering.The crime lab was shut down in early March.Over 600 drug cases have been dismissed so far.San Francisco's crime lab is not independent from the police department.

Police Chief George Gascon ordered an audit of the crime lab which found several problems including problems in the "chain of custody" record keeping for seized drugs. and improperly sealed drug envelopes.The audit found the evidence tampering would have been prevented had good laboratory practices been in place.

It appears the police knew of the problems with Ms.Madden as long ago as 2005 when 4 grams of cocaine handled by Ms. Madden came up missing in a federal racketeering trial Ms.Madden had been repeatedly counseled when she failed to follow laboratory protocol.

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 In light of the finding of the innocence of a North Carolina Man,Gregory F. Taylor ,North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper has ordered a review of the state's crime lab after disclosures about practices there that led to the exoneration of Mr.Taylor who had been wrongly accused of murder.Two former assistant directors of the Federal Bureau of Investigation will review the crime lab's practices and protocols in criminal cases dating back to the 1990's. I had previously reported that a special panel reviewed Mr.Taylor's case and found by clear and convincing evidence that Mr. Taylor was innocent.The conviction was based on flawed evidence from the crime lab.One key piece of evidence used at trial was blood stain evidence. The stains found in the truck were not human blood which the prosecutor alleged.

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