Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: In 2002, local television journalists exposed serious problems in the DNA/Serology unit of the Houston Police Department Crime Laboratory. A state audit confirmed that the laboratory had, for many years, employed dangerously inadequate procedures and misrepresented scientific findings. Journalistic investigation also discovered a case, that of Josiah Sutton, in which a man had been falsely convicted by bad DNA evidence. In dozens of additional cases, retests of DNA evidence produced results different from what the Police lab had initially reported. The DNA/Serology section of the laboratory was closed and several laboratory and police officials resigned while a variety of investigations, including a grand jury probe, were underway. Serious problems in other sections of the laboratory also came to light. This paper will explore the roots of this scandal seeking to explain how problems of this magnitude could develop and persist for many years without being detected and exposed by the justice system. The paper will argue that the crime laboratory debacle is a predictable consequence of a deeply flawed system of justice. It will offer an analysis of ways in which the criminal justice system of Harris County, Texas fostered biased scientific testimony and shielded it from effective scrutiny.