This Raleigh DUI lawyer is enthusiastic about a recent news story. According to the Raleigh News Observer , a coalition of civil and criminal attorneys is calling for the creation of an independent forensic laboratory. “Instead of being a tool of unbiased scientific analysis, with the chief goal being discovery of the truth, the SBI crime lab is often a tool of accusation and prosecution, with the chief goal being conviction,” said Phil Baddour, president of N.C. Advocates for Justice . According to Baddour, “it is imperative the state build an independent and fully funded crime lab, led and staffed by qualified scientists, who are not beholden to law enforcement, but are only beholden to the scientific method.”
North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper , a former legislator who oversees the SBI, has said it’s essential the lab stay put — citing concerns about analysts not having access to certain national databases unless they are sworn law enforcement officers.
The idea of forensic laboratory independence has been a central recommendation by the nation’s leading minds called upon to study the strength of science used to solve crimes.
In 2009, the National Academies, the nation’s leading advisory group on matters of science, medicine and engineering, urged states to make their labs independent. “Forensic science serves more than just law enforcement; and when it does serve law enforcement, it must be equally available to law enforcement officers, prosecution and defendants in the criminal justice system,” the 2009 report said.
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I don’t know about you but its always bothered me a bit that the forensic evidence used to convict a defendant in court is tested and controlled exclusively by the prosecution and local police departments. Indeed, independent blood testing in DUI cases often show mistakes and errors by the SBI crime lab — usually in favor of guess who, the prosecution.
