Houston's Crime Lab in Shambles
By Jeralyn, Section Inmates and Prisons
Posted on Sat Mar 01, 2003 at 07:28:40 PM EST
Tags: (all tags)
Posted on Sat Mar 01, 2003 at 07:28:40 PM EST
Tags: (all tags)
The problem with Houston's crime lab is growing fast.
"Prosecutors have ordered new DNA testing on evidence used to convict 10 more people, four of them now on death row, after an independent audit uncovered widespread problems at the Houston police lab." "Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal has said several hundred cases perhaps as many as 400 will be retested. Twenty-one had been ordered by Saturday, including seven involving death row inmates."One of the main problems with the Houston lab was that holes in the roof leaked water, possible contaminating the DNA samples and compromising the testing. But for a state audit in December, this might have gone unreported. As a result of the audit, DNA testing was suspended at the lab.
Sooner or later, if it hasn't happened already, an innocent person is going to be put to death. Not only does Texas lead the country in number of executions, but if Houston were a state, it would come in second. This should be the final straw to imposing a moratorium on the death penalty in Texas.
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