Closing arguments are ongoing today in the trial of accused sniper suspect John Muhammad. Opening arguments are underway in the trial of younger suspect John Lee Malvo.

Yesterday, the Associated Press released details of an earlier FBI investigation into one of the state's forensic chemists who testified at Muhammad's trial. The prosecution claims it didn't know any of this stuff. Clearly, it is Brady material that should have been turned over. If the AP located the material, the Prosecution could have obtained it as well.

A government chemist who testified in the Washington sniper case kept a "sloppy" office that raised concerns of contaminated evidence and has made numerous racially insensitive remarks, according to evidence the government has had for more than a decade.

The Virginia prosecutor handling the trial of sniper defendant John Allen Muhammad said Thursday he wasn't aware of the information, obtained by The Associated Press, before he put government chemist Edward Bender on the witness stand last week. "And I'm not aware of it today," Paul Ebert said.

....FBI and Justice Department documents obtained by AP detail testimony from colleagues and supervisors that Bender made racist comments that were pervasive enough to raise concerns among at least one colleague about his impartiality in cases. A supervisor and "Bender continually and loudly expressed strong racial prejudice using such words as 'jungle bunnies' and 'niggers' repeatedly," a 1991 FBI memo stated, recounting allegations from one of Bender's lab colleagues.

There's more, go read. As to "Brady,"

The government and prosecutors are required under a Supreme Court ruling known as Brady v. Maryland to provide defendants with all "material" information affecting their case, including derogatory information that could impact the credibility of prosecution witnesses.

Another Supreme Court case, Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419 (1995) held that the duty of disclosure is not limited to evidence in the actual possession of the prosecutor. Rather, it extends to evidence in the possession of the entire prosecution team, which includes investigative and other government agencies. See also Strickler v. Greene, 119 S.Ct. 1936, at n.12 (1999).

Update: The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) has had Bender on its list of the Ten Most Unwanted Government Forensic Witnesses for a few years. Here's the Bender information NACDL obtained from the Inspector General's report and the FBI files: