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Mark · Site Admin Joined: 13 Nov 2007 Posts: 1052

Detroit Police Lab Is Closed After Audit Finds Serious Errors in Many Cases

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/26...1222420943-0sr4vrgE+tyOBX8aLWeKeA

Excerpt:

The Police Department here shut down its crime laboratory on Thursday after an audit uncovered serious errors in numerous cases. The audit said sloppy work had probably resulted in wrongful convictions, and officials expect a wave of appeals in cases that the laboratory processed.

The interim mayor, Kenneth V. Cockrel Jr., and the new police chief, James Barren, ordered the laboratory closed; Mr. Cockrel called the audit’s conclusions “shocking and appalling.” Pending and future cases will be sent to the Michigan State Police, which operates seven laboratories.