Errors in 65 cases lead to transfer of crime scene... - KPRC Houston

HOUSTON - A crime scene investigator in the Houston Police Department was transferred after investigators found dozens of errors in case reports.

The Houston Forensic Science Center on Wednesday reported to the state’s forensic oversight commission on the errors made by a crime scene investigator that required final case reports to be amended.

In auditing the officer’s cases dating back to October 2015, HFSC found 65 cases with incomplete documentation, according to an HFSC release. Thirty-two had additional administrative errors, and evidence had been misplaced in eight instances.

The affected cases include 26 homicides and five officer-involved shootings. The district attorney has been notified of all the incidents.

HFSC amended all 65 case reports.

The crime-scene officer was reassigned to a patrol position in the Houston Police Department, according to the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

The problems were found during an audit of 88 cases on which the investigator worked after a few issues were noted in a handful of cases,
HFSC said.

The supervisor who conducted the initial technical reviews of the investigator’s work and did not identify the quality issues has been temporarily removed from duties, the organization said.

“HFSC has taken measures to address the mistakes made in these cases and to prevent similar errors going forward,” said Dr. Peter Stout, HFSC’s CEO and president. “The crime scene unit is a focus of HFSC’s efforts to ensure high-quality science is conducted throughout the organization, and steps are being taken to retrain and increase the technical capabilities of the staff.”

Some of the steps are in response to an audit released last summer that found that HFSC should have at least two investigators responding to major crime scenes and should take more precautions to secure the integrity of the area.

HFSC said that in response to the audit and the more recent incidents in the crime scene unit, it has hired more than six investigators in the last year, including supervisors, and plans to hire more.

Measures have been taken to better secure crime scenes, HFSC said. All personnel in the inner perimeter of the crime scene are required to wear gloves, shoe coverings and particle masks to protect the evidence and prevent contamination.

The inner perimeter of the scene is sectioned off with red crime-scene tape, in addition to yellow tape, which marks the crime scene boundary. The inner crime scene area is restricted to key personnel, primarily crime scene and homicide investigators, HFSC said.

“We will continue to work closely with HPD and other stakeholders to ensure this first step in the forensic process evidence collection is done scientifically and is of the highest quality to help ensure the integrity of all subsequent forensic analysis,” Stout said.

The Harris County District Attorney’s Office said it is notifying defense lawyers that a crime scene investigator made errors dating back to October 2015.

Prosecutors are sending notifications about the findings and the name of the officer to lawyers in each case involved, the DA's office said.

“Defense lawyers are going to have a chance to determine for themselves the relevance of these errors or omissions,“ Tom Berg, first assistant for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, said Tuesday. “Because most of these cases have not yet been fully adjudicated, we won’t speculate on the possible impact, if any.”

Police Chief Art Acevedo addressed the errors Wednesday.

“The Houston Police Department has been made aware of the corrections that needed to be made with the work of a crime scene investigator by the Houston Forensic Science Center. Both classified and civilian employees performing Crime Scene functions are managed and controlled by the Houston Forensic Center. At this time, we have no indication of misconduct by any HPD employees but have been made aware that corrections to reports were needed.

"By policy, Dr. Stout, CEO of the HFSC, has made necessary disclosures to the Texas Forensic Science Commission and the District Attorney's Office. The Houston Police Department is a customer of the HFSC and our main priority is to receive quality, timely, accurate forensic results so we can be responsive to victims and solve crime. The department will examine the results of their recent audit. I have ordered an administrative inquiry into this matter and will report our findings in the near future.”

Ray Hunt, spokesman for the Houston Police Officers' Union, said the center continues to place blame on the department, but the blame lies in the inadequate training at the center.

Download the Click2Houston news app in your app store to stay up-to-date with the latest news while you're on the go.

Sign up for KPRC 2 newsletters to get breaking news, sports, entertainment, contests and more delivered straight to your email inbox.

Let's block ads! (Why?)