Lawyers group urges lab review

A legal organization has requested that a state panel investigate the state’s forensics labs.

That could mean as many as three separate reviews of the crime lab in the wake of recent problems that include the loss of blood-alcohol samples for Fred Russell, who is now on trial for vehicular homicide in the deaths of three college students.

Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste has asked the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors to review WSP’s lab operations. And the agency is negotiating with another group for an additional review, said Batiste.

The outside request came from the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, who want an investigation by the state Forensic Investigations Council.

In July, WSP’s toxicology lab manager Ann Marie Gordon resigned amid a criminal investigation. She had given assurances that machines used for testing blood alcohol levels were appropriately prepared and tested before being used.

“There are hundreds of breath tests where it has been determined that the results are wrong,” said Kevin J. Curtis, president of the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Over the last 1 1/2 years, there were at least 36 DUI cases statewide in which it was determined the machines gave wrong calculations, officials said. Done correctly, those tests would have been below the legal blood-alcohol limit.

The state’s audit of the lab also revealed that record-keeping and data analysis were “deficient during Gordon’s tenure,” officials said. Those inadequacies included the loss of blood-alcohol samples for Fred Russell, who is now on trial for vehicular homicide in the deaths of three Washington State University students.

Officials also discovered that Evan Thompson, a ballistics expert, provided “misleading and unfounded testimony” in several cases. Thompson resigned in April.

The Forensics Investigations Council, whose members are appointed by the governor, looks at allegations of serious negligence or misconduct in forensic work relating to crimes.

As of Tuesday, Curtis had not heard whether the council would do the investigation.

“I’m not aware of anything of this magnitude in terms of forensic testing,” he said. “The public needs to have confidence in its crime labs.”