Critical Lab Report Likely to Be Cited in Some Drug Appeals
A report concluding that drug evidence could have been skewed by sloppy work in the New York police lab in 2002 is likely to spur appeals by inmates imprisoned on the strength of such evidence.
Inspector General Kristine Hamann said the department cut corners in drug tests and recommended a possible criminal investigation, the Associated Press reports. The police department has begun a review of 3,000 drug cases as a result of her report, but some of the samples have been destroyed, the New York Times reports.
The report said the lab failed to notify the state about 2002 drug testing errors until March 2007, making an investigation difficult.
Peter Neufeld, co-founder of the Innocence Project, told the Times the report could “undermine God knows how many convictions” in drug cases.
