The possible exoneration of a man convicted of rape in 1987 has led investigators of the Houston police department crime laboratory to conclude that the lab’s reliability crisis may be worse than was first anticipated. This revelation could lead to re-testing of evidence in thousands of additional cases from the past 25 years. Six independent forensic scientists said that a crime laboratory official either lacked the basic knowledge of blood typing or knowingly gave false testimony leading to the conviction of George Rodriguez for rape nearly two decades ago. Rodriguez’s case led the panel to conclude that the official, who later became head of crime lab’s DNA unit, might have offered “similarly false and scientifically unsound” reports and testimony in other cases. Their conclusion escalates the number of crime lab cases to be reexamined from 360 to an estimated 5,000 - 10,000 cases, a number that would surely include some capital murder trials from Harris County. According to forensic expert Barry Scheck of The Innocence Project in New York City, “We know already that they couldn’t do DNA testing properly. Now we have a scandal that calls into question many thousands more cases. And this jurisdiction has produced more executions than any other county in America.” Of the 323 people executed in Texas since the death penalty was reinstated, 73 have been from Harris County. The Houston DNA lab was shut down shortly after a state audit found that DNA technicians there had misinterpreted data, were poorly trained and kept shoddy records. In many cases, the technicians used up all available evidence, making it impossible for defense experts to refute or verify their results. (New York Times, August 5, 2004) See Innocence.
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