Accuracy of Detroit police crime lab is questioned
All firearms investigations temporarily suspended
BY ERIC D. LAWRENCE and BEN SCHMITT
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
April 26, 2008
The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office plans to review a year's worth of Detroit criminal cases involving firearms amid concerns raised about the accuracy of police ballistics testing.
The case that caused the review is the May 27 shooting deaths of two men sitting in a car on Detroit's east side.
The Detroit Police Department's crime lab tests showed 42 shell casings were fired by the same weapon, while two other tests showed that the casings came from at least two weapons, Chief Ella Bully-Cummings said at a Friday news conference.
Now, Detroit attorney Marvin Barnett, who first discovered the error, said thousands of appeals could be forthcoming in criminal cases.
"This is a very serious matter," Maria Miller, a spokeswoman for Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, said Friday. "That's why Prosecutor Worthy took immediate action."
A source told the Free Press Friday that federal authorities would be called in if any evidence of criminality is turned up. At the moment, however, the problem appears to have resulted from sloppy work performed by a former employee, the source said.
Miller said the results from the office's review will be made available to every defense attorney involved.
At the news conference, Bully-Cummings announced she was suspending all firearms testing through the department's crime lab pending an audit from the Michigan State Police.
While it has not been determined which agencies will handle firearms testing for Detroit police during the suspension, State Police and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will be assisting, said George Krappmann, a spokesman for the ATF.
Barnett said he initially asked Detroit police to retest the casings, and they refused. He then tested the equipment with his own investigator. Barnett said he has found discrepancies in three other cases involving firearms and one drug case.
The State Police crime lab's findings confirmed Barnett's tests, Miller said.
"It's devastating, because if you have one bad lab, it just spoils the whole bunch," Barnett said.
