In March, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper ordered an independent review by two former FBI agents of the State Bureau of Inspection (SBI), the state's crime lab, after an agent testified that the crime lab had an unwritten policy of excluding complete blood tests results from reports provided to defense lawyers before trials. The report was released today and it has shocking results. The independent review found that the crime lab omitted, overstated or falsely reported blood tests in dozens of cases. The cases involved three that ended in executions and another involving the murder of Michael Jordan's father. The report found that the crime lab repeatedly aided prosecutors in obtaining convictions over 16 years by misrepresenting blood evidence and keeping important notes and documents from defense attorneys. The report calls on the review of 190 criminal cases in which "information that may have been material and even favorable to the defense of an accused defendant was withheld or misrepresented." The report finds that the lab may have violated federal and state laws that evidence favorable to the defendants must be disclosed to their lawyers. At least four of those cases involve inmates that are on death row and one inmate whose death sentence was commuted to life.
It is amazing that this story is being swept under the rug and is not being reported widely by the media. This is a huge story that deserves more attention.
For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.
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