North Carolina: State Bureau of Investigations Ordered to Review Old Cases in Light of Exoneration (2/28/2010)
After the three judge panel that comprises the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission found Gregory Taylor innocent of a crime for which he spent 17 years in prison, North Carolina Attorney General, Roy Cooper has ordered a review of thousands of cases analyzed in the last twenty years by the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI). In Taylor’s case, two tests were conducted to determine if a substance on his car was blood. The first, a phenolphthalein test, a field test used to determine if a sample could be blood, was positive. The test can also test positive for the presence of metals, plant and animal matter. The second test, conducted to determine specifically if the sample is blood, was negative. The analyst in this case included the first test result, but not the second in his laboratory report. According to the SBI Director, the analyst’s conduct was not against the agency’s policy. Information about a negative follow-up test are included in the analyst’s bench notes, but the policy was not to include it in the lab reports submitted to the courts. While a representative from the organization that accredits the SBI stated such a policy is unacceptable, the SBI has been reaccredited continuously since 1988. Read more:
News Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
Daily Reflector
