CJPC Criminal Justice Policy Brief

Audit Undermines Confidence in SBI

The appalling revelations of withheld information and even intentional falsification of evidence uncovered in a recent audit have shocked and appalled citizens across North Carolina.

After an extensive investigation by Raleigh News and Observer reporters Mandy Locke and Joe Neff, Cooper ordered an outside audit conducted by former FBI agent Chris Zwecker. The findings from that audit are likely to reverberate for years. The audit found 230 cases with 269 defendants in which information had been withheld, overstated or falsified. At least 80 of the 230 individuals are still in prison.

It's now clear that "junk science" has been used to bolster prosecutor's cases.

What's even worse: three of the cases known to be problematic included prisoners who have already been executed and four others were cases of those currently on death row.

Here's a few of the comments that have come in the wake of the SBI report:

Seth Edwards, President of the Conference of District Attorneys, Beaufort County - "Restoring the public's confidence not only in the SBI lab, but our entire system of justice, is our paramount concern, and a full scale audit of the lab is a step in the right direction." Edwards also recommended not going forward with executions while problems with the lab are being examined. - Raleigh News and Observer.

Former Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake - "I'm absolutely shocked and astounded by the depth of the problem." - Raleigh News and Observer.

Sen. Phil Berger (R), Minority Leader - "The last thing we want is someone who has been convicted based on evidence that is tainted, particularly if that evidence have been tainted through some action by a state agency." - Winston Salem Journal.

Click here to link to the SBI series:

Death Cases: Unique Problems

Three of the cases known to have problems included prisoners who have already been executed - a shocking and sobering finding. Four others are currently on death row! Death cases comprise a unique and separate category of the 230 cases that were found to have tainted evidence.

It's impossible to revisit a case once a person has been executed. That single fact means that every prisoner under a death sentence - and those who have already been executed - must be carefully reviewed now that egregious problems with the SBI lab have been identified. It's unthinkable to move ahead without a careful review.

Union County DA John Synder (R) has already said he'll review all his past homicide cases. We hope that means he will allow outside and independent testing of evidence.

What makes even more sense is for the Governor to immediately commute all death sentences to life. That will protect the public, save state dollars, court time and insure that no one can be executed improperly.

See the following story in the N&O series for details on the death cases:

For Executed Men, Audit's too Late

All the Other Cases - What's Next?

Legislative Hearings

Legislators are moving quickly to conduct their own review of problems at the SBI lab. The joint House - Senate Committee on the Preservation of Biological Evidence is chaired by Rep. Rick Glazier and Sen. Ed Jones. The committee will be meeting on Thursday, Sept. 16 at 9:30 am in Room 643 of the Legislative Office Building. All legislative meetings are open to the public.

We expect legislators to be searching for ways to restore confidence in the SBI lab as quickly as possible. While that's an essential step, it doesn't appear that it will be quick or easy.

More Audits

This week, Attorney General Cooper called for additional audits of the SBI lab. The firearms and toolmark section and the DNA section will be audited by the FBI. The ATF will assist in the audit of the firearms and toolmark section. Cooper has suspended all activities in the serology unit for the time being.

There are still 4 other units, though, and with all the problems that have surfaced, those units need to be investigated as well. Audits should be undertaken in the sections dealing with digital evidence; drug chemistry and toxicology; latent evidence; and trace evidence.

Cases in Trial

Problems with the SBI have already become a focus for cases that are currently in trial and the problems are being taken seriously by court officials.

In a murder case currently in process in Alamance County, Judge JB Allen allowed a motion and funding for independent testing. Allen refused to postpone the case, but he ordered the SBI to cooperate in additional testing.

Convictions won with Tainted Evidence - Prisoners' Legal Services will be heading up the review for prisoners whose cases were won with illegal evidence. It's expected that there will need to be - at a minimum - an outside review of all the evidence used to win these cases. Calls have already been made for new trials in all of these cases. Prisoners, or their attorneys, who have a question about their case should contact PLS directly (they cannot answer questions from family members or friends) at:

Prisoner Legal Services

PO Box 25397

Raleigh, NC 27611

Calls for an Independent Lab - There have been many calls for separating the lab from law enforcement. The audit has made it clear that some "scientists" and "analysts" in the SBI lab were far too often working to bolster the theory of law enforcement or prosecution rather than pursuing the truth. This practice must be stopped if confidence is to be restored. Establishing an independent lab may be the ony way to insure that the truth is pursued.

Interested in Staying Informed? - If you live out of the N&O readership area and are interested in staying informed about the developments with the SBI lab and send us an email at:

info@justicepolicycenter.org.