Historic lab audit in Houston reveals major flaws

An independent investigation of the Houston Police Department crime lab has just been completed, and the final report reveals even more problems in an unprecedented pattern of forensic errors. In 2002, all DNA testing at the lab was stopped after a report revealed widespread problems with testing, evidence storage and management. Evidence from hundreds of cases was retested and ripples were felt throughout the area’s justice system. In 2004, Innocence Project client George Rodridguez was released from prison after serving 17 years for a crime he didn’t commit. Faulty testing in the Houston lab contributed to his wrongful conviction.

A few months after Rodriguez was exonerated, independent investigator Michael Bromwich began a thorough probe into the lab’s practices and history. Six reports in the last two years have detailed serious errors at the lab and have suggested measures to correct these problems. The final report, released last week, recommends that officials conduct more testing in more than 400 cases in which initial lab work was flawed. The Innocence Project recommends the appointment of a special master to review and work through the cases identified because the people whose cases have been identified as problematic deserve a careful review.

The report details years of mismanagement and a close relationship between law enforcement agencies and forensic scientists. A column in the Houston Chronicle this week called for labs nationwide to operate independently from police departments in the wake of the Houston audit. Read more about the final report on the Innocence Blog and download all six reports here.

Tune In: Innocence Project clients share their stories in national media

Millions of people nationwide are getting an in-depth understanding of wrongful convictions from three Innocence Project clients whose stories have been featured in major media outlets in recent days.

Byron Halsey, who was released from prison in New Jersey in May, spoke with Charlie Rose about his experiences during nearly a quarter-century of wrongful incarceration. Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck, who will appear in court with Halsey next month at a hearing to drop all the charges against him, was also interviewed on the PBS program. Watch the episode online here.

"Proof of Innocence," a new television program about Innocence Project cases, premiered on the Discovery Times channel last week. The debut episode featured the case of Innocence Project client Clark McMillan, who was exonerated in Tennessee in 2002. View upcoming show times for "Proof of Innocence."

National Public Radio profiled Larry Peterson's long journey to freedom. NPR’s Robert Siegel first met Peterson in 2005, the 17th and final year Peterson spent in New Jersey prison for a crime he didn't commit. With his freedom on the horizon, Peterson sat in an interview room in Trenton State Prison and told Siegel that "people say nothing good comes out of Trenton State. Something is about to come out of Trenton State that's good: Larry Leon Peterson." The reporter followed Peterson for the next two years – as the conviction was overturned, as he was released when his family posted bail, as the charges were finally dropped when prosecutors decided not to retry him, and as Peterson adjusted to his newfound freedom. Listen online to the two-part series that aired last week on NPR’s All Things Considered.

More to come: Tune in on Tuesday, June 26, at 11:30 p.m. ET (10:30 CT) to watch 200th exoneree Jerry Miller on Comedy Central's Colbert Report.