Feb. 21, 2008, 11:38PM
Problems persisted at reformed crime lab
DNA division called 'out of control' before it closed for a second time

By ROMA KHANNA
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

Months before the Houston Police Department shut down its DNA
division for the second time, analysts warned of problems.
• Aug. 7: DNA division manager coaches analysts on skills test.
• Aug. 9: An analyst voices her concerns to the quality assurance
manager.
• Aug. 24: Top police management become aware of the cheating
allegations and an investigation is launched.
• Jan. 24: HPD shuts down its DNA division for the second time.
Months before the troubled Houston crime lab shuttered its DNA
division for a second time, analysts and a supervisor warned
investigators of continuing problems, including contamination,
questionable procedures, and lost evidence, according to a police
investigative report obtained by the Houston Chronicle.

So serious were the issues that DNA section leader Vanessa Nelson
described the division as "clearly out of control." She told Houston
Police Department internal affairs officers to consider halting DNA
testing altogether in September — four months before police
management made the move to close it.

"Since August 21, the section has reported a sample switch, lost
evidence, lost paperwork and two incidences of contamination," Nelson
told internal investigators Sept. 8. "Analyst morale is at an all-
time low, and I question whether or not the section should suspend
testing until the entire issue is resolved."

Her comments and others in the 73-page investigative report belie the
image of a rehabilitated crime lab at a time when the department was
trying to restore public confidence in its work.



Mired in controversy

Since the 2002 exposure of shoddy work and poorly trained personnel,
HPD's crime lab has been mired in a forensics controversy that has
cast doubt on thousands of cases and led to the exoneration of three
men convicted with faulty evidence.

Irma Rios, HPD's crime lab director, described the most recent
troubles as the sort of growing pains expected with the total
reinvention of the DNA division. She stressed that each problem has
been addressed, with additional training, new procedures and a
thorough cleaning of the lab to prevent contamination.
"We need to look at the time when these statements were made," she
said. "The (internal) investigation had begun and that added to
tension in the lab. We take allegations very seriously and respond
appropriately."
The internal affairs investigation started in response to allegations
that Nelson and two midlevel supervisors had improperly coached DNA
analysts on a routine skills test in August. Investigators concluded
managers indeed had discussed the proficiency test, in violation of
policy, and recommended that Nelson and a midlevel manager be fired.
Nelson resigned in January to avoid termination, and the Texas
Department of Public Safety hired her to lead the DNA division of its
McAllen crime lab. Attempts to reach her Thursday were unsuccessful.
Nelson's departure left Houston's DNA division without a supervisor
and forced HPD to suspend DNA testing for the second time in six years.
In the course of investigating the cheating allegations, Nelson and
others in the DNA division told officers of other troubles at the
lab, including attempts to misrepresent the chain of custody on an
evidence sample and orders for analysts to do work they were not
trained to perform.

Low morale, confusion

The analysts' comments depict a DNA division far different from that
police management described as reformed and poised for excellence in
2006 after it earned national accreditation for the first time and
resumed DNA testing after an interruption of more than three years.

In statements to investigators, analysts described low morale,
confusion about how to raise complaints, and fears that their
concerns would be '"swept under the rug," according to the
investigative report.
The analyst who lodged the cheating complaint, Yukiko "Jay" Agnew-
Phillips, detailed conversations in early August in which Nelson and
two midlevel managers openly discussed the skills test and told
analysts how to handle specific questions on the test.
Agnew-Phillips, who since resigned from the crime lab, said she was
"extremely disturbed by recent events" and noted that it took weeks
from when she first voiced concerns about the proficiency tests for
lab management to hear about the incident.
She also described an August incident in which a fellow analyst
attempted to recreate lost paperwork detailing the custody of
evidence samples.
"I'm pretty sure we are not supposed to be re-creating the chain of
custody and pretending like we didn't lose it," she said she told the
analyst.
Later, the lab's quality control manager instructed the analyst to
report the loss of the original paperwork.
Other analysts echoed her comments.
"I actually could not believe that the test was being discussed," one
told investigators about the proficiency test incident.
"I was torn by my feelings, also about not saying anything about how
I felt, but I did not know how to go about bringing the matter up or
who to bring it up to."

Hard to concentrate

Perhaps the most serious concerns were raised by Nelson herself.

She told investigators that resentment and tension amongst the
analysts jeopardized work and threatened the DNA division's ability
to accurately process cases.
"The analysts in the section are clearly out of control and they will
succeed in destroying the lab we worked so hard to create if they
proceed on their current course," Nelson's statement says. "No one in
the section is able to concentrate on the analysis of evidence
because of what is going on."
Rios, the crime lab's director, told the Chronicle that because of
the issues raised by analysts, particularly those about
contamination, HPD halted DNA testing for two weeks in September to
do a deep cleaning of the lab and also implemented new procedures.
"We did an intense cleaning of the lab," she said. "We have not had a
single incident of contamination since. Each of the concerns that
were raised was addressed."
roma.khanna@chron.com



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