Crime Labs

June 2024 Report of Susan Brooks

The AAFS Standards Board develops documentary standards for forensics through a consensus process, involving participation by all directly and materially affected persons. Standards are being developed for each forensic discipline.

Report submitted by Judge Vince Rozier during his time as Ombudsman to the SBI. The document includes a memo by Judge Joseph John responding to the recommendations of the Ombudsman. The report was released by the SBI in Aug. 2011.

Chris Swecker and Michael Wolf were retained by the NC Attorney General’s Office to conduct an independent review of the Forensic Biology Section of the SBI Crime Laboratory. The investigation began in March 2010 and focuses on policies, procedures and practices between 1987 and 2003. The Appendix to the report contains a list of affected cases.

• Additional 75 cases – In March 2011, an SBI internal review of serology cases revealed an additional 75 defendants whose cases were affected by the same problematic reporting practices as the 230 cases identified in the Swecker Report. The additional cases were discovered when lab staff hand-reviewed files that had been screened electronically for the Swecker investigation.

The Wolf Memo – Michael Wolf’s provided a summary of Forensic Serology Laboratory Reporting Policies from the FBI and other states around 1990/1991.

The News and Observer published Chris Swecker’s previous report to the SBI regarding SBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Dwight Ransome and related SBI policies and procedures. This report was commissioned by the Attorney General’s Office following Ransome’s involvement in the Alan Gell case. Recommendations from this report included changes to the SBI’s Report Writing Manual, additional training regarding obtaining and preserving documentary evidence, and confirmation from relevant DA’s offices that potential exculpatory material was provided in specified SBI investigations.

This 2001 report by the North Carolina Medical Examiner Study Group was requested by the legislature in part in response to a series of news articles that raised concerns about the quality of death investigation in North Carolina. The report provides information about the structure and responsiblities of the Medical Examiner system and makes a number of recommendations for improving the system including improved training, utilization of trained death investigators, and assuring adequate resources for the performance of death investigation and autopsies throughout the state.

The Forensic Book Club has selected its next read and we hope you’ll join us in reading and discussing it! Our next book will be Forensics and Fiction: Clever, Intriguing, and Downright Odd Questions from Crime Writers. We’ll meet virtually to discuss on July 13 at 6 pm. Note that you may want to get the …

The Forensic Book Club has selected its next read and we hope you’ll join us in reading and discussing it! Our next book will be The Secret History of the Rape Kit: A True Crime Story. We’ll meet virtually to discuss on Mar. 30 at 6 pm. This book came out in 2025 and generated a …

Would you like to see where evidence is tested at the State Crime Lab and learn more about the methods used at the Lab? The NC State Crime Laboratory is offering a tour of the Lab in Raleigh for criminal defense attorneys and investigators. The tour will take place on June 19, 2025 at 9:30 …

Here are some staff members from the 39th Defender District PD Office (serving Cleveland and Lincoln counties). Pictured left to right: Tim Hajj (Investigator); Hailey Porterfield (APD); Andrew Arden (APD); Deidre Nachamie (APD); Allison Garren (APD); and Ivana Hughes (APD). About 20 assistant public defenders, private defense counsel, investigators and legal assistants from Rutherford, Lincoln, Cleveland, …

The North Carolina State Crime Lab is offering open house opportunities for the public. Scientists from the various disciplines will be available to provide demonstrations and answer questions. The open houses will take place at the following times: Raleigh Lab – April 8, 2025: 4-8 pm and April 10, 2025: 4-8 pm Western Lab – …

Would you like to see where evidence is tested at the State Crime Lab and learn more about the methods used at the Lab? The NC State Crime Laboratory is offering a tour of the Western Regional Lab in Edneyville for criminal defense attorneys and investigators. The tour will take place on Apr. 4, 2025 …

As regular readers know, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Smith v. Arizona, 602 U.S. 779 (2024), this past June. The decision undercut the reasoning used by North Carolina courts to justify the practice of permitting substitute analysts to offer an independent opinion about the forensic report of another, nontestifying analyst (as discussed here and here). Until this week, no …

The Forensic Book Club is starting its second book and will meet virtually to discuss on Feb. 10 at 7 pm. We hope you’ll join us. We are a group of defenders, scientists, one prosecutor, one ombudsperson, and a judge! The next book we’ll be discussing is Blood, Powder, and Residue: How Crime Labs Translate …

Amanda W. Thompson has accepted a new role as Director of the North Carolina State Crime Laboratory. Director Thompson has been with the crime laboratory since 2000. She was hired as a DNA Database Analyst and then promoted to a Forensic Scientist in the Forensic Biology Section where she served as a Forensic Serologist and …

The State Crime Lab recently got a new Ombudsperson who may be familiar to many of you: former IDS Defender Administrator Susan Brooks. As Ombudsperson, Susan will be responsible for addressing concerns about the Crime Lab’s policies, procedures, and actions. She will also assist in mediating conflicts and resolving complaints, and she will apprise the …

Recording of Quattrone Center 2024 Spring Symposium

Free live webinar offered by IDS

Free to attend webinar offered by IDS and Mecklenburg County Public Defender's Office

Recorded webinar available for CLE credit

Register here.

The Quattrone Center invites you attend a talk with author Brandon Garrett on his new book “Autopsy of a Crime Lab: Exposing the Flaws in Forensics.” This book exposes the imperfect forensic evidence that we rely on for criminal convictions. He will be joined by Dr. Itiel Dror, University College London and Maneka Sinha, University of Maryland Carey School of Law.

Autopsy of a Crime Lab is the first book to catalog the sources of error and the faulty science behind a range of well-known forensic evidence, from fingerprints and firearms to forensic algorithms. Garrett poses the questions that should be asked in courtrooms every day: Where are the studies that validate the basic premises of widely accepted techniques such as fingerprinting? How can experts testify with 100 percent certainty about a fingerprint, when there is no such thing as a 100 percent match? Where is the quality control in the laboratories and at the crime scenes? Should we so readily adopt powerful new technologies like facial recognition software and rapid DNA machines? And why have judges been so reluctant to consider the weaknesses of so many long-accepted methods?

Taking us into the lives of the wrongfully convicted or nearly convicted, into crime labs rocked by scandal, and onto the front lines of promising reform efforts driven by professionals and researchers alike, Autopsy of a Crime Lab illustrates the persistence and perniciousness of shaky science and its well-meaning practitioners.

Duke Law Professor and Wilson Center Director Brandon Garrett’s new book, Autopsy of a Crime Lab, Exposing the Flaws in Forensics, is the first to catalog the sources of error and the faulty science behind a range of well-known forensic evidence, from fingerprints and firearms to forensic algorithms. Join us for a roundtable discussion about the book and its findings with Garrett; Erin Murphy, Norman Dorsen Professor of Civil Liberties at New York University School of Law; Edward Cheng, the Hess Chair in Law at Vanderbilt Law School; and Jennifer Mnookin, Dean, Ralph and Shirley Shapiro Professor of Law, and Faculty Co-Director of Program on Understanding Law, Science and Evidence at UCLA Law. This event will also feature a Q&A. Registration is required. RSVP here: http://bit.ly/AutopsyRSVP. Sponsored by the Wilson Center for Science and Justice. For more information, contact Marlyn Dail at wcsj@law.duke.edu.

A new installment of the Stetson Law Crime Scene to Courtroom webinar series, Emerging Issues in the Evolution of the Texas Forensic Science Commission and National Reform is presented by Lynn Robitaille Garcia, General Counsel for the Texas Commission on Forensic Science. Over the course of the webinar, Ms. Garcia describes the changes that have taken place in Texas’ forensic science policy over the course of the last few years and the underlying issues motivating those changes. Additionally, Ms. Garcia addresses changes to forensic policy taking place on a national level and the obstacles to potential reforms. Link to course materials below:

• Outline
• Learning Objectives
• PowerPoint Presentation
• Webinar Recording

*Attendees who complete this webinar are eligible for CLE credit. Click here to apply for CLE credit.

The Center for Statistics and Applications in Forensic Evidence (CSAFE) is offering a webinar, Crime Lab Proficiency Testing and Quality Management. This event will be held Tuesday, January 21st from 11am-12pm, CST.  

In the wake of recent reports documenting the vulnerability of forensic science methodologies to human error (e.g., NAS, 2009; PCAST, 2016), the field has sometimes pointed to proficiency testing as evidence of disciplines’ validity and/or reliability.  In 2015, the Houston Forensic Science Center adopted recommendations for blind proficiency testing by implementing a blind quality control program.  The objective of the program is to supplement mandatory proficiency tests as well as to provide real-time assessment of analysis procedures, determine areas of improvement, and ensure that stakeholders are receiving accurate and reliable results.  This webinar will detail the origin, maintenance, and benefits of HFSC’s blind quality control program within the Latent Print Comparison section.  HFSC personnel will also describe obstacles to the implementation of the program and feasible solutions.  

By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:

1. Identify and discuss the need for quality management beyond traditional proficiency tests.
2. Describe how one laboratory successfully implemented a blind quality control program, using the latent print comparison unit as an illustrative example.
3. Identify hurdles, and solutions, to the implementation of a blind quality control program.

Presenters include:

• Brett Gardner, Sharon Kelley and Daniel Murrie, University of Virginia
• Maddisen Neuman, Callan Hundl, Rebecca Green and Alicia Rairden, Houston Forensic Science Center

Please visit the CSAFE Events Page to register for the webinar. The event will take place via the videoconferencing software Zoom. Participation instructions will be emailed after registering for the event.

All members of the broader forensic science community are welcome to attend and we encourage you to invite additional colleagues. Please contact CSAFE Research Administrator Marc Peterson at marc@iastate.edu with any questions or concerns.

NACDL will host its annual forensic science CLE in Las Vegas on April 3-4, 2020. Topics include facial recognition software, SANE evidence, cross-examination of experts, arson investigations, latent fingerprints, electronic evidence, toxicology evidence, and more! Scholarships are available through NACDL.

This database can be used to identify which laboratories are accredited.

Sample notice of objection to the admission of lab report without the testimony of the chemical analyst

This sample motion contains a request for specific discovery, motion to preserve evidence and motion to produce for an in camera inspection by the court is another approach.

June 12, 2012 State’s Motion requesting information regarding State Crime Lab certification exams. No file stamped version is available.

Hearing regarding SCL analyst certification results has been continued to June 26, 2012 at 2 pm.

Judge Gary M. Gavenus’s July 13, 2012 order requiring the State Crime Laboratory furnish to each District Attorney in the State the first and second letter containing the actual certification exam results and designated areas requiring further study.

July 17, 2012 memo to defense attorneys regarding Judge Gavenus’s order.

August 2, 2012 letter notifying defense attorneys who represented clients in approximately 80 resolved cases involving an analyst who was unsuccessful on his or her certifying exam. The letter specifies how information on analyst certification exam results will be provided based on Judge Gavenus’s order.

Civil complaint against former SBI agents/supervisors/directors Deaver, Taub, Nelson, Keaton and Elliot filed in U.S. District Court in Raleigh on June 28, 2011.

Extends the time for local forensic science labs (other than the North Carolina State Crime Laboratory) to become accredited from July 1, 2013 to July 1, 2016.

Section 6 of this law extends the time for local forensic science labs (other than the North Carolina State Crime Laboratory) to become accredited from October 1, 2012 to July 1, 2013. Section 6.1 clarifies which State Crime Laboratory employees are required to become certified.

Signed into law by Governor Beverly Perdue on March 31, 2011. Sections 1-5 and 7-11 became effective when the act became law. Section 6 (Ombudsman position) becomes effective on July 1, 2011.