A state-ordered report found that agents in North Carolina repeatedly aided prosecutors in obtaining convictions during a 16-year period, mostly by misrepresenting blood evidence and keeping critical notes from defense attorneys.

Defense attorneys are calling for the closure of the state run lab and the creation of an independent lab possibly run by a private company.

Attorney General Roy Cooper has urged the lab to seek outside input or oversight, and there has been a call to end the lab’s policy of keeping reports secret.

The review found 230 cases in which eight SBI analysts filed reports that, at best, were incomplete. Of those, 190 resulted in criminal charges.

Source: Citizen-Times