The Washington Post is reporting that the FBI is investigating a firearms analyst at the District of Columbia Department of Forensic Sciences. The investigation involves an allegation that the examiner falsely indicated that his analysis of evidence had been verified by a colleague, when it actually had not undergone a required review.
Additionally, in October, the Justice Department asked the D.C. department to turn over documents and communications dealing with firearm evidence examination policies as well as any reviews or indications of errors, according to a document obtained by The Washington Post. The request called for material dating to 2015. It was unclear whether any errors have been uncovered in firearm analysis reports.
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The $220 million facility was built in 2012 to much ado, including praise that it would help quickly process evidence all around D.C. That did not turn out to be the case in the beginning.
By early 2015, two audits found that the lab’s DNA procedures were inadequate, leading to the lab losing its national accreditation and jeopardizing nearly 200 cases. At the time, D.C. district prosecutors within the U.S. attorney’s office alerted city officials to what they described as numerous errors with DNA analysis performed at the lab.
The director of the lab, Max Houck, resigned shortly after the audits, and two other senior officials, the chief scientist and the senior manager for DNA testing were all let go.
However, Jenifer Smith took over the embattled agency and, as of 2018, the lab was meeting industry standards again. In a press conference at the time, Smith said she eliminated old policies and practices when she took over as director. As a result, the forensic lab had two clean audits from accrediting bodies, and improved communication with D.C. police and prosecutors.
“Our DNA lab, the lab that was suspended, is no longer lagging in the field of DNA analysis. Our DNA lab is now leading the way,” Smith told WTOP in 2018. “For both our firearms and fingerprint labs, the target was to complete 50 percent of homicide and priority cases within 60 days. For four straight quarters, firearms examiners exceeded this goal and completed over 83 percent of these cases within 60 days. Equally impressive, our latent fingerprint completed over 95 percent of their priority cases in 60 days.”
Photo: Inside the District of Columbia Department of Forensic Sciences crime lab. Credit: DC.gov