American Society of Crime Lab Directors

DA Candidates Call for Release of Secret Crime Lab Memo, Citing SF Weekly Cover Story

​Contenders in this year's election for San Francisco District Attorney have called on current DA George Gascón to release an internal memo that criticizes procedures for analyzing DNA evidence at the San Francisco Police Department Crime Laboratory.The memo, the existence of which was first reve ... More >>

Crime Lab Confidential: DA and SFPD Withheld Damaging Memo About DNA Lab Failings

Newspaper Backs Up Alleged 'Misquote' of Top CA Forensic Scientist

​We reported a few weeks ago on the uproar caused in North Carolina by Jill Spriggs -- chief of the California Department of Justice's Forensic Services Bureau -- when she defended controversial crime-lab practices before a panel of North Carolina legislators. In a brief interview at the time, Spr ... More >>

Top State Forensic Analyst under Fire for Defending Disgraced NC Crime Lab

​The top forensics official at California's Department of Justice has come under attack for public statements defending controversial practices at a crime lab in North Carolina.Jill Spriggs, chief of the DOJ's Bureau of Forensic Services, appeared before a panel of North Carolina legislators a few ... More >>

Draft of Forensic Science Reform Bill Released

Forensic science: Too old-school?​The office of U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has released a draft version of legislation to reform the field of forensic science across the country -- an effort that could eventually have an impact on the troubled San Francisco Police Department crime lab.Amy Dri ... More >>

A Timeline of Problems at the SFPD DNA Lab

​Through reporting over the past month, SF Weekly has uncovered multiple instances of scientifically and ethically questionable conduct by DNA analysts at the San Francisco Police Department Crime Laboratory. Our findings focus on two lapses in particular: the destruction of records of a potential ... More >>

The Paper Trail: Documents Raise Doubts About the SFPD Crime Lab's DNA Unit

​Problems with the quality of DNA evidence at the San Francisco Police Department Crime Lab, and efforts to conceal those problems by government officials, are extensively documented through letters, reports, and e-mails. Below are the key records underlying SF Weekly's reporting on the crime lab' ... More >>

Exclusive: Prosecutor Says DA Is Sitting on His Report Critical of Crime Lab

Rockne Harmon​DA's Office Denies Memo's Existence, But Prosecutor and DNA Expert Says He Wrote It in MarchOne of the nation's foremost DNA experts says he wrote an in-house report for the San Francisco District Attorney's office criticizing the DNA unit of the San Francisco Police Department Crime ... More >>

Exclusive: SFPD Concealed DNA Sample Switch at Crime Lab

​Records of bungle in 2008 case were destroyed, investigation findsA forensics analyst's error that resulted in a mix-up of DNA samples, reportedly in a homicide case, has been concealed by officials at the San Francisco Police Department crime lab for close to two years, SF Weekly has learned. Th ... More >>

Accused Coke Thief Lab Tech Has Colleagues in High Places

​The allegations tumbling out of the city's much-maligned crime lab seem to be ripped straight from Law & Order. Veteran lab tech Deborah Madden is accused of purloining the cocaine she was supposed to be testing, resulting in a swath of accused felony drug-pushers literally earning a Get Out ... More >>

Police Will Still Bust Drug Dealers Despite Crime Lab Closure

Still in business...​Police Chief George Gascon ensured in a Thursday afternoon press conference that police are continuing to bust drug dealers even as the department crime lab's narcotics unit went dark this week after accusations one of the civilian lab technicians was skimming drugs from evide ... More >>