Rockne Harmon

DNA Lab Cover-Up: SFPD to Investigate Claims in Secret Court Records

Judge Unseals Secret Court Records Detailing Alleged DNA Lab Cover-Up

Rockne Harmon co-authored a controversial internal memo on crime lab problems​A judge unsealed court records today detailing a whistle-blower's allegations that police and prosecutors might have been involved in an orchestrated effort to mislead auditors about the state of the San Francisco Police ... More >>

Secret Court Transcript Reveals Concerns About 'Deliberate Attempt' to Mislead Crime Lab Auditors

​Judge: "It's always the coverup that makes the things worse than the problem to begin with"The San Francisco Police Department and District Attorney's Office are both implicated in allegations that a deliberate effort was made to conceal defects at the city's troubled forensics lab from state in ... More >>

Defense Lawyers Get DNA Lab Documents; Prosecutors Fighting to Keep Them Under Seal

​Attorneys in the Public Defender's office have obtained a portion of a memo critical of the DNA section of the San Francisco Police Department crime lab, and say they plan to use the document as evidence in a high-profile murder case.Deputy Public Defender Mark Jacobs said today that part of the ... More >>

DA's Office to Comply with Judges' Orders Unsealing Secret Crime Lab Memo

Rockne Harmon​A spokesperson for San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón said this afternoon that the DA's office will obey an appellate court's ruling that prosecutors disclose a potentially damaging memo on problems with DNA-testing procedures at the San Francisco Police Department crime ... More >>

State Appeals Court Upholds Judge's Order Unsealing Secret DNA Lab Memo

​A panel of state appeals-court judges has upheld a San Francisco Superior Court judge's order last month that District Attorney George Gascón release a secret memo describing problems with DNA analysis at the San Francisco Police Department crime lab.The decision appeared to remove the last barr ... More >>

Read the DA's Appeal of Judge's Order Unsealing DNA Lab Memo

​As expected, the office of San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón on Monday filed an appeal of a judge's order that prosecutors share with defense lawyers an internal memo criticizing the San Francisco Police Department crime lab.The memo, authored by veteran prosecutor Rockne Harmon, a f ... More >>

DA Candidates Ramp Up Attacks on George Gascón over Efforts to Conceal DNA Lab Memo

Photo courtesy Sharmin Bock for District AttorneyBill Fazio, David Onek, and Sharmin Bock speak to reporters at City Hall​Candidates attempting to unseat District Attorney George Gascón in the November election held a press conference today in an effort to draw attention to Gascón's continued ef ... More >>

DA's Office to Appeal Judge's Order Unsealing DNA Lab Memo

George Gascón​Prosecutors in the office of District Attorney George Gascón have decided to appeal a judge's order that they release an internal memo detailing problems with DNA analysis in the San Francisco Police Department crime lab.The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Saturday that the DA' ... More >>

Over Prosecutor's Objections, Judge Says He Is 'Compelled by Law' to Release DNA Lab Memo

​A judge rejected a prosecutor's pleas today that he reconsider his decision to release a controversial secret memo criticizing the San Francisco Police Department crime lab, stating that he is "compelled by law" to share the document with defense attorneys.In his rulings, San Francisco Superior C ... More >>

Judge Orders District Attorney George Gascón to Release Secret Crime Lab Memo

Rockne Harmon​A judge ordered prosecutors to release an internal memo criticizing DNA testing procedures at the San Francisco police crime lab today, an unexpected turn of events that could have serious political and legal ramifications for the SFPD and the office of District Attorney George Gascà ... More >>

DNA Lab Memo at Center of Legal Battle in Gruesome 1976 Murder Case

AFP/Getty ImagesRockne Harmon​A secret internal memo criticizing DNA analysis procedures at the San Francisco Police Department crime lab has become an issue in prosecutors' efforts to obtain a conviction based on DNA evidence in the grisly rape and murder of a San Francisco woman in 1976.San Fran ... More >>

City Attorney Says DNA Lab Memo Is Exempt from Public Records Act

Rockne Harmon co-authored a controversial internal memo on crime lab problems​We reported Tuesday that City Attorney Dennis Herrera's office, contrary to assertions made at a public debate last week by District Attorney George Gascón, had not provided an opinion as to whether a controversial inte ... More >>

City Attorney Contradicts DA George Gascón's Statements on DNA Lab Memo

George Gascón​The San Francisco City Attorney's Office yesterday contradicted statements District Attorney George Gascón made last week about why his office has refused to release an internal memo criticizing the DNA unit of the city's troubled police crime lab.The memo, which was authored by na ... More >>

DA George Gascón Defends Handling of Crime Lab Memo

George Gascón​District Attorney George Gascón fought back against attacks on his suppression of an internal memo criticizing the San Francisco Police Department Crime Lab's DNA unit at a public forum for DA candidates last night, asserting that his office was prepared to disclose the memo throug ... More >>

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 >>

SF Weekly Letters

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

DA's Office Belatedly Mails Memo Criticizing Crime Lab to Defense Lawyers

Kamala Harris​Questions About Secrecy Surrounding Document PersistThe San Francisco District Attorney's Office has quietly begun supplying criminal defense lawyers with an internal memo that criticizes the work of the San Francisco Police Department Crime lab's DNA Unit.The document, obtained by S ... More >>

Prosecutor: Crime Lab Produced 'Misleading' Report Implicating Murder Suspects

Rockne Harmon​District Attorney Releases Critique of DNA Evidence in 2007 HomicideA highly regarded prosecutor and DNA expert who was employed for three years at the San Francisco District Attorney's office authored a critique of work at the San Francisco Police Department crime lab earlier this y ... More >>

SFPD crime lab's DNA evidence could be tainted by concealed mistakes

DA Kamala Harris Says She Never Saw Report Criticizing Crime Lab

Kamala Harris​SFPD Chief Also Denies Awareness of Critique Written by Prosecutor and DNA ExpertDistrict Attorney Kamala Harris and San Francisco Police Chief George Gascón both said today they have never seen and were not aware of a report in which a renowned prosecutor says he criticized the sup ... 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 >>

DNA Lab Fallout: Lawyers Ask Judge to Dismiss Rape Cases Over Sample Switch

​Two San Francisco defense attorneys are asking that their clients' rape cases be dismissed because of a DNA sample mix-up -- and its subsequent concealment -- at the San Francisco Police Department crime lab in 2008.The cases may be the first to be directly affected by the latest lab scandal, whi ... 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 >>