I-Team: Backlog of evidence analysis at State Crime Lab stalls justice
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- The I-Team went behind the locked doors of the State Crime Lab, exposing how the wheels of justice are stalled in thousands of criminal cases because crime scene evidence has not been processed.
We took a look at samples connected to criminal cases that were all stuck in limbo inside refrigerators at the State Crime Lab in Raleigh.
The I-Team reveals the price taxpayers and loved ones of crime victims are paying because of the backlog, and how justice delayed may be justice denied.
Bonita Scarlett will never forget the day her 25 year-old son, Nigel, was killed.
"On the death certificate it's got gunshot to the head that killed him," Bonita said, "I got there and I think I just fainted."
Dante Terrell was charged with the murder. Police believe he was the triggerman in a drive-by shooting on Crest Street in Durham in December of 2011.
Bonita explains, "Nigel was shot 5 times."
Terrell has been in jail since the deadly shooting - two and a half years ago. Bonita is still waiting for his trial.
The Durham District Attorney's Office told her the trial is delayed because it's still waiting for DNA testing from the State Crime Lab.
Since Terrell has been in jail, his bail has been reduced several times.
Bonita is afraid that his bail will be reduced again, and Terrell will get out of jail and hurt her or her family.
"What I'm feeling now... hatred, anger, disappointment in the justice system, and that it's truly blind and that a person's life don't mean anything," she said.
Evidence from her son's murder is among thousands of pieces of evidence sitting in the State Crime Lab in Raleigh.
Prosecutors like Cumberland County DA Billy West say it's not just murder cases, but drug and alcohol cases are also at a halt.
He says he's waiting for 800 DWI and drug test results before he can move forward.
"Well you do have some defendants in custody which are your county jails' responsibility. So there is a cost to the taxpayer as a result of the delay, I don't think there's any question about that," West said.
He says it's not just a cost but also a danger to the public because criminals are still on the street.
West explained in DWI cases, "If the defendant is not in custody and potentially does have a drinking problem which led to them getting the initial DWI charge, they're out on bond while their case is continued while we wait for the result from the lab."
"There would seem to be an increased risk that drivers on the road could be in danger," West said.
For Defense Attorneys like Tommy Manning, the backlog has caused dozens of his cases to be delayed, causing possible Constitutional violations for his clients.
"Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment," Manning explained.
"If a defendant is either waiting for trial or sitting in jail waiting for trial, an inordinate amount of time then he is being punished," Manning said.
Manning also describes the clients' trial rights.
He said, "The Sixth Amendment right to speedy trial has to go into neutral while we're waiting for information that is critical to the decision-making process to be given to us."
124 scientists work at the State Crime Labs in Raleigh, Greensboro and Asheville.
Every year they handle roughly 38,000 cases. Each case could have 10 or more pieces of evidence.
Joe John, ran the State Crime Lab for the past 3 years. He says, "Issue number one is volume."
He stepped down two months ago. He tells the I-Team the lab has been underfunded and understaffed for years.
"Close to three-fourths of the folks who have left the laboratories since January 2010 have gone somewhere else for more money," John said.
The I-Team found in a recent study that the scientists at the lab are paid 16% less than their counterparts in other states and even some county labs.
In the past four years, more than 50 scientists have left for better paying jobs.
When scientists leave, the $115,000 investment that the state has made in training and developing each of them is lost.
Joe John says this is, "taxpayer money which is walking out the door because we're not paying our folks a competitive salary."
Another reason for the backlog at the lab is a 2009 US Supreme Court decision.
It requires a forensic scientist to present their own evidence in court instead of just sending their findings.
The I-Team learned, in the last fiscal year, crime lab scientists spent 2800 hours on court cases.
John said, "9% is the time actually spent on the witness stand, presenting the evidence. The remainder is the time is spent travelling and then sitting in the court waiting."
Bonita Scarlett continues waiting for her day in court, waiting for the evidence from her son's murder to be processed at the State Crime Lab.
She says, "I want justice for my son, that's all I want is justice."
