D.C.'s Department of Forensic Science, also known as the D.C. crime lab, is under criminal investigation after allegations of wrongdoing in the fingerprint section. The ANSI National Accreditation Board said it found “credible evidence” that the lab has “deliberately concealed information from the ANAB assessment team, violated accreditation requirements, engaged in misrepresentations and fraudulent behavior, and engaged in conduct that brings ANAB into disrepute” (article available here).
The allegations of errors in the fingerprint section follow the decision to suspend the lab’s accreditation for other errors. An independent panel of forensic experts determined mistakes were made in ballistics evidence testing in two homicide cases. A report, commissioned by D.C. Attorney General, concluded that the lab erroneously connected cartridge casings from two 2015 killings to the same gun, and later misrepresented the mistake to two national accreditation boards. When confronted with the findings, the board said the lab “misrepresented” the mistakes. The allegations also sparked a criminal investigation by the D.C. Office of the Inspector General, which is still ongoing.
On Friday, the National Accreditation Board immediately suspended the D.C. crime lab’s accreditation. The suspension means, for now, evidence collected in criminal cases in the District will have to be sent elsewhere at additional cost to the city. The mayor’s office said that the suspension of all examination of evidence at the lab is in place for 30 days and that it planned to appeal the board’s decision.
The lab, which opened in 2012, has come under scrutiny in the past. In 2015, the ANSI National Accreditation Board ordered the lab to suspend all DNA analysis after concluding that the lab’s procedures were “insufficient and inadequate.” The DNA section of the lab was shut down in 2015 for nearly a year, and the director lost his job.