Cross Contamination

By: Louis Thayer

The Issue.
Does the contamination of evidence affect the outcome of a court case? How can we be sure the forensic scientists/technician are doing the right thing?

Background/Definition
The definition for cross contamination is the failure to preserve the purity or exclusivity of physical evidence through the transfer of materials through the lab, crime scene, or specific persons. Can be also known as disturbed evidence or dirty evidence As evidence becomes more widely used theres always room for more caution Incorrect conclusions can be drawn from contaminated evidence

The Basics
The job of the forensic scientist is to link certain suspects to a crime and protect those who are innocent in a scientific manner. The most important thing that forensic experts sometimes forget is the basic handling and collection of evidence and this is where most of contamination happens. Everything in the process of evidence should be done relatively the same every time to ensure minimal mistakes. This will also hold up in court when you are consistent. For example, an emphasis on wearing gloves, using them, and changing them frequently to avoid any disturbance.

The Innocence Project

Founded in 1992 by the FBI and DOJ . The primary goal was to reform the CRJ system and help those wrongfully convicted of contaminated evidence but more specifically, DNA. It is a push for forensic oversight of all laboratories for quality purposes.

FBI Crime Lab

In the 1990s Fred Whitehurst, a FBI forensic lab chemist said he would watch his colleagues contaminate evidence, and then testify about it in court knowingly. He openly said that change has to happen, and this is where most of our procedures and protocols in the lab come from. Problems Included:
No implemented Protocols Pressured to write misleading scientific reports Not a controlled environment, outsiders were allowed to tour the facility Outdated equipment, work area was covered in soot coating which is vent dust also known as black rain Corrupt lab technicians

FBI Crime Lab Cont.

This is directly related to the development of The Innocence Project Thousands of cases that were handled in FBI lab were opened up and reviewed for further legal analysis The FBI is insisting that the science is sound but nothing is being done to prove that otherwise

O.J. Simpson Case 1995

This is a prime example of a court case with cross contamination involved Separate pieces of evidence were bagged together instead of separately such as the pair of bloody gloves that were found. Wet items were packaged before they were suppose to be dried out altering the state of evidence. There was sloppy forensic collections such as poor documentation and photographing without scales. Also there was 1.5 mL of O.J.s blood that was never logged into chain of custody and was carried around for a few hours before even reaching a secure evidence facility.

O.J. Simpson Cont.

The jurors could not come to a conclusion based on no understanding of the blood/DNA evidence that the prosecution presented. What was really interesting about this is that the prosecution made a video tape of Andrea Mazzola, a technician, to demonstrate collection proficiency during the crime scene analysis. She was swabbing blood drops but at the same time leaning her gloved hand on the ground. Then using tweezers with the same hand to manipulate a bloody swatch. She failed to change gloves in between different samples and just wiped off the tweezers with water rather then replacing them or sterilizing them.

Sources
http://www.innocenceproject.org/fix/Crime-LabOversight.php http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/07/12/12708918fbi-to-review-thousands-of-old-cases-for-flawed-evidence?lite http://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/forensicinvestigation-of-the-oj-simpson-trial http://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/13/us/simpson-defensepresses-case-for-contaminated-blood-samples.html