State crime lab's reliability
AS DISTRICT attorneys, we want the public to feel safe and be safe, and we seek just results in all that we do. A critical component of our ability to make proper decisions about whether and how to prosecute thousands of criminal cases is the scientific work conducted by the state's crime lab. Because district attorneys are the lab's ultimate clients, it is vital to us that the lab's work be done efficiently and correctly.
For that reason, we took an intense interest in a recent comprehensive, independent audit of the lab's performance. Prepared by the Vance consulting firm, the report was a first step toward understanding the full scope of the problems that exist within the lab -- problems resulting from a history of neglect, mismanagement, and lack of money.
Unfortunately, there are a number of significant public misperceptions about the report. We would like to set the record straight.
The lab's scientific and forensic work is sound. The Vance report unequivocally endorsed the quality and integrity of the DNA testing provided by the lab and the scientific basis for that testing. Any suggestion that the Vance Report calls into question the reliability of scientific analysis conducted by the lab is completely unfounded.
The "backlog" is misperceived. The Vance Report referenced a backlog of 16,000 "cases." Yet more than 10,000 of these are simply old and inactive evidence referrals warehoused in long-term storage at the lab.
The crime lab preserves these cuttings for a good reason. While nonbiological evidence is returned to the local police department for long-term storage once an investigation or prosecution is closed, biological materials must be held in cold storage to prevent degradation in the event they are needed later. This cold storage is one of the many professional services provided by the lab because local police departments simply cannot provide reliable long-term refrigeration.
A detailed review of the warehoused evidence must be conducted. The district attorneys have already begun to review and categorize the stored evidence in backlog cases that involved a fatality, and it appears that the matters are either resolved or require no further testing.
Work resolving the remaining cases has already begun. The remaining 6,000 are ongoing matters that fall within two categories. The first category consists of approximately 2,000 current, active investigations. The lab has confirmed the presence of biological material that may yield DNA evidence, and each case has been assigned to a chemist to conduct analysis. Because of the shortage of qualified chemists, the DAs must wait for these results unless expedited in an emergency. These are the cases that most directly impact DAs' ability to move cases through the criminal justice system, and these cases explain why we have been trying for the past seven years to increase staff and resources to the Commonwealth's forensics services.
The second category includes 4,000 sexual assault evidence kits from cases that still fall within the statute of limitations. Federal grants have already allowed the lab to work to reduce that number to 2,081, solving older crimes and providing numerous offender profiles to CODIS, a DNA database used in criminal cases.
A well-run crime lab is crucial to exonerating the innocent and convicting the guilty. Those of us who use the crime lab now know the full scope of the work ahead. But the Vance report has given us a blueprint, and the governor has committed to providing the resources. With our help, the Executive Office of Public Safety needs to step forward and make the necessary changes.
Jonathan Blodgett, the Essex County district attorney, is president of the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association. 
