Crime Lab

Two years after California set out to create a vast DNA database to help unravel thousands of unsolved crimes, the program is being severely hampered by a lack of resources, officials across the state say. The state crime lab has a backlog of more than a quarter-million DNA samples it is unable to process because of a funding shortfall and a lack of manpower, directors acknowledge. At its current rate, the lab would need 2 1/2 years to clear the backlog -- if it received no more samples.

The forensic scientist cut off the tip of a cotton swab and taped it to a lab sheet next to a snippet of stained clothing. Always save a piece of what you test, Mary Jane Burton instructed her watchful trainee. But why? This was 1977, years before the invention of DNA testing.

A 26-year-old neighbor was found guilty Tuesday of murdering four members of a south Whittier family after forensic evidence tied him to the crime scene. The motive behind the massacre may never be known, prosecutors said. But shortly before Alfonso Ignacio Morales committed the crime, a daughter in the family had spurned his romantic overtures, and Morales returned to their house with a knife, they said.

Nearly six months after learning about the blunders of a police chemist, Los Angeles County prosecutors decided Thursday to give defense attorneys a list of 972 narcotics cases the man handled. Defense attorneys said they would review the list to determine whether their clients were hurt by chemist Jeff Lowe's miscalculations. Prosecutors believe Lowe, who began working in the LAPD crime lab's narcotics division in May 2003, incorrectly weighed drug evidence in 47 cases.

A Los Angeles police chemist botched evidence in 47 narcotics cases, leading to a review of all 972 drug cases he handled, The Times has learned. The errors have prompted inquires by both the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County district attorney's office and raised questions about the credibility of Jeff Lowe, who has analyzed drugs for the LAPD since May 2003.

Ventura County Supervisor Steve Bennett on Tuesday again questioned law enforcement funding decisions, asking Sheriff Bob Brooks to consider putting more patrols back on the streets in unincorporated areas. Bennett asked why the sheriff was using state funds targeted for unincorporated communities to offset salaries for two crime lab workers. The money, about $143,000, might be better spent putting at least one sheriff's deputy on patrol, the board chairman said.

The state Department of Motor Vehicles on Thursday dismissed its drunk driving case against a Ventura law student following confirmation from the Ventura County Sheriff's Department crime lab that the woman had not been intoxicated when arrested last July, but instead had been a victim of a mixed-up blood test. Spokesman Bill Branch said the DMV dropped its case against the student after the results of a Nov.

The Ventura County Sheriff's Department crime laboratory mixed up the blood test of a Ventura law school student in a drunk driving case last July, then failed to notify the driver after a retest showed she was not intoxicated when arrested, authorities have confirmed.

The Houston Police Department closed the toxicology section of its troubled crime lab Wednesday after a toxicologist failed a competency test. It's the second section of the police lab to be shut since an outside audit 10 months ago revealed significant deficiencies within its DNA section. The lab has six sections. Acting Police Chief Joe Breshears said Pauline Louie, who had supervised the toxicology section for three years, was suspended with pay pending an internal affairs investigation.

A grand jury has found no criminal wrongdoing in the Houston police crime lab, which has come under scrutiny since an audit revealed problems with its DNA testing. The panel said the knowledge of problems at the lab and lack of action to correct them did not constitute criminal negligence. The lab's DNA section was closed in December after an outside audit revealed serious deficiencies.