Pubdate: Wed, 13 Mar 2002
Source: Charleston Gazette (WV)
Copyright: 2002 Charleston Gazette
Contact:  http://www.wvgazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/77
Author: Lawrence Messina, Staff Writer

STATE POLICE LAB REVIEW LEAVES AGENCY WITH ANOTHER SHINER

The trooper who discovered one of the more recent scandals at the State 
Police crime lab was placed on leave Tuesday pending an investigation of 
his own work there.

A "discrepancy" in a June evidence test report by Sgt. Timothy Grant White, 
35, has triggered yet another probe at the lab's Drug Identification Section.

The crime lab's chief was also put on paid administrative leave, as State 
Police Superintendent Howard Hill was not told of any problem until last week.

"[Capt.] Rick Theis is director of the lab. When it was reported to him, it 
never made it up the chain of command," Col. Hill said Tuesday. "Why didn't 
it come all the way up the chain?"

Hill also stressed that the evidence tested by White, from a state drug 
case, was not used in any prosecution.

Hill ordered a review of White's most recent work at the section, and has 
asked outside investigators to help.

"Out of an abundance of caution, the State Police has asked the U.S. 
Attorney's Office and the FBI to examine the facts," Hill said at a morning 
press conference at the Capitol.

The review will also involve the national group that accredits the crime 
lab and helped the State Police establish its standards and procedures, 
Hill said.

Hill has flagged White's reports from April 1 until July 3, 2001, when he 
was transferred as part of a scandal-inspired reshuffling of the section staff.

A civilian co-worker had pleaded guilty to a federal fraud charge. Todd 
Owen McDaniel, 33, admitted he skipped required tests on suspected 
marijuana and cocaine evidence.

White reported McDaniel in September 2000, after a routine double-checking 
of his lab reports. McDaniel was suspended and then fired. The drug section 
was closed and all of its work retested.

The episode briefly derailed drug prosecutions in state and federal courts, 
as the section tests nearly all of the suspected drug evidence seized in 
West Virginia.

The section was reopened and declared trouble-free last year. Hill said he 
was not sure whether lab procedure detected White's report, as it had 
McDaniel's.

"That's my whole concern know. I'm sure everybody thought this problem was 
fixed," Hill said Tuesday. "That's why I want retesting done and an 
independent resource brought in."

An FBI report obtained by the Charleston Gazette this year revealed that 
though only McDaniel was prosecuted, other drug section staff skipped tests 
and ignored procedures.

The report showed that White, for one, periodically failed to conduct 
"preliminary testing" then required by lab policy.

He also showed signs of deception during a lie detector test, the FBI 
report said.

The State Police revamped the entire crime lab in 1994 amid a scandal 
involving one of its former section chiefs. Exaggerated tests, altered lab 
reports and false testimony by Fred Zain have been blamed for at least a 
half-dozen wrongful convictions.

Hill said he expects renewed calls for an independent crime lab in West 
Virginia.

"I don't know that you'll ever be able to take it completely from law 
enforcement," he said, "But I'm looking at all options."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager