THE HOUSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT CRIME LAB SCANDAL AND HOW IT PERTAINS TO DROR'S CASE.

Beginning in 2002 , several reporters in the local Houston media exposed how the HPD crime lab was in complete disrepair. As more and more revelations came to light, it was clear that the problems of the crime lab ranged from the idiotic to the horrific, and went back at least to the early 1980's.

At first it was exposed that most of the stored evidence used by incriminating prosecutions, such as rape kits, blood swabs, and DNA kits, were stored in an unmarked and disorganized fashion under a leaking roof. Because of this grotesque lack of care, the blood and DNA evidence that was to be used in hundreds of criminal trials was destroyed.

Furthermore disturbing reports revealed that most of the crime lab technicians working at the lab had no training in serology whatsoever and were completely unqualified to perform any DNA, blood, hair, or fluid testing .

Unlike the crime-scene series on TV, none of these serologists were actually trained to work on the evidence that determined the outcome of thousands of criminal trials. It was also revealed that these technicians would often fabricate the results of these tests to suit the prosecution's claims, and presented false information to the juries in multiple cases.

James Bolding, the head of the crime lab from 1984-2003, was even caught forging a Crime Lab audit in September of 2000, and violated the HPD General Order of Truthfulness in October of 2000. In these reports, Bolding lied about his subordinates’ work qualifications, and the training that they had received. This occurred just months after Dror's trial.

The horrific aspect of this scandal is that hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent men were sent to prison for crimes they did not commit . And beginning in 2003, about one man has been released every six months after the evidence in his case was reviewed and proven false. Some of these cases go as far back to 1984. Many of these crime lab technicians, including James Bolding, Christy Kim, Joseph Chu, and Reidun Hillman, had to resign quickly in order to avoid criminal prosecution.

There are dozens of men who are having the evidence in their cases reviewed right now, but there are also hundreds of others who can not receive a fair day in court, as the evidence in their cases has already been destroyed.

Independent Investigator of HPD Crime Lab Reports

Innocence Project News April 28, 2009 – “Houston crime lab implicated in another possible wrongful conviction”

Houston Chronicle, May 12, 2006 – “Report: HPD Crime Lab Tailored Tests to Theories”

New Doubt Cast on Testing in Houston Police Crime Lab

American Bar Association Journal, Summer 2006 – “Houston! We Have a Problem!”

THE BROMWICH REPORT

The number of men that were being exonerated led the city of Houston to hire Michael Bromwich, an independent auditor, to review the crime lab’s cases and to make recommendations as to how to fix the problem. Mr. Bromwich used over five auditors, costing the city over $5 Million in tax payers’ dollars. The report was written over the course of two and a half years, and it’s release shook the Houstonian trust in the validity of the crime lab.

In parts, the Bromwich Report focuses on the entire staff of the crime lab, such as on page 86, "The failure of the crime lab to perform routine technical and administrative reviews of serology cases and in cases where such reviews might have been performed to document reviews also is very significant departure from generally accepted forensic principles prevailing at the time”. In other sections, Bromwich focuses on a single technician, such as James Bolding. On page 85, the report refers to him as “the sloppiest of all the crime lab serologists based on our review of 1000 cases.” It also states on page 121 of the report that “Mr. Bolding had no experience performing DNA analysis as revealed by the 2002 DPS audit and lacked the educational and technical credentials to be a DNA technical leader under the DNA advisory board regulations."

The Bromwich Report helped to enact new legislation pertaining to the availability of DNA testing for convicted felons, and a new compensation scale for those that have been exonerated. In 2009, George Rodriguez sued the City of Houston in a civil suit. Mr. Rodriguez had been released from prison after spending more than 17 years for a rape he did not commit. He was exonerated after DNA retesting proved that he was not the rapist and that serologist Christy Kim misled the jury and changed her testimony to fit the prosecution's account.

During the trial, Rodriguez's attorney, Barry Scheck, provided page after page of damning evidence of the crime lab's dysfunctions. Some of the testimony stated that the loss of trained staff was having a devastating effect on sectional proficiency:

-“Since you're only looking at 15% of the cases, it is fair to say that you had no idea whether in 85% of the cases the scientific data was accurate, the notes were accurate, and the conclusions in the reports were accurate, right?"

-"That's correct.”

Link to the Bromwich Report

HOW DOES ALL OF THIS AFFECT DROR ' S CASE?

Four of the worst serologists at the crime lab were those that examined the blood, DNA, and fiber evidence in Dror's case. These four serologists, James Bolding, Joseph Chu, Christy Kim, and Reidun Hillman, were forced to resign rather than face criminal charges.

Dror's attorney and family believe that vital DNA evidence was lost and destroyed by Joseph Chu, evidence that may have led to the real murderer. Before the trial, the fingernail scrapings taken from the murder victim were sent to Joseph Chu. These scrapings were especially important, as they may have provided a lead on Manuella Silverio's attacker. These scrapings were then lost by Chu, while other blood evidence was destroyed during testing. All of this occurred before Dror's attorneys had the opportunity to test the evidence. At trial, it was revealed that James Bolding had supervised Chu when the fingernail scrapings had been lost.

Furthermore , DNA belonging to an unidentified source was also found at the crime scene. This evidence was conveniently lost through Chu's testing.

Reidun Hillman was proven to not have any training in the testing methods of hairs or fibers, and may have committed perjury when he testified at Dror's trial.

We cannot retest any of the evidence that was lost. After all the revelations concerning the crime lab and the exposure pertaining to the fraud of Bolding, Chu, Kim, and Hillman, Dror should at least receive a new trial, and a chance to defend himself in a fair setting.