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Illinois State Police abruptly cancelled its contract with Bode
Technology in late August of last year after its own quality
control review determined that the lab had botched nearly a
quarter of the results, according to the Chicago Tribune. Illinois
state police conducted a random sample testing of 51 rape kits in
which Bode had told state police that no semen was found and they
discovered semen in 11, an error rate of nearly 22%.
First Deputy Director Doug Brown told the Tribune that he does not
believe anyone went free because of botched lab tests. “We (the
state police) literally went down case by case to make sure there
weren’t any problems,” Brown said.
Kevin McElfresh, the executive director of Bode, told the New York
Times that the company had worked with the state police on
revising the methodology it used to test samples after the police
pointed out the discrepancies in May. In a
statement on their Web site, Bode further stated that “. .
. No concerns have been raised regarding the quality of Bode’s DNA
testing results. Rather, the issue relates to serology testing
results . . . .”
Brown told the Tribune that the state would be seeking to recoup
$500,000 of the $750,000 the state had spent to have 1,200 samples
tested.
Bode does testing for 11 other states as well as the Department of
Justice. In December Bode was selected by the Louisiana State
Police and the Department of Health and Hospitals to conduct DNA
analysis on remains of Hurricane Katrina victims.
Sources:
“Crime Lab Botched DNA Tests, State Says,” Chicago Tribune, August
19, 2005.
“Illinois State Police Cancels Forensic Lab’s Contract, Citing
Errors,” New York Times, August 20, 2005.
“Statement
Regarding Illinois State Police Contract,” Bode Technology
Group, August 22, 2005.
“State
Police, Department of Health and Hospitals Complete DNA Contracts,
Select Vendors,” Louisiana State Police News Release, December
9, 2005. |
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