What's the point in Whistling and/or Blowing anymoar?

A whistleblower who filed a 174-page complaint against the Fort Worth Police Department Crime Laboratory in 2020 was placed on administrative leave after the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office determined she could no longer testify during criminal trials.

Trisa Crutcher alleged in a lawsuit that the move was retaliation against her for being a whistleblower. She was later fired by the police department.

Part of Crutcher’s complaint referred to the “DNA submission form” document, specifically regarding a yes or no question that gives a forensic scientist “permission to consume” the sample. Consuming evidence means the scientist can use part or all of a DNA sample during testing.

According to the lab’s policy, a forensic scientist should keep an untested portion of the evidence sample, unless the scientist has reason to believe that using the entire sample will yield a stronger result. Using the full sample means that if the test isn’t done correctly, if it comes back inconclusive or the defendant wants to test it, then subsequent tests might not be possible because the entire sample has been used by the prosecution, according to multiple attorneys who spoke with the Star-Telegram.

For the lab to have permission to consume a sample, the OK must be given by the case investigator. This is in line with FBI protocols and policies at crime labs across the country. The Fort Worth policy states: “This form must be fully completed by the Detective.”

However, the crime lab’s liaison, Sundaye Lopez, had been signing the permission form to consume documents herself, according to court documents. According to testimony given by Lopez during a murder trial, the former lab director gave her permission to help detectives fill out the DNA submission form, and that permission was continued by Michael Ward, the lab’s current director, according to the document.

When the state’s team interviewed employees of the biology unit, they found that members of the unit didn’t realize that Lopez had been filling out the form in some cases until Crutcher had made her first complaint. They agreed that the policy had been broken.

The police department then investigated its own lab and found no wrongdoing. Crutcher took issue with the fact that the investigator, Sgt. Merle Green is on the district attorney’s Brady list, — meaning his credibility has been flagged by the office based on problems with his truthfulness, honesty or bias in the past — but he was still tasked with the investigation.

In June 2018, the lab manager sent an email to a sergeant in the homicide unit that asked if detectives had any concerns, issues, or problems with the laboratory consuming biological evidence in its DNA analytical process. The sergeant responded they had never had an issue with evidence being consumed against their wishes. The DNA analysts explained that while the email was informative, it was not a replacement for documentation in individual case records.

On March 14, 2021, she received a formal notification from Assistant Chief Robert Allredge that the police department was “seriously considering terminating” her employment because the district attorney’s office established that she could no longer call her to testify in trials, which is a key part of her job.

According to the letter, the DA’s office informed the police department that, “the potential of calling Trisa Crutcher as a witness on behalf of the State at this point is problematic, due to the allegations that she has made against the Crime Lab.”

“Notably, each person the Commission interviewed who worked with the complainant found her to be a hardworking member of the section who did quality work and paid close attention to detail,” the state’s report said.

https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/fort-worth/article246400650.html

https://news.yahoo.com/fort-worth-police-crime-lab-101500930.html