Completed report calls part of HPD a threat to public safety

(6/12/07 - KTRK/HOUSTON) (KTRK) -- Hundreds of convicted Houstonians could soon get new tests of the evidence used to convict them.

Two years and $5 million after an investigation of Houston's crime lab started, it is finished.

The report makes it clear that the Houston Police Department's crime lab and property room are making improvements, but the 300 page report is not all good news for the city. Houston councilman Adrian Garcia was briefed Tuesday night by independent investigator Michael Bromwich.

"With the degree of uncertainty that exists that it's fair not to be let off the hook," Garcia said.

Investigators previously found awful conditions in the lab, police lab employees creating evidence and faulty testing in hundreds of cases. The most significant recommendation is that as many as 600 convicted criminals serving time in Texas prisons be told blood evidence in their case may have been poorly tested years ago. It may need to be re-examined now.

Wednesday's report goes one step further recommending the city, meaning you the taxpayer, pay for the retesting in all these cases.

The blood work and DNA testing in the past was called "completely unacceptable" in the report. Despite accreditation of the HPD DNA lab, investigator Bromwich recommends hiring an outside DNA consultant and continuing to add staff to other sections of the crime lab.

But the harshest language in the report is reserved for the property room even though HPD is already making changes there.

Bromwich notes improvements in the property room and a commitment to get it right, but calls its present state, "a threat to the public safety."

The biggest challenge, the report says, may be for the city to keep funding crime lab improvements once the public pressure is gone.

"Now that he's helped us clean the slate, it up to us to make sure that the lab moves forward," Garcia said.

The recommendations will be formerly unveiled Wednesday afternoon. It will be up to city council and the DA to act on them.
(Copyright © 2007, KTRK-TV)

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