Reliable or Liable?

With all the furor over the lack of oversight and incompetence at the San Francisco Drug Laboratory, I think it is appropriate to ask, “What is the big deal, really?”  Seriously, what is the big deal about a lab tech pilfering a gram of blow?  So instead of 10 grams that John Doe is charged with, it is now 9 grams.  The issue is still the same right:  Was John Doe possessing cocaine/heroin/methamphetamine, etc with the intent to sell?  10 grams or 9 grams, so what, right?

Well, in that factual pattern, it may not matter that Sammy the Snorter lab tech was “jonesing” for a score, but it does matter concerning the reliability and the credibility of the lab itself, especially one that is directed by the County of San Francisco.

So one gram may not matter in the big picture, but can the public rely on the findings of a crime lab, whose technicians snort, shoot, smoke, and smack the substances they are hired to safe keep and test?

To make matters worse, the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, delayed in prosecuting the lab technician accused, and only initiated a criminal complaint against her when the allegations leaked out to the Defense bar from the police department.  Yes, the District Attorney was trying, in her best way, to cover-up the sins of a lab tech, while at the same time, jeopardizing the constitutional rights of hundreds of defendant’s, who relied on the testing of their evidence from a lab tech, who the DA’s office knew was unreliable at best, and a drug addicted tweeker at worst.

Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo determined that prosecutors “at the highest levels of the district attorney’s office knew that (Deborah) Madden was not a dependable witness at trial and there were serious concerns regarding the crime lab.”

Hey, we all have our issues, and I am sure the lab tech had her issues that drove her to violate her ethical duties and responsibilities.  I am sure she will be severely punished for her “issues”, probably more so than she deserves.  However, nothing can excuse the lack of foresight and downright contempt of the District Attorney concerning this matter.  How they have handled this matter, on through to how they handled the hundreds of cases that this lab tech worked on, is downright embarrassing at best, and criminal at worst.  When the public can no longer trust the government that supposed to serve them, the public must respond and get a new government.