2008 Woodie Awards
Students participate in Crime Lab investigations
Brandie Philibert
Issue date: 2/19/08 Section: Other News
This spring, 17 students enrolled in the UST innocence investigations class are taking the lead in reviewing the 156 cases found by a special investigator to have "major issues" with respect to serology evidence processed by the Houston Crime Lab.
The Houston Crime Lab has been under investigation for faulty lab practices and results since 2002. Forensic evidence labs use serology to test for matching antibodies in bodily fluids such as blood, semen and saliva. An independent investigation, completed in January 2006, found mistakes in 20 percent of cases where serology evidence was available. The Innocence Project of Texas, of which UST is a member, is leading the case reviews to ensure that there was no miscarriage of justice in convictions where faulty serology results played a primary role.
The Harris County district judges appointed Houston attorney Bob Wicoff to spearhead the case review in October 2007. UST students have been assisting Wicoff since late last fall.
Wicoff said that the main objective is to find out if any innocent persons were convicted and if the trial process was compromised. "The first question is 'Do we get anyone out?'; the second is 'Do we get anyone a retrial?' because of these problems," Wicoff said.
The students in the UST innocence investigation class are working in pairs to review cases with faulty serology evidence. The complete case files include trial transcripts, attorney case files, police reports and all forensic evidence including the faulty serology test results. Students must determine how important the serological evidence was in the convictions and whether other evidence supports the convictions.
IPOT executive director Natalie Roetzel said each case file will take more than 20 hours to review, and students may also visit the inmates involved in each case.
The UST students will work in conjunction with about 50 Texas law students to review the cases with faulty serology evidence and sort legal documents. The serology case reviews are better served by independent justice movements like IPOT than assigning attorneys to individual cases, according to Roetzel.
The Houston Crime Lab has been under investigation for faulty lab practices and results since 2002. Forensic evidence labs use serology to test for matching antibodies in bodily fluids such as blood, semen and saliva. An independent investigation, completed in January 2006, found mistakes in 20 percent of cases where serology evidence was available. The Innocence Project of Texas, of which UST is a member, is leading the case reviews to ensure that there was no miscarriage of justice in convictions where faulty serology results played a primary role.
The Harris County district judges appointed Houston attorney Bob Wicoff to spearhead the case review in October 2007. UST students have been assisting Wicoff since late last fall.
Wicoff said that the main objective is to find out if any innocent persons were convicted and if the trial process was compromised. "The first question is 'Do we get anyone out?'; the second is 'Do we get anyone a retrial?' because of these problems," Wicoff said.
The students in the UST innocence investigation class are working in pairs to review cases with faulty serology evidence. The complete case files include trial transcripts, attorney case files, police reports and all forensic evidence including the faulty serology test results. Students must determine how important the serological evidence was in the convictions and whether other evidence supports the convictions.
IPOT executive director Natalie Roetzel said each case file will take more than 20 hours to review, and students may also visit the inmates involved in each case.
The UST students will work in conjunction with about 50 Texas law students to review the cases with faulty serology evidence and sort legal documents. The serology case reviews are better served by independent justice movements like IPOT than assigning attorneys to individual cases, according to Roetzel.