A big "thank you" for pointing this out. I was going to, but you did it better than I would have. Misleading headlines and partially misleading articles like this one make me really mad. Doctors sometimes make mistakes with diagnoses, too, but we don't just give up on the science of medicine because of that.
Scientists and technicians sometimes make mistakes. That's why we have second opinions, professional journals, and replication of others' experimental results for. That's also why we have trials with dueling expert witnesses, etc. They system is not perfect, but this is the human race we are dealing with, and it can't be perfected, just made as good as possible.
In this case, the system has been awfully bad about admitting its own errors, and this is one big failing of justice systems in a lot of places, the U.S. included. Look at Janet Reno who prosecuted groundless child abuse cases and put people in prison for years and never admitted her errors. People's lives have been ruined, and that's a very, very bad thing. But a good chance of rectifying such errors (however late) at least exists in free societies. It doesn't exist in unfree ones.
Locally, they've had to release several prisoners because the evidence was proven false or faulty. In some cases, DNA proved some of the men could not have committed the crimes of which they were accused--but did our DA offer apologies or rush to let them out of prison? No. In fact, they said on local television stations that they would try to find some other way to convict them. Anything to avoid having to be "wrong."
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation criminalists reviewing cases assigned to Oklahoma City police chemist Joyce Gilchrist estimate their investigation could take another nine months.
Since the investigation began 12 weeks ago, the five-member OSBI team has reviewed 421 of the 1,651 Gilchrist case files. The criminalists have recommended 62 cases for further review, Kym Koch, OSBI spokeswoman, said Monday.
Criminalists have completed examination of all cases in which the defendant received the death penalty, life in prison without the possibility of parole or life in prison with the possibility of parole.
"From here on out, the case file reviews will go faster, but the team will have to take time out from case reviews to sort through and send out evidence for retesting," Koch said.
The FBI has accused Gilchrist of shoddy forensic work in five criminal cases. A critical FBI report recommended a review of all cases in which the 21-year police chemist's forensic work was significant to a conviction.
In addition to the FBI investigation, a multiagency task force has been created to determine the quality of Gilchrist's forensic lab work and whether her testimony fell within the realm of forensic science. Gilchrist, now on paid administrative leave, denies any wrongdoing.
Representatives of the attorney general's office and the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System will begin reviewing transcripts in the 62 cases targeted for further examination, Koch said.
The multiagency task force, made up of staff from the attorney general's office, the indigent defense system and the OSBI, met last week to discuss the investigation's progress, Koch said. A representative of the governor's office also attended the meeting.
The task force is expected to meet regularly, Koch said.
In an initial review, Attorney General Drew Edmondson has recommended three of the 12 death row cases for additional review.
Oklahoma City police officials delivered to the OSBI evidence in the death row cases of Michael Edward Hooper and John M. Hooker. The evidence will be reviewed by the OSBI. Representatives from the attorney general's office and the state indigent defense system will determine which evidence needs to be analyzed before being sent to a private laboratory named by the task force.
Hooker, 34, was convicted in the 1988 stabbing deaths of his common-law wife, Sylvia Stokes, 28, and her mother, Drusilla Morgan, 53.
Hooper, 29, was convicted Jan. 29, 1995, of three counts of first-degree murder in Canadian County for the shooting deaths of his ex-girlfriend, Cindy Jarman, 23, and her children, Tonya, 5, and Timmy, 3.