Are Crime Labs really unbiased?

This article from the whyfiles shows more evidence that crime laboratories feel pressure to "find" the guilty party. Can we really trust DNA evidence to be accurate when there is pressure to have the forensic evidence match?
http://whyfiles.org/133crime_lab/5.html
Don't give that girl a gunBehind the debate over the proper role of crime labs is this question: Are labs tools of the prosecution, or of justice? Certainly, crime labs are touted as impartial, scientific means of finding the truth. But the truth is that most exist in a prosecutorial milieu -- as branches of the department of justice or the state police.
Geurts, of the Wisconsin lab, acknowledges that he works for the Department of Justice, but says, "Once you become an advocate, you lose your status as a scientist. We try to avoid that, but in general we work for the prosecution, and there's a small chance an individual analyst could become more prosecution oriented. In general, we get equal satisfaction from eliminating someone from suspicion, even though police usually respond, 'How can that be? We know this is the guy.'"
Evidence expert Jennifer Mnookin sees merit in the proposal -- raised in Oklahoma among other places -- to make labs independent of the prosecution. Although it would not solve everything, she adds, "Closely tying the forensic scientist to the prosecutorial apparatus may increase the likelihood of some of these problems. People may feel that to get promoted, they need to provide the evidence that makes a conviction; they may turn into cops in lab coats."
Mnookin describes the challenge thusly: "How do you create an incentive structure that does not encourage scientists and technicians to err on the side of the prosecution?"
Somebody bad stole de wedding bell We've heard other suggestions for improving labs:
Faigman suggests creating a "firewall" to reduce contact with police." Examinations should be as blind as possible, he says, "so the officer does not walk in and say, 'We found the guy who has these prints with the stereo equipment, and we want you to match them.'" The expectation of guilt, he says, "will intrude on the analysis."
Confirm the theory with basic scientific techniques -- and confirm the examiner's practice with blind tests. The Wisconsin State Crime Lab, says Geurts, tests employee proficiency at least annually. When drug examiners test proficiency samples, he says, they think they are working on actual cases.
Use peer review. Geurts says that having more than one examiner handle subjective analyses, such as handwriting, can reduce errors.
Subterranean homesick blues A final means to make sure that crime labs do their work honestly and intelligently is accreditation from the American Society of Crime Lab Directors. To date, 196 U.S. crime labs have attained certification, that's about half of the full-function scientific crime labs in the United States. That's the estimate of Robert Conley, director of the American Society of Crime Lab Directors Accreditation Board -- a separate group established by the Society. Accreditation, he says, requires "100 percent compliance" to a long list of standards affecting the "quality of the work product."
Covered areas include:
Minimum education for various disciplines -- typically at least a bachelor's degree -- with a concentration in science.
Annual proficiency testing for all employees.
Written procedures covering, according to Conley, "literally everything the lab does." Procedures must be validated in the lab, so "the method works in their lab, with their equipment and their personnel."
The standards are tough enough, he says, that almost all labs fail the first inspection. They then have a year to get up to snuff.
Could certification have helped at the Oklahoma City police lab, whose misconduct apparently doomed Jeffrey Pierce to spend 15 years in prison for another person's crime? Perhaps, Conley says, noting that the lab was not accredited.
"Without being specific or concluding about what happened in Oklahoma, because I only read about it in the papers, our process requires external review of all procedures used in the lab. If we were looking at microscopic analysis of hair, certainly the kind of results we have been hearing about would not be acceptable scientific practice."
However, accreditation does not address the issue of independence of the prosecution, or the overall question raised by the Supreme Court -- whether the forensic sciences are actually science.
While DNA profiling has been proven to be science after years of hard work and intense argument, that remains the exception. As Professor Faigman says, "Courts are wondering, scratching their heads, about why the other forensic sciences don't look like DNA profiling."

My story

Thank you for visiting my site. My name is Tony Stockelman. I am currently serving a life sentence for a crime I did not commit. I hope you will allow me to tell you my story.

On January 25, 2005, I was at my mother's house on Kovener Street in Crothersville, Indiana moving some furniture for her to a new residence. That afternoon, a few blocks from where my mother lived a young girl named Katlyn Collman left her home to run an errand for her mother.
She never returned, and was found 5 days later in a creek near Seymour, Indiana.

Local residents became concerned about Katie and began searching all over Jackson County for the young girl. Meanwhile I loaded my pickup truck full of my mother's belongings and went home to my rural Jackson County home to unload this truck and get a little bit of sleep before reporting for my third shift job at Valeo Sylvania.

Two days after Katie's disappearance, an eye-witness came forward who claimed they saw Katie riding in a white Ford F150 on the day she was reported missing. The eye-witness described the man as a tall, very skinny white male, 18-20 years old, dark hair and fair complexion.
The media issued this composite sketch of this man:

The evening that the Amber Alert was issued, Indiana State Police trooper Robert Simpson came to my residence because they had ran a DMV search for white Ford F150 trucks and I owned such a vehicle. In fact, this truck was the one I was using to help my mother move. The police questioned me about my activities the day that Collman disappeared. I was honest in answering their questions and admitted to being in the area she was last seen the evening she became missing. There were no eye-witnesses to my being there, but I gave the police the information because I had nothing to hide. They asked for permission to search my vehicle without a warrant and I obliged them. I also went to the State Police post that evening and voluntarily submitted to a polygraph exam. At the conclusion of this exam, I was told nothing further would be needed and there was no reason to hold me for further questioning. I had passed the exam.

I soon forgot about the incident until early April 2005. At that time, the Indiana State Police once again came to my residence and asked me to provide a DNA sample. Again, as I had nothing to hide, I willingly submitted to the test.

Imagine my surprise when two days later I was arrested on charges of molesting Collman near the time of her death. Prosecutors claim that my DNA matched DNA found on a cigarette butt as well as on the girl's body. At the time of my arrest, another man was in custody for Collman's murder-Charles "Chuckie" Hickman. Hickman claimed that Collman saw drug activity in a local apartment complex and abducted the girl in hopes of scaring her into silence. He claimed that he drove her to the lake in a white Ford F150, which was borrowed from his friend, Timothy O"Sullivan. Timothy O'Sullivan had been charged with false informing in the case, along with an unnamed 17 year old male. Police claim that they thoroughly investigated and could find no relationship between Hickman and myself. Also, one week prior to my arrest, the Jackson County prosecutor wrote a letter to the editor of the local paper explaining why he was reluctant to seek the death penalty against Hickman. One reason he stated was the lack of mitigating circumstances (child molesting).

Three weeks later, Hickman was being transported from the county jail to a court appearance. At that time, he was questioned by the media as to his involvement in Collman's death. This time, he stated that he was there and saw who did it, but did not commit the crime himself. When asked by reporters who in his opinion killed Katie Collman, Hickman replied "Jeff Tatlock raped that girl."

Hickman's mother had previously stated that she believed her son gave a false confession out of fear. Mrs. Hickman stated that Chuckie was afraid of a man who had blown up his house in a fire in late 2004 while cooking methamphetamine. That man was Jeffrey Tatlock.

Six weeks later, Hickman's story was abruptly discharged and I was charged with Collman's murder and confinement along with her molestation. On his way out of the jail, Hickman still maintained that he was there and saw what had happened and that police were charging the wrong man.

Indeed, Hickman gave quite credible testimony. He named a man as an accomplice who closely resembled the composite sketch given by the eyewitness. He stated that the girl saw drug activity in a local apartment complex, for which she was abducted to scare her into silence. That same apartment had been the focus of two earlier investigations into drug activity in the month prior to her disappearance. No arrests were ever made. In addition, the names of those in the complex were never released to the public.

Nearly a year passed while I awaited trial. It was suddenly decided that Grand Jury investigation would not be needed. Still, I had faith that the system would work as it was intended, and that my attorney, James Kilburn, a deacon of my church had my best interests at heart and would fight to have these charges overturned.

But Kilburn did not do this, even though he was not appointed as a public defender, but rather paid by my mother. Because prosecutors were seeking the death penalty, I should have been assigned two death penalty certified attorneys. This did not happen. Nor did Kilburn ask for a change of venue, even though this case had received national media attention.

Several months passed without any evidence being turned over to Mr. Kilburn, including the alleged DNA evidence. Meanwhile, the FBI continued to ask for DNA samples from other suspects. My family and friends donated money to Kilburn to pay for the retesting of the DNA evidence. Mr. Kilburn is unable to explain what he did with these donations.

For reasons I cannot disclose at this time, I accepted a plea agreement in March 2006. Let's just say I was "convinced" that this would be in my best interest. When the plea agreement was announced, then-Prosecutor Stephen Pierson announced that I would be changing my plea to guilty and that it would not be necessary to state how the crime occurred as Indiana Law requires.

Several witnesses were called to testify on behalf of the prosecution, most surprising my wife Tabitha. When I was arrested Tabitha was my most adamant supporter. During the press conference that was called after charges were reversed, she stated that she had had threats on her life. I believe she too was somehow "convinced" to change her testimony. Although Tabitha claims that the DNA evidence is what convinced her, that is not true. She loyally stood by me for many months even after prosecutors claimed that DNA evidence led to my arrest. After being sent to the Indiana Department of Corrections, my brother Troy filed for divorce from her on my behalf.

None of the witnesses were cross-examined by Kilburn, nor was any evidence introduced into public record. Only after receiving my life sentence did I learn that a forensic report existed that showed no evidence of Katie having been inside my vehicle. Hickman did not testify, nor did the eyewitness who saw Collman in the pickup truck.

So what happened to the DNA evidence? How can a man be sentenced to life without parole for a crime in without ever being able to see the evidence against him? At this point, I am not sure if the DNA is non-existent, has been tampered with, or if the cigarette butt may have been taken from my truck when it was searched. I am not guilty of this crime and welcome re-testing of the DNA to prove my innocence.

Thank you for allowing me to share a side of the story that has not been told by the media. I hope I have caused you to think about how easy it is for anyone to be convicted of a crime they did not commit and how often it truly occurs.

Sincerely

Tony