COURTS COPING WITH DELAYS IN KENTUCKY'S CRIME LAB

FRANKFORT -- Evidence from drug arrests has caused a backlog of 10,000 cases
at the crime lab that conducts tests for all the state's criminal courts.

The backlog means the six Kentucky State Police Forensic Laboratory
locations need up to six months to complete DNA, blood and other tests
before the cases can be brought to trial. The delays have upset judges,
prosecutors, public defenders and crime victims and their families.

In a few cases, charges have been dismissed because of slow lab work,
although officials say that is rare. Twice this month, frustration about lab
delays spilled over into the courtroom. Two judges hearing cases nearly 300
miles apart on the same day blistered lab officials about how long it takes
to get reports on evidence.

In western Kentucky, Graves Circuit Judge John Daughaday ordered lab
scientists to go to his court Aug. 12 to explain delays in testing suspected
methamphetamine and other evidence. Daughaday cited 47 cases, going back to
2001. In Northern Kentucky, Kenton Circuit Judge Patricia Summe said it was
"unacceptable" that the lab needed up to six more months to complete DNA
tests on Aaron Dishon, 21, who is charged with the April 27 rape and
strangulation murder of a 13-year-old neighbor.

"I recognize that the demand on the lab has increased. It did not have to do
DNA testing a decade ago; now it's standard," Summe said in an interview
with The Courier-Journal. "What I can't understand is that it would take
four or six months, maybe longer, to complete tests on DNA in a capital
murder case."

The family of the victim, Tiffany Rae Farmer, agreed. "The waiting is very
hard, and it shouldn't be like that," said Julie Estes of Covington,
Farmer's mother.

Lab officials, citing a caseload that doubled to more than 40,000 in 2001
from about 20,000 in 1989, say they are overwhelmed by requests for tests on
drugs, DNA, blood and other evidence. They attribute the soaring caseload
mostly to drugs -- methamphetamine and prescription drugs. About 80 percent
of the backlog consists of cases in which substances seized by police must
be tested to show whether they truly are cocaine, meth, marijuana or
whatever is suspected.

In Henderson County, Commonwealth's Attorney Bill Markwell said about 75
percent of the county's 350 pending cases are drug cases.

While the county has not dismissed any cases as a result of the delay in
processing evidence, the backlog has slowed the rate of settlements because
"an attorney representing a person cannot seriously enter into settlement
negotiations unless he knows that that substance that we are alleging is
involved is (that substance)," Markwell said.

"Every effort is being made to see that the defendants'' rights are not
jeopardized," he said, adding that his office has made efforts to cooperate
with chemists, who are required by law to testify in the cases where they
have analyzed the evidence. In order to save time, some chemists testify by
satellite so they do not have to leave the lab.

"We're sympathetic to the frustrations of judges, attorneys and the victims.
But we have limited resources," said Jeff Warnecke, manager of the central
crime lab in Frankfort. "And it's most important that we not allow the
quality of our work to suffer."

The lab is responsible for conducting tests on evidence submitted in
criminal cases by every law-enforcement agency in the state, as well as
evidence submitted by the Department of Public Advocacy, which represents
indigent defendants. The lab operates on a first-come, first-served basis
and does not have a written policy on prioritizing cases, Warnecke said. But
he said the lab will move ahead on a case if a judge orders it or a police
officer, prosecutor or victims' advocate requests special attention.

The General Assembly increased the lab's budget from about $6.5 million two
years ago to $7 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30 and about $7.5
million this year, Warnecke said. Last year's budget increase allowed the
lab to hire 11 new people, bringing the staff to 114 workers.

This year's increase will allow the hiring of 15 more people.

"Once we get the additional 15 people this year we'll have the tools to
shorten the delays and cut into the backlog," Warnecke said.

Another problem, Henderson's Markwell said, is that entry-level laboratory
chemists' salaries are low.

"It's just a nightmare at the present time," he added. "It can be worked out
over time but only with the addition of new chemists. They had some
vacancies they can't fill, primarily because of meager pay."

While the lab conducts a broad array of tests, including ballistics studies
and examination of evidence from suspected arson scenes, the longest delays
occur in three areas: testing of drugs in possession and trafficking cases;
testing blood or urine for the presence of drugs in DUI and other cases; and
DNA testing in violent crimes.

Testing drugs in possession and trafficking cases and testing for drugs in
blood and urine usually takes only three to five days, Warnecke said, but
the volume of such cases is huge.

In the first five months of this year, the backlog of drug cases at the lab
climbed by about 1,500, to nearly 8,000 in May. DNA testing is more complex
- -- with multiple steps and tests that must be repeated -- and can take
weeks, Warnecke said.

"If all goes well, in a simple case it takes two weeks minimum," he said.