DRUG LAB'S ACCURACY IN CRIMINAL CASES PROBED

The former owner of a lab that tested thousands of criminal defendants for
illegal drugs is the focus of an investigation questioning the accuracy of
his results.

George Goehring, who sold his business in July, has denied any impropriety.

Shasta County Dist. Atty. McGregor Scott is trying to decide whether any of
the 500 to 1,000 defendants that Goehring, 62, worked with were sent to
prison wrongfully. According to a March 1998 report by a Shasta Interagency
Narcotics Task Force agent, coroner's office employees said Goehring's test
results had differed "for some time" with those from another lab.