REVAMP W.VA.'S CRIME LABORATORY

After a lengthy investigation, the West Virginia Supreme Court concluded
that Fred Zain, then a civilian chemist at the state police crime lab,
systematically embellished or falsified test results in criminal cases.

That was in 1993.

Since then, a half dozen defendants have been freed from prison sentences
blamed on Zain's misconduct. Zain himself remains free on bond as his case
winds in and out of the courts. Now a Florida resident, he continues to
insist he did nothing wrong.

In 1998, a special grand jury in Kanawha County, sifting the Zain mess,
returned a recommendation that operation of the state police lab be turned
over to an independent agency.

"We believe by definition a crime laboratory should be impartial and
unbiased toward any party," the jury said. "We question the wisdom of
operating a West Virginia crime laboratory within the chain of command of a
law enforcement agency."

Significantly, that recommendation was sealed by court order and has only
now been made public at the request of Jim Lees, special prosecutor in the
Zain case.

Last September, in an incident that stirred memories of the Zain case, a
civilian chemist at the state police lab was caught skipping required tests
on drug evidence. Todd Owen McDaniel was fired and pleaded guilty to
federal fraud charges.

Given these sorry happenings at the state police crime lab, we believe the
1998 grand jury was on the right track. It's too bad that the jury's report
has remained hidden all these years. Now that its recommendation is on the
record, the governor and state lawmakers should seriously consider removing
the state's crime lab from state police control.