DEA TO TAKE OVER DRUG LAB FOR NOW

Federal drug agents will take over the State Police crime lab's closed drug
section and partly reopen it pending the investigations of "certain
inconsistencies" with the section's work, State Police Superintendent Gary
L. Edgell said.

Edgell wrote the state's 55 county prosecutors Wednesday that four U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration agents will soon temporarily staff the Drug
Identification Section.

"While it will take them a few days to acclimatize themselves and
recalibrate the relevant instruments, we are hopeful of being able to
resume analyzing drug evidence very soon," Edgell's letter said.

As the lab handles evidence from thousands of state and federal drug cases,
prosecutors found their cases in limbo until Edgell's letter. But both they
and defense lawyers express frustration about the lack of available
information about the drug lab's alleged problem or problems.

"Nobody likes these extra-secret investigations," said Managing Deputy
Kanawha County Public Defender LaDonna Saria. "It's like a little, little
candle in a great big dark room. Just giving us a little glimpse just makes
us mad."

Citing the ongoing investigations, officials refuse to detail what they
called "certain inconsistencies" when they shut down the lab last week. The
only known document with such details was sealed by a federal judge last week.

Edgell addressed the subject in his letter to prosecutors.

"I pledge to you that you will be provided with verifiable, reliable facts
in a timely fashion as soon as they are developed," he wrote. "I can also
assure you that everyone involved is working very diligently to get these
answers as quickly as possible."

Prosecutors have asked whether the civil rights of convicted or imprisoned
drug defendants have been violated "based upon faulty or incomplete
analysis" by the drug section. Edgell wrote that he agreed that answering
that question is a top priority.

"I have made no attempt to address this issue with you to date, as I do not
yet have reliable information with which the question can be answered," his
letter said.

Following Edgell's letter, a State Police spokesman cautioned that details
remain up in the air as to how drug evidence will be tested pending the
outcome of investigations. The DEA agents are "just one of our options,"
Sgt. Michael Corsaro said Thursday.

Both the State Police and the FBI are investigating the drug section after
one of its chemists complained about the work of another, state officials
have said. All five lab workers, three troopers and two civilians, were
ultimately placed on paid leave. The lab was closed last week.

The Gazette has learned that one of the lab's troopers complained that one
of the civilian chemists seemed to be recording more preliminary tests on
suspected drug evidence for a given day than could reasonably be performed.

The test is supposed to indicate whether any particular drug is present,
and to determine which detailed, follow-up tests should be performed. The
section also gauges the purity and weight of confirmed drug evidence.

The civilian chemist, identified as Todd Owen McDaniel, 31, of Charleston,
has not returned telephone and e-mail messages requesting comment.

The drug section tested evidence from more than 4,480 state and federal
drug cases last year, the State Police said. It is the main lab for testing
drug evidence in West Virginia.