STATE TROOPER FIRED AFTER CRIME LAB INVESTIGATION

SOUTH CHARLESTON (AP) - A State Police sergeant was fired Friday
following an investigation into the department's crime lab. Sgt. Tim
White was placed on administrative leave with pay in March after
officials learned of a discrepancy in a lab drug report that
allegedly occurred last year.

The lab's director, Capt. Rick Theis also was placed on leave at that
time. Theis' status was unclear Friday, but he was still an agency
employee, said State Police Major B.D. Gore, the agency's head of
internal affairs.

Theis became the lab's director shortly after State Police
Superintendent Howard was appointed by Gov. Bob Wise.

Hill has asked the U.S. Attorney's Office and FBI to examine the
discrepancy. An independent lab also was hired to test all cases
White analyzed from April 1 to July 3 of last year.

The FBI investigation is continuing, Gore said.

Because of personnel reasons, Gore said he could not discuss the
reasons for White's dismissal. White can appeal his firing.

Friday's firing is the latest in a series of problems involving the crime lab.

The Supreme Court in 1993 discredited the work of former chemist Fred
Zain, who was accused of fabricating lab results when he headed the
serology lab between 1986 and 1989. A Raleigh County jury could not
reach a verdict in his second trial on those charges last September.

Last January, former civilian lab worker Todd Owen McDaniel pleaded
guilty to a federal mail fraud charge and was given a three-month
sentence. He skipped a test in 1998 that was then required for
marijuana evidence.

The crime lab was taken over by the federal government and
investigated after the McDaniel case came to light in 2000. A grand
jury recommended in 1998 that the crime lab become independent of the
State Police.