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Crime Technicians' Lack Of Certification Causes Dropped Cases

Three drug cases were thrown out of court in the past month because
judges refused to allow the testimony of city police crime-lab
employees who are not yet certified.

Another six drug cases were dropped during the same period because
the analysts performing the tests failed to appear in court to
testify, said Baltimore City Public Defender Elizabeth L. Julian.

That three cases were tossed amid questions about certification
angers lab Director Edgar Koch, who insists his employees are
qualified to test substances and determine whether they are heroin,
cocaine or other controlled dangerous substances.

He also said that allowing trainees to test drugs is standard procedure.

As for the other dismissed cases, he said the analysts probably did
not show up because "they were not summonsed and didn't know to be
there."

Koch criticized the public defender's office for raising the
certification issue, calling it an easy way to help clients beat
conviction.

"To use this as a way of getting people off who have done something
wrong, is wrong," Koch said yesterday.

"If they want our analysts to come testify, they can," he said.
"We're not hiding anything, and we're not to there to mislead
anybody."

Julian countered that her office used "legal means. ... We just try
to follow the law and seek justice for our clients."

Koch acknowledged that the form signed by analysts can be deceiving
because it says they are certified by the state Department of Health
and Mental Hygiene.

"You can say it's a misleading statement on the form, but ... we know
what our findings are, and we know what the qualifications of our
chemists are," he said.

Said Julian: "If somebody is signing a paper saying they're
certified, then they should be certified."

The issue came to a head this week during the trial of Pamela Anne
Volpe, who prosecutors said was found slumped in a car by police Jan.
18 in the 3300 block of Waterview Ave. in South Baltimore.

Volpe, 39, had a syringe in her arm, and officers testified they
recovered several vials and gel caps from the car.

Those items later tested positive for cocaine and heroin, Assistant
State's Attorney Marshall Shure said.

Routine Procedure

Volpe's attorney, Assistant Public Defender Stephen Patrick Beatty,
argued in court that the person who initially signed the lab results
in Volpe's case was Heidi L. Wojno, an uncertified trainee. Stephen
Thomas, a criminalist in the lab who was certified in 1977, signed
under her name.

Thomas testified Wednesday that he routinely signs his name to
thousands of lab results -- without having performed the tests or
supervised the people conducting them.

District Court Judge Charlotte Cooksey said she found Volpe innocent
of possession, because one of the officers who handled the drugs did
not appear in court -- not because of Wojno's lack of certification.

In fact, the judge allowed Wojno to testify as an expert witness
during Volpe's trial.

Judge Urges Remedy

However, after announcing her not-guilty ruling, Cooksey told Shure
that the problem with the forms needs to be rectified immediately.

"What corrective actions does the office of the state's attorney plan
to take with regard to this document?" Cooksey asked Shure.

Shure replied that he has spoken with Deputy State's Attorney Sharon
A.H. May about the problem.

Margaret Burns, a spokeswoman for the state's attorney's office, said
the issue about the forms and certification will be discussed Tuesday
when police officials and the state's attorney's office meet to
discuss policy issues.

Burns said no cases have been thrown out because of the issue that
surfaced during the Volpe case.

Issue Emerged Last Month

Burns said the issue of analysts' qualifications arose early last
month, and at that time the state's attorney's office, along with
police, established a protocol that requires analysts to take their
resumes and other credentials to court.

Julian said the public defender's office will continue challenging
the qualification of uncertified analysts.

Koch said Wojno and three other employees have been in training for
16 months and will be certified in two months.

In Defense Of Trainees

"These people have gone to college, gotten their degrees, and we're
bringing them in here showing them how to do drug analysis," Koch
said. "How can you get them training unless they analyze the drugs
and testify in court as experts?"

He said his office handles 45,000 cases annually, requiring that
400,000 items be tested.

By comparison, he said, the rest of the state handles about 20,000
cases per year.