The Associated Press and Huffington Post Quote Barket About Crime Lab Errors

Huffington Post’s reporter Frank Eltman and The Associated Press wrote about the closing of New York crime labs due to drug test errors. According to the Huffington Post article, police officials knew that examiners were producing inaccurate measurements in drug cases even before a national accrediting agency placed the lab on probation. Bruce Barket, a recognized Criminal Defense attorney and former Nassau Country prosecutor, pointed out that lab errors are neither new nor limited to New York County, noting that a 2009 report to Congress found crime labs across the country were under fire and that the National Academy of Sciences urged creation of national standards of training, certification and expertise for forensic criminal work. In both articles, Barket said that the problems raised with respect to the New York labs are typical of problems that exist all across the country.