Florida reviews thousands of drug cases for possible evidence tampering

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Florida reviews thousands of drug cases for possible evidence tampering
Bill Cotterell
Reuters
February 1, 2014

TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - Florida's state police agency on Saturday announced a massive evidence review in thousands of drug cases handled by one crime-laboratory chemist, saying its findings could lead to some criminal cases being quashed and drug dealers set free.

The chemist is suspected of taking illegal drugs out of evidence storage and replacing them with over-the-counter medication, the agency said.

"It could be for personal use. It could be for trafficking. We don't know," Gerald Bailey, head of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), said at a news conference.

Bailey declined to identify the FDLE chemist, who was ordered to take vacation and accrued compensatory leave time pending disposition of the case.

He said the man has hired an attorney and is not cooperating in the investigation. He said the chemist will be fired if a case is documented.

"We've identified nearly 2,600 cases spanning 35 counties that chemist processed between 2006 and the present day," Bailey said.

"So far, we've identified several dozen evidence submissions where prescription drugs were substituted with over-the-counter medications. This has the potential of impacting hundreds of drug cases across our state."

Bailey said the investigation began when the Escambia County Sheriff's Office reported missing evidence in several drug cases last week.

Last Thursday, he said, it was determined that one chemist had handled laboratory submissions in which substances believed to be illegal drugs were replaced.

Bailey said there was no indication that the chemist was bribed to tamper with evidence and get cases dismissed.

Bailey said he never would have suspected the man, hired in 2006, of any wrongdoing.

"This is a shock and a disappointment," he said.

"This individual would have been way down on my list of potential bad apples."


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-usa-crime-florida-20140201,0,7734454.story

Drug cases threatened after pills vanish under chemist's watch

 

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Florida Crime Lab Analyst Arrested on Drug Charges: FDLE
By Brendan Farrington and Melissa Nelson

A former Florida crime lab analyst was arrested Tuesday and charged with stealing and selling painkillers and other drugs that he was supposed to be testing as evidence in criminal cases, the state law enforcement agency said.

Joseph Graves, 32, was arrested a day after he resigned from his position at a Florida Department of Law Enforcement lab in Pensacola. He was charged with grand theft of a controlled substance, 12 counts of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and nine counts of trafficking in illegal drugs and was being held on $290,000 bond.

The department began an investigation after the Escambia County Sheriff's Office discovered drug evidence was missing. A further look found other cases Graves handled where painkillers were swapped out with non-prescription drugs.

Graves is accused of selling Oxycodone, morphine and hydromorphone. More charges could be added as the investigation continues.

FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey has said hundreds of drug cases may be compromised.

"The actions of Joseph Graves are disgraceful. FDLE is working with State Attorneys' Offices statewide to ensure he is held accountable for his actions," Bailey said in a news release.

Graves' attorney didn't immediately return a message for comment.

Graves began working for the department in December 2005 and was promoted to supervisor in 2009. He has handled about 2,600 cases, most of which are drug-related. The compromised cases could possibly affect 80 law enforcement agencies in 35 counties that had cases worked on by Graves.

The department is using agents from each of its offices to review all the cases handled by the chemist and has contacted state attorneys and law enforcement agencies across the state that have pending cases that could be compromised.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys reached Monday agreed that the thefts could create massive problems for courts and law enforcement agencies throughout Florida and could result in some convictions being thrown out and sentences reduced.

The department is reviewing its drug-testing program to try to prevent something similar from happening. One idea may be to increase employee drug testing, Bailey said Saturday when announcing details of the investigation. Right now, employees are drug tested when they are hired, but not again unless they have reason to suspect they are abusing drugs.

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/...-Arrested-on-Drug-Charges-FDLE-243611481.html