Media Contact: Barbara Fornasiero, EAFocus Communications, cell: 248.260.8466, barbara@eafocus.com
Southfield, Mich. —Dec. 28, 2015 — Criminal defense attorney Neil Rockind of Southfield-based Rockind Law joined with Michael Komorn of Southfield-based Komorn Law in filing a formal complaint against the Michigan State Police Crime Laboratory, citing negligence and incompetence resulting in crime lab “findings, integrity and reliability (that) are in serious doubt.” The complaint was filed with Gerry LaPorte, Director of the National Institute of Justice, Office of Investigative & Forensic Sciences, in Washington, DC on Dec. 22, 2015.
“The conduct taking place in the Michigan Crime Lab continually compromises the integrity of the Crime Lab’s forensic results,” Rockind said.
Referring to a series of emails from Crime Lab personnel to support their complaint, Rockind and co-author Komorn specifically cited the Crime Lab’s egregious practice of allowing the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan (PAAM) to control the Lab’s reporting in such a way that a misdemeanor charge under the Michigan Public Health Code can be elevated from a basic misdemeanor to a felony for the possession or manufacture of synthetic marijuana.
“Compromising forensic science as a matter of course in order to support a felony prosecution is abhorrent and illegal,” Rockind said. “PAAM is interfering with the reporting of scientific results, revealing a co-dependence between the Association and the Crime Lab that is antithetical to independent and objective forensic reporting.”
Other issues cited in the Rockind Law and Komorn Law complaint include:
• The Crime Lab’s under-reporting of uncertainty regarding blood alcohol analysis
• The Crime Lab’s failure to analyze and scientifically establish a limit of detection for analytes such as THC, over-criminalizing the presence of any amount of a schedule 1 substance in an operator’s system while driving
Rockind and Komorn are not filing a lawsuit against the Michigan State Police Crime Laboratory at this time.
“Our formal letter of complaint is intended to launch a serious and objective review of the practices of the Crime Lab by the National Institute of Justice,” Rockind said. “We are thankful that Congress has made it possible for such investigations to take place for the good of the people of the State of Michigan and the criminal justice system at large.”
About Rockind Law
Rockind Law is a Southfield, Michigan-based criminal defense law firm aggressively pursuing justice for individuals facing criminal charges, including white collar crime, drunk driving, narcotics and assault. To find out more about the firm’s services and resources, visit http://www.rockindlaw.com.
