DAs warned of possible tainted cases
A state police forensic scientist's possible mishandling of evidence could affect criminal cases already disposed of in the north country.
State police spokesman Lt. Glenn Miner said the agency is reviewing the work of Gary L. Veeder, who retired from the state police crime laboratory in Albany on May 7 and who committed suicide at his home May 23.
Lt. Miner said that, as of Friday, the investigation had not uncovered any evidence that had been compromised.
"At this point, out of all of the cases we've looked at, none of the evidence has been found to be inaccurate or incorrect," he said.
He said possible problems with evidence handling were discovered during a routine audit of the police lab by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors. The audit found that Mr. Veeder, who primarily analyzed fibers, skipped "preliminary" steps before reaching conclusions about some of the evidence he handled, Lt. Miner said.
"The conclusions were proper, but he was not running the additional steps in some of the tests," Lt. Miner said.
Because proper procedures were not followed, Lt. Miner said, state police are notifying district attorneys across the state who may have cases that have been affected by the conclusions.
Not all district attorneys will be affected, but Jefferson County District Attorney Cindy F. Intschert said Friday that her office has been alerted that evidence in at least one case could be questioned. She said state police will notify her in writing if other cases are affected.
"To my knowledge, it's all preliminary," Mrs. Intschert said. "They're just letting us know questions have been raised and we really don't know what, if anything, has been affected."
Mr. Veeder provided some testimony at the February 2006 trial of Edundabira O. Ojo, who was charged with murdering sisters Kelly M. Exford and Shannon M. St. Croix at a Cooper Street apartment.
At the trial, Mr. Veeder testified that a nearly intact footprint found in blood at the scene matched the size and tread wear of a boot recovered from Ojo, although he further testified he was unable to say it was "an exact match."
Ojo later was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder. Blood found on a shirt witnesses said Ojo was wearing on the night of the killings contained DNA that matched the DNA profile of both sisters, according to testimony at the trial. Mr. Veeder did not provide any DNA testing testimony.
Mrs. Intschert said the state had indicated there may be "a couple" of other cases in the county involving evidence handled by Lt. Veeder.
"We're just going to have to review these cases and determine at what stages did he testify," Mrs. Intschert said. "When we know precisely what portion of his work is being questioned, we'll make the proper notifications."
St. Lawrence County District Attorney Nicole M. Duvé and Lewis County District Attorney Leanne K. Moser could not be reached for comment Friday. Franklin County District Attorney Derek P. Champagne also could not be reached for comment, but he told the New York Times earlier this week that he has been told he has two cases affected. He told the Times he does not believe fiber evidence has ever been relevant in any of his major cases.
