Governor Warner Releases Audit of DNA Testing in Rape and Murder of Rebecca Williams
Governor Warner Releases Audit of DNA Testing in Rape and Murder of Rebecca Williams
Virginia Division of Forensic Science to comply with recommendations of national accreditation board
Governor Mark R. Warner today released in its entirety a report from the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB) on the DNA analysis done in 2000 by the Virginia Division of Forensic Science on evidence from the 1982 rape and murder of Rebecca Williams in Culpeper, Virginia. Governor Jim Gilmore granted Earl Washington, Jr. an absolute pardon in October 2000, after DNA testing by the Virginia lab cleared him in the crime for which he had received a death sentence. On September 30, 2004, Governor Warner requested the national accrediting entity for forensic labs, ASCLD/LAB, perform an audit of the testing done in 2000.
The testing in the Washington case involved low level DNA,' where the evidence contains amounts of DNA at or below normal detection limits. The ASCLD-LAB report contains specific recommendations on how to handle such evidence in the future. The audit report concludes that "the DNA typing results offered in this case should have, at best, been reported as inconclusive, rather than attempting to make an interpretation from poor quality information."
"The ASCLD Laboratory Accreditation Board has done a thorough review of the handling of this case in Virginia," said Governor Warner. "I appreciate the effort taken in the review, and have accepted all eight recommendations contained in the report. The Virginia Division of Forensic Science has provided a point-by-point response to the recommendations and specific plans to comply."
"DNA testing is an invaluable tool in catching and convicting the guilty, as well as freeing the innocent," said the Governor. "Our DNA data bank, for instance, has produced almost 2,700 cold hits' in Virginia, solving crimes that could otherwise remain unsolved forever. Our labs have been -- and are - international leaders in this crime-fighting technology, and the integrity of their work is critical to our criminal justice system."
"I believe it worth noting that while the ASCLD Laboratory Accreditation Board offers specific recommendations as a result of the Washington case, just ten days later, the Board deemed that all four Virginia DFS laboratories meet or exceed' national standards for re-accreditation," continued Governor Warner. "It is my hope that the implementation of these recommendations helps restore confidence in Virginia's DNA testing."
The Virginia Division of Forensic Science is currently a division of the Department of Criminal Justice Services. But as a result of legislation passed by the 2005 General Assembly and signed by Governor Warner this year, DFS will become a separate agency under the Secretary of Public Safety on July 1st. The legislation, patroned by Senator Ken Stolle and Delegate David Albo, also creates a Forensic Science Board which includes criminal justice practitioners, and a Scientific Advisory Committee comprised of peers from the forensic science community to support and advise the work of the agency.
http://www.governor.virginia.gov/Press_Policy/Releases/2005/May05/0506.htm