HPD crime lab back in the news
We've previously noted the deficiencies in the Houston Chronicle's reporting and editorializing on the Bromwich investigation into the HPD crime lab, so it's no surprise that the newspaper's recent coverage of the Fourth Bromwich report (issued Friday) has some problems.
Sedosi has already described the editing/flow problems that plague this story by Steve McVicker and Roma Khanna on the fact that the Bromwich team found problems with three cases that had not been identified in an ongoing review being made by HPD and the Harris County District Attorney's office:
I understand that there is concern about the lack of legal action, but it seems like this is a case where poor editing really takes away from the flow of the story in general.
The latter half of this read's like reports submitted by two individuals that have been cut and pasted one in front of the other.
I hate it when the Chron does that. This story must have hit the newsroom close to the deadline, and in a rush to make the edition, was hastily edited and given only a perfunctory review.
The sad part of this is the layperson will not spend the time to read, and then re-read the article to try and get to the important point that's being made: That there are defense attorney's not getting on the stick and filing the proper legal documents to get the wheels of justice back in motion.
There's an important point to be understood there, since up until now the focus has been on the potential denial of justice by the State.
We now may have a situation where the defenders are potentially 'piling on'....at taxpayer expense.
An important issue such as this deserves top notch reporting and editing on EVERY story that is published.
One can't help but wonder if editorial efforts to attack Chuck Rosenthal and try to hang the crime lab around his neck (despite the fact that earlier Bromwich reports not to mention common sense make clear the fault lines are elsewhere) are at work here as well, and not simply poor editing decisions.
That suspicion is lent some credence today by an editorial that's a real doozy, even by Chronicle (sub)standards:
In the latest developments reported by the Chronicle's Roma Khanna and Steve McVicker, not only did analysts in the lab's DNA and serology divisions make mistakes in a third of cases reviewed, they also concealed exculpatory findings in a number of cases that might have resulted in defendants' exonerations.
That behavior raised suspicion among investigators of collusion between technicians and law enforcement in manipulating case evidence.
With regard to the bolded excerpt, I've been over the Fourth Bromwich report carefully, and nowhere can I find the investigative team asserting that they suspect collusion between the Crime Lab's analysts and law enforcement in manipulating case evidence. The Chronicle's Editorial LiveJournalists may suspect that, but Bromwich and his team -- who write very clear, concise, careful prose -- simply do not assert it in this report anywhere that I can find. And it would be out of place, since Bromwich, et al., are clear in the report that they are merely assessing the work of the analysts and the problems in the lab, via the procedures established with the major stakeholders in this inquiry.
This is an important story for our community. As Sedosi wrote, it deserves top notch reporting and editing. So far, the Chronicle is coming up a bit short.
I highly recommend that people read the Bromwich findings themselves. Unfortunately, the Chronicle's reporting and editorializing just aren't sufficient.
REFERENCE: HPDLabInvestigation.org (contains all the Bromwich reports and materials).
BLOGVERSATION: Houblog.com.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/08/06 10:45 PM | Print |
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