Scientists suspended as State Police DNA scandal deepens

Albany

The State Police moved to fire two forensic scientists implicated in an alleged cheating scandal at the agency's crime laboratory as district attorneys deal with the fallout of a lingering internal investigation that has sidelined a dozen DNA analysts.

The termination notices were quietly issued in late February to two of the 12 forensic scientists under investigation. The scientists, both supervisors, are the first to face formal discipline and were suspended without pay after being served with administrative charges alleging they violated agency rules, according to a person briefed on the matter.

Ten other DNA scientists nearly one-third of the lab's DNA analysts have remained on restricted duty for more than three months and are prohibited from working on criminal cases.

Some experts believe the scientists were pressured to do well on a qualification test for a controversial new type of DNA analysis that the State Police has spent $4.5 million and more than 10 years to implement. The program is still not in use by the State Police, where top officials have resisted implementing it, according to a former lab scientist.

The ongoing investigation also has raised questions about the ability of the analysts to testify in criminal proceedings, which they are often called on to do. Albany County prosecutors said they have two pending cases, a rape case and a homicide case, in which the DNA evidence was processed by scientists under investigation. They're considering having the evidence retested by other analysts.

"At the request of district attorneys, the State Police lab has re-reviewed and retested some evidence and found no discrepancies," said Beau Duffy, a State Police spokesman, adding: "We are disclosing to prosecutors all relevant information so they can evaluate their legal obligations."

The DNA casework unit at the State Police laboratory uses genetic testing to identify or exonerate potential suspects in more than a thousand criminal cases statewide each year.

State Police officials last week said there was no change in status for the 12 scientists under investigation, other than removing them from casework. But the Times Union independently confirmed that two supervisors, Shannon L. Morris, an associate director at the State Police DNA lab, and Kevin P. Rafferty, a supervisor who has worked in the laboratory since 1996, were suspended without pay in late February, according to a person briefed on the matter but not authorized to comment publicly.

"The internal investigation is ongoing, the status of the 12 analysts remains the same," Duffy said in an email.

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Scientists suspended as State Police DNA scandal deepens