Corrupt Science + Corrupt Scientist = Disaster in New York

No Miracle on the Hudson is going to save this scandal.   A new report released by the Inspector General for the State of New York reveals that a forensic scientist working for the state police routinely failed to perform mandatory tests on crime scene trace evidence like hair fibers and then fraudulently wrote up results.

The report (most likely released in the middle of the usual holiday scramble to avoid a larger outrage) found that State Police forensic scientist Garry L. Veeder performed defective tests from 1993 to 2008. Even more troubling is that Veeder’s supervisors either failed or were not qualified to review his work. As a result, the errors went undetected. Veeder committed suicide in 2008 after he learned he was under investigation.

This is not the case a bumbling scientists, but rather the root of a systemic problem that plagues crime labs – the blind leading the corrupt. This type of environment fosters forensic mistakes, omissions, and outright fraud.

While New York officials insist that Veeder’s mistakes had not resulted in any wrongful convictions, little information is available. Even if wrongful convictions cannot be linked to Veeder, the problems revealed in the report leave a wake of questions and distrust in New York crime labs. Moreover, since Veeder primarily handled trace evidence - a notoriously weak “science by any means – one can only guess what magic conclusions Veeder came to over the course of his 15 years with the New York state police.

Indeed, Veeder performed analysis in homicide, assault and robbery cases. Veeder examined fibers, glass, hair, footprints, arson residue and other trace substances discovered at crime scenes.  To add insult to injury, the report also criticized Veeder’s those who trained, supervised, and reviewed Veeder.  At the end of the day, however, one can bet that those individuals will still have jobs and that little – if anything - will change at New York state crime labs. After all, the bad seed (Veeder) is gone, and everyone can give a big sigh of relief that they emerged no worse for the wear.