Additional cases of subpar lab work has been uncovered at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner — with questions now being raised about the potential fallout for a 2021 murder case, the Daily News has learned.
In a June 13 letter, the ME’s office said an charges ongoing internal review that started in August 2024 found that 45 DNA samples in 40 different cases were contaminated. Some of the samples, fewer than 20, were uploaded into a federal database, CODIS, or Combined DNA Index System, and had to be hastily removed, said Julie Bolcer, spokeswoman for the ME’s office.
But Bolcer said none of those samples were linked to a known offender, meaning police did not arrest the wrong person or identify anyone as being linked to an unsolved crime.
The review is the latest controversy to beset the ME’s office.
The Daily News reported in December 2023 that a senior analyst and two criminalists were suspended amid an investigation prompted when it was learned they were signing off on their own DNA analyses, a violation of federal standards and its own policy.which is prohibited. According to standards set by the FBI, the National Accreditation Board and the MEs office’s own policy, the author of a forensic analysis cannot also be the technical reviewer.
Before that, in 2019, a botched DNA test nearly cost a Queens man his freedom when he was charged with burglary. The charges were later dismissed.
The current review, known as a Root Cause Analysis, is focused on DNA samples processed by lab scientists, known as criminalists, between March 1, 2024 and Aug. 8, 2024. So far, 23,900 samples have been reviewed, according to the letter. The findings are disclosed each month in a letter to the NYPD, prosecutors and various defender services, among others.
Bolcer said the problem was discovered because the ME’s office has quality assurance guardrails in place and that as a result of the review important changes have been made, including stricter supervision and improved cleaning protocols.
“While the review continues the laboratory is confident that the measures put in place in August 2024 to address the case-to-case contamination issues are working as intended,” Craig O’Connor, the ME’s director designate for the Department of Forensic Biology, said in the letter.
“The laboratory is committed to producing the highest quality of work each day for its partners in the criminal justice system…”
But there remains skepticism.
Stacey Richman, a defense lawyer, said that as she prepared in April to defend Brooklyn murder suspect Culture Bermudez she asked the District Attorney’s office to request a re-testing of the two DNA samples linked to Bermudez. The DA’s office agreed, and a re-testing by the ME’s office determined one of the samples had been contaminated.
Richman said both she and the DA’s office spoke about the contamination at trial.
Bermudez, described by authorities as a Choo gang member and drill rapper known as CoachDaGhost, was convicted of murder, as was an accomplice.
“I think it’s important to convey that our quality control process worked as intended before the trial,” Bolcer said. “The sample was removed from consideration and the outcome of the case was unaffected.”
But Richman still has questions.
“How is it possible that one sample was contaminated and one wasn’t?” she asked. “How many more cases are out there where this happened, where there was contamination that we haven’t found out about?”
“This is a significant issue.”
Jenny Cheung, supervising attorney for the DNA Unit of the Legal Aid Society, said Richman’s case should prompt the ME’s office to widen its review beyond the five months from last year on which it is currently focused.
“We still do not know how pervasive the contamination issue is at the lab,” Cheung said. “When did it start?”
