Faulty Gunshot Residue Tests: South Carolina: Bulletin: Forensic Magazine reports: 'Faulty gun shot residue tests delaying some prosecutions around South Carolina.'...“How do you have faith in a lab that has failed in such a massive way? It’s a big deal,” said Fielding Pringle, chief Richland County public defender. Her office defends indigent defendants. Pringle had a case in February in which a defendant pleaded guilty, and Berry was the gunshot residue analyst. Pringle won’t comment on what she might do with respect to that case, but said that in general in flawed gunshot residue cases, “People will be looking into re-opening cases.”.."The Richland County public defender’s office also represents Arkeem Breeland, 23, who was charged with attempted murder in a January 2016, domestic disturbance case. Richland County deputy Chris Bagby was unhurt in the incident; he was shot at and missed, police say. Gunshot residue was found on Breeland’s hands, and that analysis was done by Berry, Pringle said. Breeland’s trial has been delayed because of the gunshot residue issue."... (Informative reporting on 'how it (gunshot residue tests) work. HL); reporting Reporter John Monk; The Forensic Magazine; May 8, 201

"Possible errors in nearly 227 gunshot residue tests done in State Law Enforcement Division labs have caused the agency to launch a review of those tests, delaying some criminal prosecutions around the state and calling other cases into question. All 227 cases, from January 2015 to November 2016, are the work of one analyst, Whitney Berry, who resigned from SLED in February after the flaws were discovered, SLED officials said. She could not be reached for comment. During her SLED career, which began in 2013, Berry testified in court about gunshot residue findings in 39 cases.
Based on the review so far, SLED officials stressed that the key findings in nearly all of Berry’s tests – which show whether someone’s skin or clothing tested positive for being around a gun being fired – are unlikely to be changed. “There were no cases where it showed positive where it was in fact negative,” said SLED Chief Mark Keel in an interview. Police agencies around the state depend on SLED’s labs to process crime scene evidence. Due to the near quarter-million-dollar cost of the machine used in the gunshot residue tests – which doesn’t include an additional $25,000 a year for maintenance and service – SLED has the only gunshot analysis lab in South Carolina. SLED said it discovered the problem in late November, during a routine review of Berry’s work by another agent. The agency estimates it will take at least another month to finish the review because of the time-consuming verification involved. The specific problem is that from January 2015 to November 2016, Berry sometimes underreported the number of GSR particles that were actually there, said SLED lab director, Maj. Todd Hughey. “It appears that she was doing incomplete work,” Hughey said. Scientists such as Berry, who can expected to be grilled by defense attorneys in court, are supposed to do a thorough job, to meet accepted scientific standards and to be able to defend every aspect of their work in court, Hughey said. If a defense attorney can show a jury that an analyst has misreported data in any way, that can undermine a prosecutor’s case, he said. “We have not found any issues where she fabricated data or falsified data,” Hughey said. “We didn’t have a rogue chemist.” SLED has notified all state solicitors about the problem, who are in turn notifying criminal defense lawyers in their respective circuits. Although SLED is being open and answering questions about what happened, some say the state’s top law enforcement agency has suffered a blow to its reputation. “How do you have faith in a lab that has failed in such a massive way? It’s a big deal,” said Fielding Pringle, chief Richland County public defender. Her office defends indigent defendants. Pringle had a case in February in which a defendant pleaded guilty, and Berry was the gunshot residue analyst. Pringle won’t comment on what she might do with respect to that case, but said that in general in flawed gunshot residue cases, “People will be looking into re-opening cases.” Keel said SLED is informing everyone about the mishap and will have the results of its audit of the 227 cases examined by a national law enforcement accrediting agency..........The Richland County public defender’s office also represents Arkeem Breeland, 23, who was charged with attempted murder in a January 2016, domestic disturbance case. Richland County deputy Chris Bagby was unhurt in the incident; he was shot at and missed, police say. Gunshot residue was found on Breeland’s hands, and that analysis was done by Berry, Pringle said. Breeland’s trial has been delayed because of the gunshot residue issue. Hughey couldn’t say exactly why Berry did what he described was a less than adequate job. He speculated that perhaps she believed once she determined that one particle picked up by SLED’s electron microscope was a gunshot residue particle, she thought she didn’t need to look for additional particles. Or perhaps Berry felt rushed and wanted to get on to other cases, he said."

 http://www.forensicmag.com/news/2017/05/faulty-gunshot-residue-tests-delaying-some-prosecutions-around-south-carolina?et_cid=5942756&et_rid=979655504&location=top&et_cid=5942756&et_rid=979655504&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.forensicmag.com%2fnews%2f2017%2f05%2ffaulty-gunshot-residue-tests-delaying-some-prosecutions-around-south-carolina%3fet_cid%3d5942756%26et_rid%3d%%subscriberid%%%26location%3dtop

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article149066069.html#storylink=cpy