By MAYOR LEE BROWN

The people of Houston deserve to be comfortable that the system of justice
works in our city. It's no secret that questions about Houston Police
Department's crime lab have lessened that comfort level. However, what
seems to have been a secret, at least to the media, is the magnitude of
the scrutiny to which the HPD crime lab has been subjected: an audit
completed by a joint team from the Department of Public Safety and Tarrant
County Medical Examiner crime labs; an assessment by the National Forensic
Science Technology Center in Florida; the identification of cases for
review and retesting; an extensive investigation by the HPD's Internal
Affairs Division; an inquiry by the Texas House of Representatives
Committee on General Investigating; and a probe being continued by a
second Harris County grand jury.

Further, I asked the governor to put a moratorium on all death sentences
pending now where DNA analysis was used. He responded that, by law, he can
issue only one stay of execution, but legislation has been introduced to
change that.

In addition, I asked the U.S. attorney general to send in a Department of
Justice team to do a complete analysis of the
entire system ... police, as well as the prosecution.

We will do what needs to be done to make a critical decision: 1) Can we
bring our crime lab up to par, where it's accredited and no one has any
doubts about it? Or, 2) Should we get out of the crime lab business? The
assessment by the National Forensic Science Technology Center in Florida
will form the basis for that decision. If we can we operate a first-class
crime lab that is accredited, we will do so. If not, we'll get out of the
crime lab business.

In the meantime, if even further scrutiny of the crime lab is required to
ensure public confidence in the system, the Texas Legislature already has
provided an avenue for this in Chapter 52 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure, i.e., a court of inquiry. A court of inquiry can be conducted
by a district judge duly elected by, and therefore answerable to, the
voters of Harris County. Further, the statute states that if the court of
inquiry pertains to the activities of the district attorney's office, or
if the district attorney is otherwise disqualified, the judge presiding
would appoint an attorney pro tem to act as special prosecutor. In any
event, the judge presiding always has the discretion to appoint an
attorney pro tem to assist in the investigation.

A court of inquiry may issue subpoenas just as it would in a felony
criminal trial, and a person refusing to testify may be held in contempt.
The evidence heard by the court may be live, via deposition, via
affidavits, via documents and may include testimony given before any grand
jury. On the other hand, those called to testify would have their rights
protected should they become suspected of criminal activity. This
balancing of the court's authority with the due process rights of
witnesses would result in an effective and fair investigation that would
be open to the public.

What is at issue is the integrity of the entire system ... not just the
crime lab, but also what happened to people who were convicted based on
the DNA evidence. And I believe an independent body, a court of inquiry,
with a judge duly sworn to carry out responsibilities with a special
prosecutor who can obtain all the evidence without any legal prohibition
... which an appointed independent commission does not have the power to
do ... is the best we can do to bring closure to the issue.

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Source : Houston Chronicle (Brown is the mayor of Houston)

This article is:
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/editorial/outlook/1902156