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By Larry O'Dell
RICHMOND
Virginia's crime lab is falling further behind in conducting drug and alcohol analyses as forensic examiners spend more time in court.
The problem stems from the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in June that says prosecutors must make forensic examiners available for defense cross-examination about lab reports used as evidence.
The Virginia Department of Forensic Science says it's receiving more than twice as many subpoenas as it was before the ruling. Analysts are working more overtime to make up for the time spent in court, but the backlog of work in the lab is growing anyway and cases are lingering longer.
And even though analysts are spending more time going to court, they're rarely being questioned by defense attorneys.
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Unfortunately, this was one
Unfortunately, this was one the worst rulings that the Courts have ever made. The system was working fine just the way it was. All of the rules of evidence were being followed. I undestand that the criminal has a right to confront witnesses but this is ridiculous. From what I have seen, the Defense attornys only ask how long they have been doing testing and were they went to school. It is nothing more than a ploy to get the criminals back on the street so they can make more money because the criminal will be arrested again and again.