Forensic Science Integrity

The bill defines "knowing misconduct" as a voluntary act or omission or series of acts or omissions consciously performed by a crime laboratory employee (employee) as a result of effort or determination in which the employee is aware that the employee's conduct is improper and deceptive. The bill defines a "significant event" as an act or omission by an employee that is a gross deviation from the standard operation procedures or accreditation requirements of the crime laboratory, or requirements in law that were applicable at the time of the act or omission of the employee, that could substantially negatively affect the integrity of the crime laboratory activities.

The bill requires an employee to report witnessed or discovered knowing misconduct or a significant event (collectively, "wrongful action") to the director of the crime laboratory (director) or to the employee's immediate supervisor, who shall report it to the director. A director who receives a report shall investigate the alleged wrongful action. The bill requires a crime laboratory director to review all records of the crime laboratory to identify wrongful actions committed prior to July 1, 2025, by a current or former crime laboratory employee.

The director shall notify each district attorney who has jurisdiction over a pending case, or a case that resulted in conviction, that the employee worked on about the reported wrongful action and provide the district attorney with access to information about the wrongful action.

Upon receipt of a wrongful action report from a director, a district attorney shall notify the defendant in each case that the employee worked on about the alleged wrongful action. If the case involved a crime listed in the "Victim Rights Act", the district attorney shall also notify the victim about the alleged wrongful action, if the charges have been filed but the trial has not begun.

The bill establishes a defendant's right to counsel in matters involving an employee's wrongful action and a right to investigate the wrongful action, to request discovery related to the wrongful action, and to seek post-conviction relief based on the wrongful action. The bill permits a court to enter a protective order related to discovery requests.

The bill establishes a process for a defendant convicted in a case involving an employee's wrongful action to petition for post-conviction relief based on the wrongful action. If the defendant's petition for post-conviction relief asserts facts that, if true, demonstrate that a wrongful action was material to the case, the court shall decide the claim upon the merits after an evidentiary hearing. At the evidentiary hearing, the defendant has the burden to show that the employee committed the wrongful action and that the wrongful action is material to the case. If the defendant meets their burden, the court shall vacate the defendant's conviction and grant a new trial.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)