"It is alleged the weapon was brought to court to be entered as evidence in a house robbery case when it accidentally discharged in court." November 20, 2019 A South African prosecutor reportedly has died this week after a gun brought inside a courtroom as part of the evidence in a home robbery case accidentally discharged – striking her in the hip...

The State Bureau of Investigations is investigating the case.​ November 20, 2019 Former Wetumpka police officer, Sean Blackburn, faces felony charges. Blackburn has been charged with with 2 counts of second degree theft. Elmore County District Attorney, Randall Houston, couldn't go into specifics about what was stolen, but it was items from the evi...

"The audits determined there were systemic problems with evidence being booked outside policy," November 18, 2019 A defense attorney behind allegations of abuses of a confidential informant program with Orange County's jails is now alleging systemic problems with the booking of evidence in cases, prompting a sheriff's spokeswoman to announce Monday...

"We believe the practices we have in place will prevent any problems in the future," November 20, 2019 When Hollywood police failed to keep track of their evidence room — losing $137,609 in cash and 1,096 pills — they got a sharp rebuke from a county watchdog agency for not catching the colossal error. The missing evidence cost the police departmen...

According to Doris Grant, supervisor of the evidence room, there are about 400 guns being held. Altered or damaged guns like those with rust must be destroyed. November 18, 2019 Provo's Police Department is held to strict regulations when it comes to caring for and getting rid of confiscated guns. On Tuesday, the Provo Municipal Council realigned t...

When a police department's evidence room needs to be audited because procedures weren't being followed, there ought to be hell to pay. Enter Article DATE HERE Here's the problem with the criminal justice system: What looks simple from the outside is never so cut and dried from within. That's what police, prosecutors and the judiciary tell (and...

Police said signed out more than 225 folds of heroin, more than 800 OxyContin pills and a few packets of cocaine from the department's evidence room on the pretext of needing to have the drugs tested. November 13, 2019 BRIDGEPORT — A former Fairfield police detective will be allowed to sue the town over his resignation, a judge has ruled. A Superio...

Case linked to evidence discrepancies November 15, 2019 BENTONVILLE -- A former Bella Vista police officer is appealing the loss of his law enforcement certification. Michael Kugler filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Benton County Circuit Court against the Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training to have his certification reinstated. T...

Enter Headline here November 15, 2019 ACHILLE, Okla. (KXII) - Former Achille Mayor David Northcutt pleaded guilty to a federal charge after selling stolen firearms across state lines. An indictment says in March the 42-year-old knowingly possessed, concealed, bartered and disposed of stolen weapons across state lines. An affidavit says after the po...

The deputy who lost her job and the on-duty patrol deputy had sex in the evidence room two or three times this year, November 17, 2019 A deputy lost her job recently after Rutherford County Sheriff Mike Fitzhugh discovered she had sex in an evidence room. The deputy, who had the rank of corporal, "engaged in sexual intercourse while on duty in her ...

no one told Bell's staff after he defeated seven-term incumbent Bob McCulloch last year there were cases in which the work of the crime lab employee, who was fired in 2017, could be called into question November 11, 2019 CLAYTON, Mo. -- A pattern of improper analysis in the St. Louis County Police Department's crime lab by a forensic scientist has ...

Between late 2017 and November 2018, the department screened 313 backlogged kits,... November 4, 2019 As San Diego Police Department crime lab analysts worked their way through backlogged sexual assault kits, dozens of the DNA profiles they entered into a federal database returned matches, giving investigators a potential lead. Those results appear...

O'Neill said, cops will effectively have to turn over lab reports and other evidence to prosecutors within about seven or eight days of a person being charged. November 6, 2019 Changes in the law governing criminal evidence as part of a package of New York State crime reform bills are expected to cost the NYPD close to $100 million, outgoing Police...

"Store Meth from a bust" October 29, 2019 Sometime after they began communicating last year, the relationship between a Metro Police detective and a woman turned sexual. Several times when she was in handcuffs for incidents like arrest warrants, alleged shoplifting, or being found inside a stolen vehicle, Lawrence Rinetti Jr., the detective, came a...

FBI agents found some of the missing $30,400 in Pillow's pants pocket and the rest of it in a safe he had hidden inside a cooler i Enter Article DATE HERE A federal grand jury in Little Rock has handed up an indictment charging a former Greene County sheriff's lieutenant with the theft of $30,400 in government funds. Allen Scott Pillow, 55, of...

Sheriff Matthew Wade said the boxes held just some of the 921 guns stored by deputies in the Sheriff's Office's three evidence lockers. November 11, 2019 ANNISTON, Ala. — Dozens of white boxes sat stacked atop shelves and propped against walls on a recent Wednesday in a small room in the back of the Calhoun County Sheriff's Office. Some of the smal...

The settlement covers money for each year the men served after sentencing, not their pretrial detention. November 2, 2019 The state of Maryland on Wednesday approved payments of about $9 million to five wrongly convicted men, including about $3 million — the state's largest-ever such settlement — to a man who spent 39 years in prison for a crime he...

Sheriff Dan Bullock explained to the commission why the department is in possession of the firearms. November 1, 2019 Disposing of surplus firearms at the sheriff's department was a topic of business during the St. Francois County Commission's regular session Tuesday. Sheriff Dan Bullock explained to the commission why the department is in possessi...

No unclaimed money has ever been given to the State Literary Fund, at least in the past five years October 25, 2019 HANOVER COUNTY, Va. (WWBT) - No unclaimed money has ever been given to the State Literary Fund, at least in the past five years, according to the Hanover County Sheriff's Office's own records. On Your Side Investigator, Diane Walker f...

Clippings from Brown's fingernails were kept on file — and OCME experts used their newly developed technique to see if she'd captured some of her attacker's DNA when they grappled. October 21, 2019 The city's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner on Tuesday will teach labs across the country about a groundbreaking forensics procedure that helped sol...

Missouri has more than 10,000 untested rape kits sitting on shelves in police departments and hospital — some have been there for decades — October 16, 2019 Missouri has more than 10,000 untested rape kits sitting on shelves in police departments and hospital — some have been there for decades — but the state is finally set to have a full inventory...

Rapid DNA led to finding a Houston man, suspected of killing a coworker in 2000. October 11, 2019 ANAHEIM, CA - A 47-year-old Houston man was behind bars Friday in Anaheim on a murder charge dating back 19 years. Leopoldo Vargas Serrano, who was taken into custody in Texas last month by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, is charged with gu...

Utah police investigators and forensic scientists are among the national leaders in the use of genetic genealogy to crack old and new criminal cases. October 13, 2019 Utah police investigators and forensic scientists are among the national leaders in the use of genetic genealogy to crack old and new criminal cases. "I'm excited," said Jay Henry, st...

The department's Oct. 2 post trying to locate the owners of some jewelry in the property and evidence room following a resolved case resulted in a high school class ring being reunited with a former Whatcom County high school student who hadn't seen it in 50 years. Enter Article DATE HERE "How amazing to be able to use social media for such a ...

Hundreds of thousands of evidence bags stored at warehouse October 15, 2019 KANSAS CITY, Mo. — New court records reveal an evidence warehouse fire in August 2018 affected more than 50% of the evidence stored there. Defense attorney Dan Ross has been outspoken about wanting to learn more about the fire since in happened. The new records, including a...

The missing money led Petersburg prosecutors to seek the dismissal of charges against at least three criminal defendants because monetary evidence in their cases inexplicably disappeared. October 11, 2019 A special prosecutor appointed three years ago to investigate more than $10,000 in missing cash from the Petersburg Bureau of Police's evidence r...

"There is absolutely no reason why a rape kit should ever sit untested for months or years when statistics tell us that testing rape kits helps to ensure justice by identifying perpetrators" October 9, 2019 Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law requiring law enforcement to test newly collected rape kits promptly in California. Bill SB 22, author...

Smith said the costume jewelry — a ring found in a burn barrel during a homicide investigation in 2016 — was checked out by an investigator about three months after he took office that same year. The ring was never returned. October 9, 2019 VERONA - The Augusta County Sheriff's Office was recently denied accreditation after a piece of costume jewel...

If convicted, the Elizondo and Salgado face a maximum prison sentence of 10 years for the embezzlement charge and five years for the conspiracy charge. October 8, 2019 CHICAGO — Two Chicago police officers have been charged with lying to judges to obtain search warrants and then stealing cash and drugs from the properties they searched, federal pro...

Local police departments who don't need to keep guns in their evidence room can turn them in to the district attorney's office. October 8, 2019 SCOTT TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) – About 700 guns from local law enforcement departments were collected by the Allegheny County District Attorney's office. The Allegheny County DA's Twitter account shared a photo...

California police say DNA has helped link a 52-year-old man to eight cold cases -- the rape and murder of a Fresno woman 23 years ago and the sexual assaults of seven Enter Article DATE HERE California police say DNA has helped link a 52-year-old man to eight cold cases -- the rape and murder of a Fresno woman 23 years ago and the sexual assau...

More than 2,000 new kits and 8,000 old kits were entered into the system, according to the North Carolina Department of Justice. Enter Article DATE HERE RALEIGH, N.C. (WMBF) - More than 10,000 sexual assault kits were logged into North Carolina's online tracking system in the first year. Last October, the state introduced the statewide system ...

One of the many bills Gov. Gavin Newsom must soon decide to either pass or veto is SB22, which requires counties to submit rape kits to laboratories within 20 days and test them no later than 120 days after collection Octobert 5, 2019 It takes great courage to undergo a forensic rape examination. When a sexual assault survivor is escorted into that...

Police said Coolen seized the Porsche Cayenne SUV on April 16 during a drug investigation that resulted in an arrest and placed it on a department property receipt,​ October 5, 2019 A 24-year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department assigned to the Narcotics Field Unit was arrested Thursday and charged with using a 2018 Porsche he confiscated ...

DNA evidence was discovered at the time at the crime scene, and a suspect DNA profile was identified. October 4, 2019 Editor's note – This story contains graphic detail of a murder case. Reader discretion is advised. After nearly three decades, a cold case arrest has been made for the 1991 murder of Sarah Yarborough, a 16-year-old Federal Way stude...

A rifle stolen from a Kelso resident 20 years ago was sent to the owner's next of kin this week after a Kelso police clerk found the firearm in a routine inventory of the agency's evidence department. October 5, 2019 A rifle stolen from a Kelso resident 20 years ago was sent to the owner's next of kin this week after a Kelso police clerk found the ...

s accused of stealing cocaine and methamphetamine before they could be entered as evidence in cases October 1, 2019 A former Gwinnett county sheriff's deputy and federal drug task force member has been indicted in federal court on charges that he used his position to steal some of the drugs that he was tasked with getting off the streets. Antione R...

Valley officials support the law, which is meant to remove weapons from the hands of domestic abusers, Enter Article DATE HERE More than 1,200 seized weapons may be in the hands of the Valley's five county sheriffs offices at any given time, according to department officials. That number has been rising so much since a new state law was enacte...

Now two companies are halting the sale of do-it-yourself evidence collection kits after being threatened with legal action. September 29, 2019 ARLINGTON, Va. (ABC7) — They boasted an "alternative solution" for sexual assault survivors. Now two companies are halting the sale of do-it-yourself evidence collection kits after being threatened with lega...

The initiative also helps improve investigation and prosecution of rape cases through the collection of evidence through testing. September 28, 2019 The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office has received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said Wednesday. The federal funds were awarded for the count...

As genetic genealogy websites become more popular and individuals continue to voluntarily submit their DNA or enter their genetic profiles onto publically available genetic genealogy sites, the more biological information there is to compare with DNA samples from crime scenes. September 24, 2019 The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) this week releas...

Vialpando said there was a lack of consistency in keeping track of the chain of custody of certain evidence and that some pieces of evidence were labeled with the wrong case numbers. September 27, 2019 SANTA FE — A Santa Fe District Court judge on Friday denied a defense motion to dismiss a murder case, despite the Santa Fe Police Department losing...

He is charged with eight counts of aggravated sexual assault, six counts of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of aggravated burglary, and one count of aggravated robbery, all first-degree felonies. Enter Article DATE HERE CLEARFIELD — Ogden Police Capt. Timothy Scott knew that someday the case of two brutal rapes in Clearfield from the mid 199...

Noriega wants the police department to be held accountable. September 26, 2019 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.- Friends and Family of a young woman who was murdered will be protesting Friday outside District Court in Santa Fe. The case against Selena Valencia suspected killer, Christopher Garcia, could be thrown out because the Santa Fe Police Department lost se...

​The newborn, dubbed 'Baby Jane Doe' by investigators, was found Jan. 24, 1994, in a 55-gallon drum behind Bob's Car Wash in Jeanerette, September 26, 2019 A Louisiana woman has been charged with murder after DNA evidence linked her to a newborn girl left to freeze to death in a trash can 25 years ago, authorities said. Sonia Charles, 50, of New Ib...

The investigation found Detective Amy Welsh mishandled evidence in a 2012 sexual assault case and a 2018 kidnapping case, according to Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein. September 18m, 2019 A Columbus Division of Police detective has been charged after an internal investigation found she failed to properly investigate sexual assault and kidnapping ...

DNA collected from a crime scene can be analyzed and sequenced into data, which is then uploaded to an open-access genetic genealogy database like GEDmatch.com to run a comparison.https://www.sdentertainer.com/news/how-genealogy-tests-are-being-used-to-crack-cold-cases/ September 1, 2019 Thanks to the use of a new investigative technique called "ge...

In an interview with detectives, a civilian supervisor said Crooks was "always looking for coins" in the property room. September 20, 2019 An Indianapolis police lieutenant is disputing criminal charges filed against him Thursday after investigators say he stole a suspect's "lucky gold coin" from the police department's property room. Lt. George Cr...

Police say on September 18, 1983, Baltes was found dead in a motel room, where he'd been tied up and beaten. Septemeber 22, 2019 TULSA, Oklahoma - Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter announced Friday that his office has charged two people with first-degree murder in a 1983 Tulsa cold case. Both are now in custody: 61-year-old Willie Moore. Moore ...

A former sheriff's department employee in Tennessee is facing charges of stealing from the office's evidence room September 21, 2019 NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A former sheriff's department employee in Tennessee is facing charges of stealing from the office's evidence room. According to a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation news release, 53-year-old Ton...