Crime lab backlog delays criminal cases 2-3 years

AUGUSTA – Investigators in some criminal cases must wait two or three years for evidence to be analyzed because of a continuing backlog at the State Police Crime Laboratory.

Examiners at the Augusta lab are working through the backlog, which has shrunk by about 20 percent in the past few months. About 300 items still need their attention.

Because of a shortage of people and money, the crime lab must give top priority to the most serious cases such as murders, rapes and assaults, while processing of less-serious cases is delayed, said state police Detective Sgt. William Harwood, interim director of the crime lab.

“It is not that we don’t want to do them. We do want to do them, but in our list of priorities it is not easy to get to them,” said Harwood.

The delays are frustrating to police investigating property crimes such as thefts and burglaries, a frustration Harwood said he understands.

Because of the backlog, some items from property crimes wait to be processed until they are of no use to investigators, or the criminals have been arrested for other crimes, police say.

Fingerprints tying suspects to crimes are powerful evidence that can help investigators solve crimes and get criminals off the street, said Detective James Ross of the Skowhegan police. But the wait for analysis is so long that some officers don’t want to gather fingerprint evidence, he said.

The Skowhegan police receive inquiries from the crime lab asking if it should process evidence sent to the Augusta facility two or three years ago, Ross said.

Causing part of the bottleneck is a shortage of examiners, such as fingerprint specialists, to handle all the cases coming in, Harwood said. High turnover in the past five years also has been an issue.

The crime lab backlog is nothing new. In June 2002, state police set aside money from a $375,554 federal grant to reduce a backlog of 150 pending cases where DNA testing was needed.

Among the high-profile cases in the crime lab is DNA testing on fingernails and other items collected during the investigation of murder of a 12-year-old baby sitter from Bowdoin.

Dennis Dechaine is serving a life sentence for the 1988 crime. Dechaine’s family and supporters, who hope to overturn his conviction, are paying for the DNA tests.