 The
following is the Chief Harold L. Hurtt*s
official position concerning
the letter faxed to Mayor Bill White dated
January 24, 2005, from Senator John Whitmire,
Senator Tommy Williams, and statements made by
Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst regarding
the HPD Crime Lab. The senators strongly
encourage that the City request assistance
from the Texas Rangers to oversee this review
in the processing of the 280 boxes of crime
scene material.
After reading communications from the Senators
and Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst, we
understand they want us to employ an
independent overseer from the Department of
Public Safety for Project 280 and explore the
concept of regional crime labs. We
welcome this offer of state assistance.
We welcome someone with credibility to work
shoulder to shoulder with our project team.
In furtherance of this recommendation, an oral
request was made today of Colonel Thomas A.
Davis, Jr., Director, Texas Department of
Public Safety, to provide an overseer from the
Texas Department of Public Safety for the
duration of Project 280. A formal
request will follow.
I raised the possibility of State assistance
in the early stages of this project, and
I suggested months ago that regional DNA labs
be established and managed by the State.
I still believe regional DNA Labs to be a good
concept subject to statewide regulatory
authority; however, as a practical matter, we
recognize that the state DNA Lab currently has
a six-month backlog of cases.
With our workload, our DNA processing demand
could possibly create a one-year backlog for
Houston cases. Nevertheless, we will be
happy to explore the idea of a fair funding
process for a Regional DNA lab.
We want to regain the confidence of the
senate, community, and Criminal Justice
System. We have not remained stagnant
regarding this issue. We are
approximately 75% complete with categorizing
evidence associated with Project 280. We
are also well on the way to accreditation of
our crime lab, with the exception of only the
DNA section. We all can agree that we
must have accurate and prompt investigations
so that crime victims receive justice, and we
are working with the District Attorney*s
Office concerning any death penalty cases that
might be affected.
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