Barry Logan, the embattled director of the Washington State Patrol crime labs, has resigned, accepting responsibility for allegations of sloppy work and fraud that jeopardized more than 100 DUI breath-test results in the past year, the Seattle Times reports. Logan’s resignation comes just two weeks after a panel of judges ruled that the state toxicology lab – one of the two labs overseen by Logan – engaged in “fraudulent and scientifically unacceptable” practices while preparing and analyzing breath tests used to prosecute suspected drunken drivers. The judges called for the suppression of the tests and laid much of the blame on Logan, finding he bore “a good deal of the responsibility for [the lab’s] shortcomings.”
Logan believes the troubles that have plagued the bureau over the past year could be attributed to the fact that his work amounted to two full-time jobs. “I was trying to do two jobs over the last nine years,” said Logan, whose annual salary is $120,000. The jobs will now be held by two people. Confidence in the Forensic Laboratory Services Bureau has been rocked by questions over employees in the breath-testing program and the work of a respected firearms expert. The breath-testing program came under scrutiny when former toxicology lab manager Ann Marie Gordon was accused of falsely claiming to have verified solutions used for breath testing in drunken-driving cases. She resigned in July.
Link: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2004183869_logan15m.html