Nation - North Carolina Use of training manual suspended

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- The new director of North Carolina's top law enforcement agency has suspended use of a training manual that told agents how to cooperate with prosecutors and improve their cases. The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Thursday as part of its series on the State Bureau of Investigation that Greg McLeod suspended use of the manual a day earlier. McLeod took over as SBI director this week, replacing Robin Pendergraft, who was assigned to head a newly expanded Medicaid fraud unit. The Basic Law Enforcement Training manual, last revised in 2007, teaches officers to tell district attorneys in advance about weaknesses in a case "so that the trial of the case can be planned to minimize the weakness' impact." It also talks about conviction rates, saying that a "good reputation and calm demeanor" will enhance an analyst's rate. The manual says that "if the answers are favorable to the defendant and harmful to your case, SPIT IT OUT ANYWAY. Such testimony should be given in the same tone of voice used during direct examination." "There's some language in this document that should not be there, and there should be a thorough review of it," Attorney General Roy Cooper told the newspaper in an interview last month. Pendergraft, while still SBI director, said she had never seen the manual and that she found it interesting. McLeod then suspended the manual's use Wednesday. The manual advises officers to tell the truth and to not commit perjury. But it also says that officers should not discuss cases with defense attorneys unless the district attorney has agreed. The SBI in general, and its crime lab specifically, have been under fire since February, when an SBI agent testified at a groundbreaking innocence hearing about a policy to not include all information on blood tests in lab reports provided to courts. The information on confirmatory tests that determined whether a substance was blood was included in less formal bench notes that were not routinely provided to courts, SBI Agent Duane Deaver testified. The testimony came at the hearing for Greg Taylor, who spent nearly 17 years behind bars for murder, before a three-judge panel declared him innocent and freed him. After that, Cooper ordered an external review of the lab, headed by two former assistant directors of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Their contract now extends through the end of the year. North Carolina is one of 38 states where the lab reports to police or prosecutors, a practice that the National Academies says should change. The National Academies, which advises on science, medicine and engineering, recommended in 2009 that forensic scientists shouldn't report to law enforcement or prosecutors. But Cooper said the lab should remain part of his office, adding that the right policies can safeguard against bias. Defense attorneys point to cases such Leslie Lincoln's as proof of the effect of the SBI crime lab's bias toward prosecutors. Published: Fri, Aug 13, 2010

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