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Wednesday • April 16,
ReportrFBI crime lab work, management flawed
Attorney General Janet Reno says lab still capable of performing its mission despite some problem
WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI crime
lab agents produced flawed scientif
ic work or inaccurate testimony in
major cases such as the Oklahoma
City bombing, the Justice Depart
ment inspector general said Tuesday.
He recommended discipline for five
agents and transfer of the original
whisde-blower.
But Inspector General Michael
Bromwich concluded in his report
that agents of the world-renowned
crime lab did not commit perjury or
fabricate evidence.
Attorney General Janet Reno
said the damaging findings al
ready have been raised by defense
attorneys in 13 court cases and
“there has been no change in the
outcome of the case.” Hundreds of
prosecutions that used lab evi
dence remain under review.
Despite “significant instances of
testimonial errors, substandard an
alytical work and deficient prac
tices,” the lab is still “capable of per
forming its mission,” Reno said.
Bromwich also criticized lab
management and the qualifications
of agents in its explosives unit, where
he recommended that only scientists
be employed. He emphatically en
dorsed the FBI’s current effort to get
► This day in history
Today is Wednesday, April 16, the 106th day of
1997. There are.259 days left in the year.
On this date:
In 1789, President-elect Washington left Mount Ver
non, Va., for his inauguration in New York.
In 1862, a bill ending slavery in the District of Co
lumbia became law.
In 1912, Harriet Quimby became the first woman to
fly across the English Channel.
In 1917, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin returned to Russia af
ter years of exile.
In 1935, the radio comedy program Fibber McGee
and Molly premiered on the NBC Blue Network.
In 1947, America’s worst harbor explosion occurred
in Texas City, Texas, when the French ship Grandcamp,
carrying ammonium nitrate fertilizer, caught fire and
blew up, devastating the town. Another ship, the High
flyer, exploded the following day. The explosions and re-
the lab accredited by outside experts
for the first time.
In a typical criticism of work on
high-profile cases, Bromwich blasted
lab supervisor David Williams’ 1993
testimony that a 1,200-pound urea
nitrate bomb damaged New York’s
World Trade Center. FBI chemists
found no explosive
residues at the site.
Williams’ testimony
was “inaccurate and in
complete” and ap
peared to be “tailored to
the most incriminating
result,” Bromwich said.
The FBI accepted
nearly all of
Bromwich’s recom
mendations. To avoid
any conflict, the Jus
tice Department, not
the FBI, will rule on
Bromwich’s proposals to punish
agents and transfer the chief whis
tle-blower, scientist-agent Freder
ic Whitehurst.
“There was a clear and serious
failing in not adequately detecting
these problems and, in many in
stances, not moving swiftly
enough to resolve them,” FBI
Deputy Director Bill Esposito said.
“The improvements ... must and
are being made.”
FBI Director Louis Freeh is look
ing for an expert outside the FBI to
head the lab and the bureau will hire
more scientists, Esposito added.
Bromwich said Whitehurst,
who triggered the investigation,
should be trans
ferred because
his “overstated
and incendiary”
allegations have
poisoned his re
lations with oth
er lab workers.
"The prob
lems and defi
ciencies that
Whitehurst
brought to our at
tention are ex
tremely serious,”
Bromwich said, “but they are a far
cry from the rampant and inten
tional wrongdoing alleged by Dr.
Whitehurst: ... perjury, fabricated
evidence, obstructed justice and
suppressed exculpatory evidence.”
Bromwich said those deciding
Whitehurst’s future “must weigh the
significant contributions he has
made” and avoid discouraging oth-
“This report
serves as a
wake-up call to
Congress and
the public...”
Frederick Whitehurst
FBI scientist-agent
suiting fires killed more than 500 people and left 200
others missing.
In 1962, Walter Cronkite succeeded Douglas Ed
wards as anchorman of The CBS Evening News.
In 1972, 25 years ago, Apollo 16 blasted off on a
voyage to the moon.
► Today's birthdays
Actor-comedian Spike Milligan is 79. Actor Barry Nelson
is 77. Actor-director-author Peter Ustinov is 76. Actress-
singer Edie Adams is 68. Singer Bobby Vinton is 62. Singer
Dusty Springfield is 58. Queen Margrethe II of Denmark is
57. Basketball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is 50.
Singer Gerry Rafferty is 50. Actress Ellen Barkin is 43.
Singer Jimmy Osmond is 34. Rock singer David Rimer (Soul
Asylum) is 33. Actor-comedian Martin Lawrence is 32. Ac
tor Jon Cryer is 32. Actor Lukas Haas is 21.
ers from reporting misconduct.
Whitehurst predicted, “Ulti
mately, they will put me back into
the laboratory.”
“This is a beautiful day,” White
hurst said in an interview. “That re
port essentially validates all the ma
jor concerns I had. It’s the beginning
of the correction process” and out
side oversight of the FBI.
Bromwich said that since 1989
FBI managers had repeatedly bun
gled efforts to root out problems in
the lab identified by Whitehurst and
others. He criticized four retired FBI
lab executives for this.
“This report serves as a wake-
up call to Congress and the public
to rein in the FBI errant leader
ship,” said Sen. Charles Grassley,
R-Iowa, chairman of a Senate sub
committee that oversees the FBI.
“The FBI chose to improve its im
age rather than ... the product.”
In the Oklahoma bombing,
Bromwich said explosives unit su
pervisor Williams decided a 4,000-
pound ammonium nitrate-fuel oil
bomb was used based on the de
fendants’ alleged purchases rather
than on scientific evidence.
Bromwich said Williams should
be transferred from the lab because
► Weather
he “repeatedly reached conclusions
that incriminated the defendants
without a scientific basis.”
Federal prosecutors have re
moved Williams from their list of
expert witnesses at the trial ofTim-
othy McVeigh for the Oklahoma
bombing. They say another FBI
expert can present the explosives
evidence, but defense attorney
Stephen Jones had indicated he
will attack the lab’s work.
The report found that explosives
unit chief J. Thomas Thurman did
not properly review Williams’ work
and said Williams and Thurman
“merit special censure” for their Ok
lahoma work.
Bromwich recommended Thur
man, whose college degree is in po
litical science, be transferred from
the lab.
Other proposed punishment:
—Demotion and possible transfer
for chemistry-toxicology unit chief
Roger Martz, who “lacks the judgment
and credibility” to supervise. Martz
testified to an “opinion stronger than
his analytical results would support”
in a Florida trial that resulted in a
death sentence for George Trepal for
putting poison in Coca-Cola bottles
and did a “seriously deficient” review
of errors by lab examiner 1;
Rudolph, the report said.
—Unspecified discipline
FBI agent Michael Malone,wb
no longer in the lab, fortestife
falsely in proceedings thatic
mately removed Alcee Hastis
from a federal judgeship.
—Transfer from the lab foree
iner Wallace Higgins for allec
Whitehurst’s reports.
Correction
In a Page 1 story in yesterda
Battalion about minority reci.
ment, a quote from Diane Kapla
chair of the minority conditi
subcommittee, should have re
as follows: "Today we are bring!
forth for Senate approval of
recommendations we feel
most important for recruiting
retaining minority faculty onci
pus and for doing the best job
can in recruiting a diverse stud?
body, now that living undei
Hopwood decision seems fobs
reality, at least for the immedi®
foreseeable future."
Today
Tonight
Tomorrow
Partly cloudy.
Partly cloudy.
Partly cloudy.
Highs & Lows
Today’s ExpectedHi^ate
74°F
Tonight’s Expectedlx qo
41°F
Tomorrow’s Exped [irtir
High
75°F
Tomorrow Nights
Expected Low
50°F
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Love music?
Come to the
Browsing Library Record Sale!!
Hundreds to choose from ~
You name the style of music,
and we've got it!
Great for DJ's, collectors,
and everyone]
The Browsing Library...
The MSC's best kept secret
(located in the hallway linking
the MSC and Rudder Tower)
Andersen
Consulting
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE IN:
►Argentina •Brazil •Mexico •Venezuela
Andersen Consulting
announces exciting opportunities for
ANALYSTS and CONSULTANTS in our
TECHNOLOGY services group.
Positions are available to highly motivated
candidates on F-l student visas who have
legal work authorization in Argentina,
Brazil, Mexico or Venezuela; and plan to
return home upon graduation.
Degree requirements include:
BUSINESS (MBAs),
COMPUTER SCIENCE,
COMPUTER INFORMATION SYSTEMS,
ENGINEERING (electrical,
industrial, mechanical and systems).
Skills/experience requirements in the following:
Enterprise application suites; network and
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To be considered for one of these positions, please submit your
resume no later than April 30 to:
Maggie M. Chan
International Recruiting
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1666 K Street NW
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Fax Number: (202) 785-4689
E-mail address:
international.recruiting@awo.com
http ^Avww. ac.com
MSC COMMITTEE FOR
THE AWARENESS OF MEXICAN
AMERICAN CULTURE
f O
OP
0
COME JOIN US ATTHE
SPRING '97 CINCO DE MAYO
FAJITA COOKOUT
. q\\
0 ^FRIDAY, APRIL 18, 1997
As
u 5-7 PM (SERVING TIME)
HENSEL PARK - AREA 2
$5 STUPENTS/$6 NON-STUDENTS
$3 CHILDREN UNDER TO
Me
* TICKETS WILL BE SOLD @ THE SITE
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
MITO ESPINOZA @ THE STUDENT
. PROGRAMS OFFICE @ 845-1515
Persons with disabilities please call 845-1515 to inform us of your special
needs. We request notification three (3) working days prior to the event to
enable us to assist you to the best of our abilities.
The Class of 1997 joins
Dr. Southerland
» to wish the Class of 1997
the best of luck!
Come to the
Ice Cream Social
at Dr. Southerlands Residence
on Friday, April 25 from 4pm - 6pm
Tickets required, may be picked up from
the MSC Box Office at 845-1234
The Battalion
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