UPDATE:
Janet Anderson-Seaquist has been fired.
A
county spokesperson said this afternoon that Anderson-Seaquist was
put on leave in May after the county received a draft copy of the
inspector generalโs report.
The
spokesperson also said that the county worked with the inspector
generalโs office on a corrective action plan for the crime lab.
ORIGINAL
STORY:
The
state
Inspector Generalโs Office has issued a report highlighting alleged improper practices by the Monroe
County crime lab director.
The
report alleges that director Janet
Anderson-Seaquist,
who has been on paid leave since May, and a top staff member made
errors that resulted in the destruction of evidence. They allegedly
made a determination that evidence from 270 cases was โtime barredโ
๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ” past the statute of limitations ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ” which resulted in the
evidence being sent back to police agencies. The agencies then
destroyed the evidence in many of the cases.
A
review by the county District
Attorneyโs Office found that at least 41 of those cases werenโt past the statute of
limitations, says a press release accompanying the report. DNA
evidence from three burglaries and a rape had matches in DNA
databases.
The
report details other alleged misconduct and accuses Anderson-Seaquist
of misleading the New
York State Commission on Forensic Science.
The
county hired Anderson-Seaquist in early 2010 to run the crime lab.
She had been supervising forensic scientist at Ventura County
Sheriffโs Forensic Sciences Laboratory in California.
This article appears in 2012 Jazz Fest Guide.
