"I have seen a pattern of sloppiness and perhaps deceptiveness."

11/13/2002

By Anna Werner / 11 News

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HOUSTON (KHOU)-- Have innocent people gone to prison based on bad work in a crime lab? That’s a possibility now being suggested by an 11 News Defenders investigation into cases coming out of the lab run by the Houston Police Department.

One case is especially alarming and it stunned the experts who talked with the Defenders.

A young man has been in prison for years now, partly because of lab work from the HPD crime lab.

Thompson: “There’s something wrong with the crime lab system in Houston that needs to be examined.”

Meet Bill Thompson, one of the nation's leading authorities on DNA evidence.

Thompson: “I'm saying the conclusions that they are stating in court are wrong.”

He's talking about cases we asked him and two other experts to review-- cases involving the HPD crime lab, some of which led to indictments, trials and convictions.

Thompson: “I have seen a pattern of sloppiness and perhaps deceptiveness.”

Johnson: “I've seen a lot of work from a lot of labs and they are consistently very bad.”

And there's Elizabeth Johnson-- a forensic scientist and the former head of the Harris County DNA lab who says the HPD lab's errors “make it more likely that somebody innocent is going to be convicted of a crime.”

Maybe somebody like Cheray Jones.

Anna: “Did you ever think that you would find yourself in a place like this?

Jones: Never.

He's been in prison for close to five years.

Jones: “I mean this was the worst place in the world to me.”

How'd he wind up here? It started when a friend, a young woman, came to his apartment one night.

Jones: “We didn't have sex, but it got deeper than just kissing.”

But the next day, she went to a hospital and accused him of rape. Medical staff collected fluid samples on cotton swabs and sent them to the HPD crime lab for testing. But Jones says he didn’t do it.

Former girlfriend Roshaun Charleston remembers what came next.

Charleston: “They told him if he's found guilty, he can be sentenced to 30 years in prison.”

And she says he was under stress.

Charleston: “This is what caused all the pressure against him.”

Finally, she says, he broke down.

Charleston: “He basically threatened his life, wanted to kill himself.”

And so, she got the police.

But this is where things went from bad to worse for Cheray Jones because when police showed up here at his apartment, they claim he pointed a gun at them.

Jones denies it and witnesses backed him up in court. It didn't matter. A jury found him guilty.

But, even that, wasn't the biggest problem because now the jury had to decide his punishment.

Sasser: I felt like I would have an excellent chance at getting probation.

Meet Jones’ defense attorney Jeff Sasser. He says his client had no prior record. And when Jones' still pending rape charge was brought up at the sentencing hearing, Sasser says he wasn't worried about that either.

Sasser: The lab report corroborated my client’s version of what happened.

And Sasser's notes say that report looked something like this: saying the DNA on the vaginal swab was "consistent only with" the young woman. That meant there was no DNA from Cheray Jones there at all and it backed up his innocence.

But Sasser says that when the HPD lab scientist took the stand, he got a surprise.

Anna: “What does she say instead?”

Sasser: “She says that the vaginal swab that was tested was consistent with the victim and Cheray Jones and which was completely opposite.”

What's more, the lab's report had been changed, too. It now said the DNA was "consistent with" "the suspect," meaning Cheray Jones.

Sasser: “Somehow, miraculously now my client's DNA was found on the vaginal swab.”

Webb: “He was outraged and he should have been.”

Stacey Webb, the prosecutor on the case who says she was surprised, too.

Webb: ”The report that I ultimately ended up with never indicated there had been a change in the answer.”

So how did the crime lab's scientist explain the change?

Sasser: “She had consulted with people and that that wasn't her report, that the one she had, this new one, was her report.”

And the jury sentenced Cheray Jones to 10 years in prison. With that conviction now on his record, in addition to facing the lab's DNA evidence if he should go to trial, Jones says he had no choice but to accept a plea agreement from the D.A.-- plead guilty to the rape without a trial and get a sentence of three years to run concurrent with his assault sentence.

But according to our experts, there's one problem with that conclusion by the HPD lab.

Anna: “So what do you think of these results?”

Johnson: “They're ludicrous.”

That's because, forensic scientist Johnson says, the lab's actual test data shows Jones' DNA was NOT found in the vaginal swab from the girl.

Anna: “So should these people from the lab have said that it was Cheray Jones at all?”

Johnson: ”Not at all.”

Anna: “Literally not at all?”

Johnson: “Not at all.”

Thompson: “This is the scientific equivalent of a train wreck or an airline crash.”

And expert Thompson agrees. He says the lab's own test results actually support Jones' claim of innocence.

Thompson: “This evidence was used to make Mr. Jones look like a rapist and a liar. If this was more than an honest error, if this was some sort of intentional deception, then heads should roll over this.”

So we shared the news with former prosecutor Webb:

Anna: “She says these are flat out wrong.”

Webb: (Pause) (shakes head and then screams)

“That's horrible. That can't be allowed to continue.”

And, attorney Jeff Sasser:

Sasser: “I fight hard for my people and this is disturbing to see that (pauses and begins to cry). Could you shut that off please? This is,ya know, it’s not justice. Now, I'm thinking there’s a lot of Cherays out there.”

Jones: “I told everybody I didn't do it.”

And we told Cheray Jones.

Jones: “But when they said that, I guess that made everybody feel like ‘he must have. DNA, DNA is not wrong.’”

Cheray Jones’ defense attorney, Jeff Sasser, says, as a result of the 11 News Defenders discovery, this week he will file for a new trial for Jones.

The Defenders did ask HPD for an interview regarding Cheray Jones and other cases, but it declined to comment.

The Defenders have also learned, The Association of Forensic DNA Analysts and Administrators is considering revoking the membership of several HPD lab workers.

The reason? They say they’ve also found cases in which the lab’s conclusions were not supported by their test results.

The group says it sent letters to the lab, along with the Harris County District Attorney and the State Attorney General.

Wednesday on 11 News at 10, is the HPD lab letting the guilty get away?

If you have a tip, call the Defenders hotline at 1-877-367-5468 or send an email to awerner@khou.com.