Massachusetts crime lab administrator suspended

A Massachusetts State Police crime lab administrator has been suspended for failing to turn over DNA matches to a number of unsolved cases until after the statute of limitations had expired, the department said.

In other cases, state police said, the employee informed investigators of DNA matches that turned out to be inaccurate.

State Police Lt. William Powers said the discrepancies had not led to any tainted convictions, but they impeded the work of investigators. The most serious problems involved the expired statutes of limitations, he said.

Powers declined last Friday to name the crime lab employee, who was suspended with pay the previous day. According to a report in Sunday’s edition of The Boston Globe, the Massachusetts Organization of State Engineers and Scientists — the union representing engineering and scientific employees of the Commonwealth — confirmed that Robert E. Pino, the administrator in charge of the Combined DNA Indexing System (CODIS), was suspended with pay.

The administrator’s job was to enter test data on DNA obtained from incarcerated Massachusetts convicts into a national database to see if it matched DNA evidence from unsolved cases elsewhere in the country.

“In many of the cases, a suspect was identified prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations, but neither the police investigators nor the District Attorney’s Office of jurisdiction were notified in a timely manner,” the state police said in a statement.

The problem came to light when an investigator received notification of a DNA match and noticed that the information had been available weeks earlier, Powers said.

Powers said the preliminary investigation found discrepancies in “about 10 to 14 cases at this point.” He said he did not know the locations or nature of the cases.

Five sexual assault cases in the Middlesex district attorney’s jurisdiction were involved, said Corey Welford, a spokesman for District Attorney Gerard Leone. The office is reviewing those cases to see if they could still be prosecuted, Leone said in a statement.

Massachusetts is among a growing number of states that require inmates to submit a DNA sample upon their entry into prison. The scientific data is converted to digital computer data, which can be run against similar data from unsolved cases.

Powers said he was uncertain whether any charges would be filed. He said the suspended administrator had worked at the State Police crime lab “for some time,” but he could not be specific.

The head of the state police, Col. Mark Delaney, presided over a revamping of the crime lab in recent years after prosecutors complained about delays in processing DNA evidence.

(Associated Press)

Lester Strong urges prospective students to accept the Cambridge College challenge

Former Boston television personality Lester Strong stressed the power of education in an address last Thursday to potential Cambridge College students. Strong, former WHDH Channel 7 news anchor and current chief development officer at the educational nonprofit the BELL Foundation, spoke to a group of over 50 prospective students at an information session promoting the College’s undergraduate and graduate programs to adults interested in a college degree. Following the session, Strong delivered a presentation in which he addressed civil rights and the importance of education.

“Cambridge College provides a holistic view of what is needed to have the college experience,” said Strong.  “Because of my college experience … I was no longer a boy from a Pennsylvania steel town, I was someone who became a citizen of the world.”

Like many others, Strong’s initial drive to attend college was social and economical — his dual focuses were getting out of his hometown and out of poverty.

“The difference in income level of having a college education or not is $1 million over your lifetime,” said Strong, who attended Davidson College in North Carolina on a basketball scholarship.  “I saw the transformative power of education.  I was learning for the sake of learning.  In college, I was, for the first time, fully challenged both intellectually and socially.”

Strong went on to earn a degree from the Institute for Not-for-Profit Management at Columbia University. He was also a Watson Fellow in Ghana, Nigeria and Liberia, and an Aspen Fellow at the Aspen Institute for International Study in Colorado.

Well-known in Boston for his time as a former television news anchor and medical editor for WHDH, Strong was a highly decorated broadcaster, earning an Emmy award for his coverage of gang violence. He was also recognized as the Most Outstanding Health Journalist in Massachusetts, and won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Cancer Society.

Strong has served as the BELL Foundation’s CDO since April 2005, leading development activities and spearheading new fundraising initiatives to ensure that the foundation has the resources necessary to educate a growing number of scholars.

“BELL recognizes that the pathway to opportunity for children lies in education,” Strong said. “BELL transforms children into scholars and leaders through the delivery of nationally recognized, high-impact after school and summer educational programs.”

New city publication focuses on quality of life in Boston neighborhoods

Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced last week that the City of Boston has partnered with the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) in releasing the inaugural issue of a new economic development and news publication called the Boston City Communicator. The mayor said the publication would help his office “publicize new programs [and] neighborhood initiatives and showcase the work of [Boston’s] public servants.” (Continued in next column)

(Continued from previous column) The Winter 2007 edition of the City Communicator includes articles highlighting critical neighborhood projects, such as the Dorchester Avenue improvement project, the city’s downtown Crossroads Initiative and the on-going effort to revitalize and enliven Roxbury’s Dudley Square.

“A strong city depends on strong neighborhoods. Our focus is on strong business districts, cleanliness, beautification and quality of life — and we’ve got a lot to talk about,” Menino said.

The inaugural publication also includes articles about in-coming Boston Public Schools Superintendent Manuel Rivera, new Police Commissioner Edward Davis, the city’s recent adoption of a new green building zoning article to Boston’s Zoning Code, as well as the widely-anticipated plans for a new skyscraper at Winthrop Square. Menino added that the Communicator will serve as a vehicle for highlighting the achievements of city departments and employees throughout the year.

The Communicator is slated to be issued four times each year and will be distributed throughout the Boston community by the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services. Copies will also be made available at various local banks, and will be included as an insert in several weekly newspapers, including the Bay State Banner.

Direct connection reestablished to the Ted Williams Tunnel and Logan Airport/Route 1A

All lanes in the I-90 eastbound connector tunnel reopened early Sunday morning, reestablishing a direct connection from I-90 Eastbound to the Ted Williams Tunnel, Logan Airport and other destinations north of Boston.

The reopening, announced by Gov. Deval Patrick and state highway officials Saturday, capped five months of limited access to the tunnel following the July 10 collapse of concrete ceiling panels that fell onto the car of 39-year-old Jamaica Plain resident Milena Del Valle, killing her and crushing the vehicle.

“I appreciate and thank all those who helped to repair and secure this important part of the Central Artery and Tunnel project,” said Patrick. “Now our attention must turn to assuring that the inspection schedule is followed rigorously and holding accountable those who gave us substandard work in the first place.”

The remediation work included installation of a new bracket and hanger system that support the concrete panels in the exhaust plenum below the roof.  It spans a half-mile stretch in the eastbound connector tunnel. The new system was then subject to a load test and visual inspection to verify its safety.

“The reopening provides direct and safe access for tens of thousands of drivers who travel the eastbound connector tunnel each day to reach Logan Airport and other points north of Boston,” said Transportation Secretary Bernard Cohen.  “Staff from the Massachusetts Highway Department, Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and project contractors have worked around the clock to restore public confidence in this critical tunnel system.”

The remediation work on the eastbound connector cost about $8 million and was completed under current Central Artery/Third Harbor Tunnel contracts.  J.F. White Contracting Company and McCourt Construction Company conducted the repairs.

The westbound connector tunnel reopened in late December.  Remediation work continues in the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane in the eastbound tunnel.