Melvin B. Miller
Editor & Publisher

Is LaGuer DNA test flawed?

DNA tests have become the magic bullet to prove the guilt or innocence of some persons accused of crimes. However, the accuracy of the tests has been challenged in several jurisdictions as a result of sloppy crime lab practices.

The Harris County crime lab in Houston had to shut down its DNA operation after an external audit found that its procedures were flawed, leading to the retesting of DNA evidence in more than 400 cases. Erroneous testimony from a chemist in the Oklahoma City crime lab raised questions about the accuracy of their DNA tests. Now, there are reports that DNA test results have been mishandled in the Massachusetts State Police laboratory.

A DNA test in 2002 on evidence in the Benjamin LaGuer case did not exonerate him as expected, but rather implicated him. This was a great disappointment to the many prominent citizens who had rallied to the cause of LaGuer’s innocence. However, DNA experts who have reviewed the case have concluded that the results are unreliable because of flawed procedures at the lab.

The recent disclosures about irregularities in the State Police lab add credence to the objections of LaGuer’s supporters. The Supreme Judicial Court must grant a new trial and require that the fingerprints found at the crime scene — which did not belong to LaGuer — be compared with those on file with the FBI. Also, if the evidence has not been irreparably tainted, there should be a proper DNA test.

LaGuer has already served 24 years in prison. It is possible that he is innocent, as he has consistently asserted. Justice demands that society be certain that his conviction was deserved.

Going upscale

The city of Boston has an inveterate ability to reinvent itself. Boston was originally a tiny peninsula, but early settlers had greater ambitions. Their spirit of constant regeneration survives today.

It is impossible to think of Boston today without the Back Bay, but in 1840, that area was little more than a tidal wetland. In an enormous project for that era, landfill added 450 acres to Boston, more than half the size of the city’s original landmass.

In the quest for more land, Boston absorbed Roxbury and Dorchester — both independent towns at the time — in the 19th century. To avoid urban congestion, well-to-do Boston residents moved to the open spaces of Roxbury Highlands and built lavish residences on large lots. The exclusivity of the wealthy community, which one could originally reach only by horse and carriage, began to wane when public transportation made it accessible to the working class.

Change inevitably leads to some physical degeneration. During the administrations of mayors John Collins and Kevin White, Boston launched expansive urban renewal programs to eliminate slums and revive the business district. During this period, the Victorian townhouses of the South End became the target of gentrification. The revival was irreversibly underway before old residents became aware of the magnitude of the change.

As it has always been, the objective of real estate development in Boston is to acquire more land. A recent article in The Boston Globe has stated that Lower Roxbury is actually the other side of the South End, the first shot in a campaign to give that part of Roxbury a more marketable designation. When redevelopment began, Dover Street was renamed East Berkeley. Dover Street had become unattractively synonymous with drunks.

Fortunately, community activists are already in place to oversee the development of Parcel 3 in Roxbury. But the job extends beyond that one project — it requires vigilance to ensure that future development in Roxbury meets the needs of the community.

“Now they want to call this
place the South End.”