A fired whistleblowing forensic scientist in Texas claims in a lawsuit that her problems at the Austin Police Department’s crime lab started when she sent a corrected blood-alcohol-level test to the lawyer representing a man charged with intoxication assault.
The suit filed in Travis County District Court last Friday by Debra Stephens says that state law required her to report the corrected amount, but department officials told her that was a violation of lab policy.
Stephens, who worked for the lab for nine years until she was fired in 2011, later filed a complaint against the lab with the Texas Forensic Science Commission for allegedly cutting corners during drug-evidence testing.
Stephens claims that police and city officials subsequently spread false information about her that damaged her reputation, according to an article in the Austin American-Statesman. More details about Stephens’ allegations of mishandled evidence is covered here.
Stephens’ claim of retaliation for exposing lab errors mirror those made in 2009 by Chris Nulf, a former forensic analyst with the Dallas County Crime Lab. Nulf filed an ethics complaint in April against Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley, claiming that Bradley and others on the Forensic Science Commission failed to properly investigate his complaints of negligence and misconduct at the Dallas lab.
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