A senior scientist at Queensland’s state-run forensic lab warned urgency for a 2018 process change could let major crime case details slip through the cracks — and has suggested pressure may have come from outside.
Queensland police were heaping pressure on the state-run DNA lab to “get results out more quickly” before a decision to pare back detailed testing and reporting of major crime case samples, an inquiry as heard.
The commission of inquiry, headed by former Appeal Court president Walter Sofronoff, held its first day of public hearings on Monday and was toldSofronoff caused shockwaves in the criminal justice system with his interim findings published last week, that the changeabout the ability to gain more detail from DNA samples.
Appearing before the inquiry on Monday, Rika also said one conversation with a more senior staff member suggested urgency toward the change could have been caused by pressure from police to “get more results out more quickly”.
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