BOSTON (AP) – The director of the State Police crime laboratory resigned Friday amid an investigation into the alleged mishandling of DNA test results related to about two dozen sexual assault cases.
Public Safety Secretary Kevin Burke said he accepted Carl Selavka’s resignation, appointed a new acting director, and signed a contract with an outside firm to review all operational and management systems at the lab.
“These actions begin to address management issues which have led to administrative and notification failures relative to the crime lab,” Burke said in a statement.
Selavka was employed as director since July 1998. His duties included oversight of the lab and the State Police DNA databank.
Burke said Mary Kate McGilvray, a 20-year employee at the facility, has been named as the acting director of the crime lab.
“Mary Kate began her laboratory career as a chemist, and brings expertise in every area of specialty services such as DNA, criminalistics, crime scenes and toxicology,” Burke said.
Burke said the shake-up is the first major step in a series of anticipated changes designed to meet broader administrative concerns at the lab.
He also announced the signing of a $267,000 contract for a complete management and operational systems analysis of the lab by the investigation and security consulting firm Vance, headquartered in Oakton, Va. The report is set to be completed by June 30.
Burke said the firm has expertise in crime lab operations, forensic analysis, DNA testing, chain of evidence handling, prosecution of cases, and the role crime laboratories play in the judicial system.
The troubles at the lab stemmed from lapses in management, supervision, prioritization and notification – not with the DNA testing itself – Burke said.
Two other reviews of the crime lab are under way, one by the FBI which is examining the DNA database, and a State Police internal review, requested last November by State Police Col. Mark Delaney, which is wrapping up soon.
The investigations stem from revelations into the apparent mishandling of DNA test results in about 27 sexual assault cases.
Burke had previously announced he is assigning Undersecretary of Forensic Services LaDonna Hatton to manage the DNA database as the investigation continues, including overseeing the ongoing internal investigation into the actions of computer database administrator Robert Pino.
In 23 of the 27 cases, Pino failed to report the DNA matches before the statute of limitations on the crimes had expired, according to Burke.
Pino, who has been suspended with pay, has denied any wrongdoing.
In an additional 12 cases, DNA samples were wrongly taken from inmates because they had not been convicted of a felony, according to a court affidavit.
In those cases investigators were alerted to a tentative match, but during a subsequent verification process, crime lab officials learned that the suspects did not qualify to be tested.
Samples that do not qualify are supposed to be removed from the nationwide Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, a database that allows law enforcement to electronically compare more than 3.1 million DNA profiles.
Burke, through a spokesman, has said the DNA mistakenly taken from the 12 inmates could still be used as evidence if needed.
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