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                            LexisNexisª Academic

         Copyright 2002 DR Partners d/b Las Vegas Review-Journal
                  Las Vegas Review-Journal (Las Vegas, NV)

                    May 15, 2002 Wednesday FINAL EDITION

SECTION: B; Pg. 1B

LENGTH: 879 words

HEADLINE: Changes proposed in DNA handling

BYLINE: Glenn Puit

BODY:
By GLENN PUIT

REVIEW-JOURNAL

  Las Vegas police are recommending some sweeping changes to the way DNA
tests are handled in Southern Nevada following a police clerical error that
nearly landed a wrongly accused man in prison for life.

Deputy Chief Ray Flynn said a recently completed internal review of the case
of Lazaro Sotolusson has confirmed what was previously suspected, that
Sotolusson's name was mistakenly placed on the DNA profile of another man by
the police forensics lab in 2001.

The mistake led to Sotolusson being wrongly charged with at least two rapes
that were dismissed after the error was detected.

But in addition to confirming the error, the police review also found that
forensics lab safeguards aimed at catching such mistakes failed, Flynn said.
For example, Flynn said that after the DNA testing in the Sotolusson case
was complete, two police lab employees reviewed the findings and did not
detect the error. 'Our first review did not catch the transcriptional
error,' Flynn said. 'During a final review, the error also was not caught.'

Flynn said, given this, police are now proposing a series of changes to how
DNA tests are handled and documented at the police crime lab. Among the
series of recommendations that are expected to be implemented by police is
the requirement that each DNA test be closely scrutinized for paperwork or
transcriptional errors.

Police also are exploring whether to computerize the entire process of
documenting DNA tests at the forensics lab. Doing so would help prevent any
more mistakes like the one made in the Sotolusson case, Flynn said.

'The most important thing is to insure the credibility of our crime lab,
which has always held an excellent reputation,' Flynn said.

However, one of Sotolusson's attorneys said Tuesday that a mistake like the
one made in Sotolusson's case should never have been possible.

'I think it's appalling that the lab has not been reviewing for text or
transcriptional errors in the past,' said Clark County Deputy Public
Defender Brigid Hoffman. 'We are talking about testing in cases where the
results can lead to someone facing life in prison, or even a death
sentence.'

The recommended changes to procedure at the forensics lab DNA Testing Unit
come nearly a month after authorities acknowledged the Sotolusson error, the
origins of which stem from an incident last year at the North Las Vegas
Detention Center.

At the time, Sotolusson was housed in the North Las Vegas jail because of a
prior criminal record that includes a conviction for aggravated stalking.
Although he had served out his sentence for this crime, such a serious
criminal record gave the Immigration and Naturalization Service the right to
take him into custody while they determined whether he should be allowed to
remain in the United States. Sotolusson is a native of Cuba.

Joseph Coppola, his cellmate at the North Las Vegas jail, then accused
Sotolusson of sexual assault, and an investigation into the allegations led
to the collection of DNA samples from both men.

The samples were taken to the police crime lab, where Flynn said the labels
on the two men's DNA were accidentally switched. Police then ran the two DNA
profiles through a lab computer, and the computer matched Sotolusson's
mislabeled DNA with DNA evidence gathered from two previously unsolved rapes
in the valley.

Authorities have said they now believe it was Coppola's DNA that matched the
DNA from the unsolved crimes, although no charges have been filed against
Coppola.

Unaware of the mistake, prosecutors proceeded to charge Sotolusson with both
of the unsolved rapes and also with the sexual assault on Coppola. But in
April all charges against Sotolusson were dropped after a DNA expert hired
by Hoffman and Deputy Public Defender Darin Imlay discovered the clerical
mistake.

Las Vegas police Lt. Jeff Carlson said last week that police are planning
new DNA tests in the case in an effort to identify potential suspects in the
old rapes.

And, despite being cleared of all charges, Sotolusson remains in jail. He is
currently housed at the Las Vegas city detention center while immigration
officials once again determine what to do with him.

Flynn said that immediately after the mistake was found, police ordered that
every DNA test ever conducted at the lab be retested. That lab audit is
pending.

Also, Flynn said police Capt. Tom Hawkins initiated an intensive review of
how such a mistake could have happened.

Based on that investigation, Flynn said police are considering implementing
the following changes:
- Including an added level of review at the DNA testing unit to check for
plain text or transcriptional errors. Flynn said while this was done
previously, reviews of DNA testing results usually focused on whether there
were scientific errors instead of paperwork errors.
- Implementing a requirement mandating a second DNA test on a sample prior
to a profile being entered into computer databases to search for matches
with unsolved crimes.
- Exploring a way to automate the transcription process of entering DNA
profiles into a computer.

'We are taking this review and audit seriously, and I think it shows the
professionalism of good people who work in that unit,' Flynn said.

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