CHICAGO (WLS) — Well over a year ago, the ABC7 I-Team started digging into accusations of a lab scandal at the University of Illinois.
ABC7’s exclusive reporting uncovered serious questions about a likely flawed test that now has thousands of marijuana DUI convictions in question.
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And the fallout continues as new evidence, and accusations of fake science at the lab are coming to light.
Reporter Maya Dukmasova from Injustice Watch, the Chicago-based nonprofit journalism entity that has recently published its own comprehensive investigation into the lab, appeared on ABC7 to talk about the scandal on Saturday morning.
You can read their article on the Injustice Watch website.
Police and prosecutors are still scrambling trying to determine which cases are damaged and which defendants may be wrongly locked up.
“I know that I was not under the influence that morning,” said Corey Lee.
Lee still sits behind bars, convicted of driving under the influence of marijuana.
In 2018, he was involved in a crash in rural Illinois that killed a father and his adult son.
Lee’s case, along with many others, were charged based on blood test results from UIC’s now shuttered AFTL lab.
“It’s straightforward: fraudulent science results in fraudulent convictions. They need to act and free the individuals convicted based on this rogue lab. It’s imperative to do the right thing,” stated DUI defense attorney Don Ramsell.
Following an in-depth investigation by the I-Team, internal memos and emails disclosed potentially flawed test outcomes from the lab, producing inaccurate readings of a cannabis compound known as THC.
The tests were used to determine whether someone was illegally driving under the influence of marijuana.
The lab was also accused in court filings of covering up the flaws in testing methods since 2021.
“I would characterize this as a brewing scandal,” expressed Rush University Medical School Forensic Pharmacologist Jim O’Donnell. “The repercussions are significant… There are individuals facing felony charges. Their lives are undeniably impacted.”
Following our reporting, the DuPage County state’s attorney announced the dismissal of more than a dozen cases involving the faulty tests.
Other county prosecutors and police departments in the metro Chicago area are now reviewing cases, including in Cook County.
Recently, the university’s law firm published findings from an internal investigation clearing the lab and UIC of misconduct, determining the lab’s processes were “constantly suitable and adhered to accepted scientific standards,” and none of the analysts “knowingly gave false testimony.”
READ MORE | University of Illinois Chicago releases report on faulty blood tests used in marijuana DUI cases
But the report also says the lab’s methods should have been “been modified” to distinguish between two related forms of THC.
Officials with UIC have repeatedly declined interview or comment requests from the I-Team.
ABC7 Chief Legal Analyst Gil Soffer suggests that those investigation findings do not constitute an exoneration, especially given that a primary figure at the lab, Jennifer Bash, refused interviews by UIC’s attorneys.
“First, will there be a criminal penalty here? Will someone be found to have deliberately misled somebody else? Unclear from this report, it didn’t find that someone had misled, but it also doesn’t rule out that possibility, and I could see further inquiry there. The other question is, could somebody, the lab, be held liable in negligence for what happened here?” Soffer said.
The I-Team contacted Bash, whose tests methods at the lab and her testimony as an expert witness in many DUI cases are now being called into question.
She declined an on-camera interview but said in a written statement, in part, “I was very disappointed when I read the article and saw that it was filled with inconsistencies and falsehoods. Acting in good faith, I provided detailed responses to questions concerning the science behind the testing I conducted. Those responses have been either distorted or ignored. Throughout my career I have presented facts based on sound scientific principles. While I understand that disagreement among experts is not uncommon in the courtroom, a differing scientific opinion should never be equated to dishonesty. The testing methods I used and the results obtained were scientifically sound and I am unaware of any ANAB findings to the contrary.”
Bash is still certified by the American Board of Forensic Toxicology and can still testify in Illinois courtrooms.
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