Review sees flaws in NC prosecutions

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A review of North Carolina’s crime lab says analysts omitted, overstated or falsely reported blood evidence in dozens of cases, including the murder of Michael Jordan’s father and three that ended in executions.

The Associated Press obtained a government-ordered report ahead of its release today. It calls for changes at the State Bureau of Investigation crime lab and a closer look at 190 cases over a 16-year period ending in 2003.

The review does not say there were wrongful convictions. It says attorneys and courts will have to decide whether those occurred.

Attorney General Roy Cooper ordered the review after an SBI agent testified the lab excluded complete blood test results from reports presented at trials. That led to the exoneration of a longtime convict.