Justice group wants more data on police DNA contracts
A justice campaigner called for the Bermuda Police Service to share more details about contracts it awarded to DNA-testing companies over the past decade.
Eron Hill, from the Bermuda Equal Justice Initiative, obtained the service agreements for contracts with Bermudian-based Helix Genetic and Scientific Solutions, and Wyndham Forensic Group, in Ontario, through a public access to information request.
However, he was unhappy with the extent of the BPS’s disclosure, insisting that a detailed fee breakdown and records showing whether there was a competitive bidding process should be shared, as well as information on testing methodologies.
Mr Hill asked the Information Commissioner to investigate.
The BPS said the agreements were “sensitive” so could not be disclosed in their entirety and that the “required procurement process” was followed.
Mr Hill, who gave permission to The Royal Gazette to identify him as the Pati requester, said: “The BPS’s decision to withhold key aspects of the disclosure regarding their contracts with DNA service providers … [contradicts] their stated desire to restore public confidence in the BPS and the criminal justice system as a whole.”
He saidthe matter was of significant public interest after the recent quashing of the 2014 murder conviction of Julian Washington because of flawed DNA evidence at his trial.
In that case, the DNA evidence came from Candy Zuleger, of Trinity DNA Solutions, an American company previously contracted by the BPS to provide analysis of crime scene evidence and expert witness testimony.
A review by the Director of Public Prosecutions of hundreds of other cases that may be affected by the same issues continues.
Trinity was given a contract worth almost $1 million in 2009 by the BPS to set up a DNA database, and Ms Zuleger gave evidence at numerous criminal trials on the island until 2016.
Paralegal Eron Hill has submitted Pati requests to try to find out how much Trinity DNA Solutions was paid in total by the Bermuda Police Service but said he had yet to find out.
The BPS have shared with him that the company received $303,242 since 2015 but he wanted to know the total figure since it was first hired in 2008-09.
A request he submitted in August for all records revealing the total sum incurred and/or paid by the BPS to Trinity in respect of all agreements executed between the two parties was rejected.
The BPS’s information officer wrote that the records were previously provided to him under two earlier Pati requests, but Mr Hill insisted that that was not the case.
He claimed the BPS were "attempting to avoid the disclosure, which is concerning, particularly because it’s a matter of public record that there was an issue with Trinity’s engagement that resulted in a man spending ten years of his life in prison and now the Government is having to fund a review of hundreds of cases, the cost of which is also unknown“.
Mr Hill said: “I'll be revising my request and starting the process over again with the BPS.”
Mr Hill said Helix, which was contracted by the Government to carry out Covid-19 testing during the pandemic, appeared to have replaced Trinity.
His Pati request in May asked for disclosure of the duration, value and key terms of any contracts or agreements with Helix, as well as all contracts and agreements with service providers required to conduct DNA testing of various exhibits.
In July, the police released the service agreement with Helix, with a contract value of more than $1 million, and a continuing agreement with WFG.
The BPS withheld some records on various grounds, including that releasing them could be prejudicial to law enforcement methods or procedures.
A police service spokesman told the Gazette: “There are sensitive aspects of these agreements which cannot be released into the public domain as they are superseded by a responsibility to protect police operational procedure.”
The BPS’s information officer told Mr Hill: “The forensic contracts you requested contain detailed information regarding the techniques and methods used by the contractors.
“Disclosing these methods could compromise the effectiveness of these techniques by making them known to individuals seeking to evade detection or prosecution.”
The Pati disclosure showed the agreement between Helix and the police, under the national security ministry, was for $450,000 a year between October 2015 and September 2018.
The WFG agreement began on January 1 last year and will run until October 1 next year; the value of the contract was not given.
The BEJI said in a statement: “The public have a right to know how their tax dollars are being spent and whether the methodologies employed by these vendors meet the requisite standards.
“The refusal by … the BPS … to disclose full details of these contracts undermines public trust and raises questions about the procurement processes involved.
“Given the serious implications of past failures with DNA evidence, it is more important than ever that these contracts be scrutinised to prevent further miscarriages of justice.”
The police spokesman said the BPS had “acknowledged the ruling of the courts and as a result are in the process, alongside the Director of Public Prosecutions, of reviewing all cases/investigations” involving Trinity.
He added: “This initiative is ongoing, and once the findings are known, they will be shared with the appropriate authorities.
“At the conclusion of the contractual agreement with Trinity DNA, the BPS, prior to entering into any new partnership arrangements with DNA vendors, followed a rigorous recruitment regime, including eliciting advice/assistance from independent industry experts, which was then followed by the required procurement process.”
Julian Washington was found guilty by a jury of the premeditated murder in 2012 of Stefan Burgess, a father of one fatally shot at a birthday party on The Glebe Road, Pembroke, by a gunman who fled on a motorbike.
He always protested his innocence and his case was taken on in 2021 by a British charity, the Death Penalty Project, which obtained fresh evidence to challenge the forensic evidence at his trial, on the basis that it was “flawed, imbalanced and wrongly implicated him”.
His conviction was formally overturned by the Privy Council last month after Cindy Clarke, the DPP, conceded there had been a miscarriage of justice because the DNA evidence from Candy Zuleger, of Trinity DNA Solutions, was “undermined by a lack of policies and procedures in place at the time for the specific typing and analysis that was relied upon at his trial”.
Mr Washington, who was released from prison in May after serving ten years of his life sentence, said: “The process that led to my wrongful conviction, the flawed evidence and biased testimony that sealed my fate is a scar that may never fully heal.”
The Gazette asked the national security ministry, Helix and WFG for comment but none was received by the time of publication.
• To view the BEJI statement, the Pati decisions and the disclosed records, see Related Media
• It is The Royal Gazette’s policy not to allow comments on stories regarding court cases. As we are legally liable for any libellous or defamatory comments made on our website, this move is for our protection as well as that of our readers
