, at which crime scene evidence is investigated and analyzed, after administrators learned they had been operating a forensics consulting business while working for the center.
“It was an unacceptable risk of a conflict of interest,” he said. “And it violated multiple policies in how they were doing this. That was the grounds for our parting of ways.” Stout Monday said he remained unsure whether the firings would result in any cases being revisited, explaining that since most of the issues were administrative and not with the results of death investigations, it was hard to say whether attorneys would insist on fresh investigations.
The Forensic Science Center manages Houston’s forensic laboratory and crime scene unit, handling about 30,000 cases per year among its 40 analysts, Stout said. Its experts conduct ballistics tests, drug testing and collect and document crime scene evidence, among other tasks.