Tallahassee: Agency chemist may have tampered with 2,600 drug cases.

[phill4paul]

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced Saturday it is investigating 2,600 cases handled by a Pensacola-based agency chemist after discovering dozens of instances where prescription pain pills that were seized by police and tested as evidence were swapped with over-the-counter pills.

FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey said the chemist handled cases involving 80 law enforcement agencies from 35 counties since he was hired in 2006. Most, but not all, of the cases involved testing drug evidence, though it was not immediately clear how many cases might be compromised.

The situation was discovered after Escambia County investigators realized evidence was missing and later found other evidence packages where prescription pills had been substituted with non-prescription pills.

It potentially means drug charges will have to be dropped and prisoners released if it's determined the chemist tampered with evidence, Bailey said.

"This has the potential of impacting hundreds of drug cases across our state," Bailey told reporters. "This is a total shock and a disappointment."

http://www.policeone.com/drug-interdiction-narcotics/articles/6792881-Thousands-of-Fla-drug-evidence-cases-may-be-compromised/

[aGameOfThrones]

Another one...

http://media.giphy.com/media/N8irTkug9DHDa/giphy.gif

[phill4paul]

Another one...

http://media.giphy.com/media/N8irTkug9DHDa/giphy.gif

Yep, just more in a long line of wasted lives.

[aGameOfThrones]

Police: Lab Analyst Said He Knew He Was in Trouble

A former Florida Department of Law Enforcement crime lab analyst told investigators he had problems with his back and knew he was in trouble when confronted in late January about hundreds of painkillers and other pills missing from sealed evidence containers, according to police documents released Wednesday.

Joseph Graves, 32, was arrested late Tuesday on charges of stealing and selling drugs he was supposed to be testing as evidence. The affidavit does not specify whether Graves used any of the pills himself.

He was released from the Escambia County Jail on a $290,000 bond Tuesday night. Graves and his attorney have declined numerous interview requests from The Associated Press.

Longtime Pensacola-area defense attorney Randy Etheridge said Wednesday he interacted with Graves when the analyst testified as an expert witness or processed evidence in cases that he handled. He said Graves always appeared competent and professional.

"The entire legal community around here is shocked by this," he said.

Graves was arrested a day after he resigned from the position he held since December 2005 at the crime lab in Pensacola. In 2009, he was promoted to supervisor at the lab, which processes criminal evidence for law enforcement agencies throughout Florida. He is charged with grand theft of a controlled substance, 12 counts of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, and nine counts of trafficking in illegal drugs.

He's accused of selling oxycodone, morphine and hydromorphone.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/florida-crime-lab-analyst-arrested-drug-charges-22368161