CITIZEN
10-05-2009, 10:39 AM
By Ed Lavandera
CNN http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/05/texas.sniffer.dogs.controversy/index.html
VICTORIA, Texas (CNN) -- The interrogation room inside the Victoria County Sheriff's Office is sterile and cold. There's a table in the middle, a one-way mirror and a hidden video camera that lets investigators watch suspects.
The Innocence Project of Texas has raised questions about using sniffer dogs to single out potential suspects.
Michael Buchanek knows the room well. He was part of countless investigations. Buchanek spent more than 25 years with the Sheriff's Office as a commander of operations.
But on March 16, 2006, Buchanek found himself sitting in the interrogation room. This time, he was on the other side of the table. The day before, his neighbor and friend, Sally Blackwell, was found strangled to death with a rope. Her body was left in a field five miles from her home.
Buchanek sat in the interrogation room with three homicide investigators, former brothers on the force. But the investigators were no longer friends. Buchanek was now the prime suspect in Blackwell's murder.
"They told me they knew I did it and that I was going to spend the rest of my life on death row," Buchanek told CNN.
The story of how a veteran law enforcement officer became a murder suspect is at the heart of a controversy over an investigative forensic tool called dog-scent lineups. Watch dog howl next to man's scent, see how lineup works »
The Innocence Project of Texas calls the practice "junk science that's being used by prosecutors and judges to convict people." The nonprofit group, which is dedicated to discovering and overturning wrongful convictions, wants state governments to ban the use of dog-scent lineups. It says an unknown number of people have been wrongly accused or convicted from the dog-scent lineups.
Supporters say dog-scent lineups are a powerful crime-fighting tool helping investigators crack cases across the country.
Click Here To Read Entire Article (http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/05/texas.sniffer.dogs.controversy/index.html)
How come it is an issue now? What about all the complaints our people have had for years?
CNN http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/05/texas.sniffer.dogs.controversy/index.html
VICTORIA, Texas (CNN) -- The interrogation room inside the Victoria County Sheriff's Office is sterile and cold. There's a table in the middle, a one-way mirror and a hidden video camera that lets investigators watch suspects.
The Innocence Project of Texas has raised questions about using sniffer dogs to single out potential suspects.
Michael Buchanek knows the room well. He was part of countless investigations. Buchanek spent more than 25 years with the Sheriff's Office as a commander of operations.
But on March 16, 2006, Buchanek found himself sitting in the interrogation room. This time, he was on the other side of the table. The day before, his neighbor and friend, Sally Blackwell, was found strangled to death with a rope. Her body was left in a field five miles from her home.
Buchanek sat in the interrogation room with three homicide investigators, former brothers on the force. But the investigators were no longer friends. Buchanek was now the prime suspect in Blackwell's murder.
"They told me they knew I did it and that I was going to spend the rest of my life on death row," Buchanek told CNN.
The story of how a veteran law enforcement officer became a murder suspect is at the heart of a controversy over an investigative forensic tool called dog-scent lineups. Watch dog howl next to man's scent, see how lineup works »
The Innocence Project of Texas calls the practice "junk science that's being used by prosecutors and judges to convict people." The nonprofit group, which is dedicated to discovering and overturning wrongful convictions, wants state governments to ban the use of dog-scent lineups. It says an unknown number of people have been wrongly accused or convicted from the dog-scent lineups.
Supporters say dog-scent lineups are a powerful crime-fighting tool helping investigators crack cases across the country.
Click Here To Read Entire Article (http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/05/texas.sniffer.dogs.controversy/index.html)
How come it is an issue now? What about all the complaints our people have had for years?