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“A non-stop political game:” Former MSP Forensic Science director on false marijuana reporting allegations
A former director of Michigan State Police Forensic Science addressed the serious allegations FOX 17 uncovered, which accuse the Attorney General’s office and state prosecutors of influencing state police crime labs to falsely report marijuana; essentially turning misdemeanors into felonies.
Attorney Michael Komorn, representing an Ottawa County defendant, claims forensic scientists are taking directives to report marijuana products ambiguously. In cases were marijuana plant material is not visible, MSP crime labs are reporting THC in waxes and oils as synthetic THC, writing the phrase "origin unknown" on lab reports. This reporting is leading to felony charges of synthetic THC possession, instead of misdemeanor marijuana possession.
Former MSP Forensic Science Director John Collins told FOX 17 that he resigned from this role in 2012 due, in part, to these crime lab reporting issues: politics working to trump science.
“In my experience, it was just a non-stop political game that really got frustrating, and it wore down the morale of our staff, and it quite honestly, it wore me down.”
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“It was really a big deal for me to let people understand that our laboratories were not in the prosecution business, they’re not in the conviction business, they’re in the science business,” said Collins.
“And if we don’t position ourselves as being in the science business, then we really start to go down a path that’s going to lead us to a lot of trouble. And that was very tough, because that was a major cultural, a different kind of a cultural message than had really been communicated before.”
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“There is a lot of politics that is involved in these cases," said Collins.
"So even if the state police was to really kind of buck the trend, and say, ‘look, these laboratories are scientific organizations, they’re not law firms, okay, and we’re not going to let them become law firms,’ even if they kind of buck that trend, you can bet that there’s going to be some angry prosecutors that are going to call the Governor’s office and complain. It’s like kicking over a bee’s nest.”
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FOX 17 reviewed documents with Collins, including the months of emails between MSP Forensic Science directors, scientists, and Attorney General office officials, as well as a recent crime lab report; documents the defense for Max Lorincz, Komorn Law PLLC, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
Lorincz, an Ottawa County father, is the defendant whose case FOX 17 has covered since February. Lorincz, a card-carrying patient, is charged with a felony for having a “smear” amount medical marijuana, in the form of Butane Hash Oil.
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As for the defendant in this case, Max Lorincz told FOX 17 Friday that he wants the prosecutor held accountable. Lorincz also questioned the amount of money that has been spent in court over this case, and asked for justification of his felony charge.
It has been more than 13 months since his 6-year-old son was taken from his home, in part due to this felony charge. Lorincz and his family have started a GoFundMe page to help raise money to continue fighting his case.
http://fox17online.com/2015/10/30/a-...g-allegations/