California Association of Crime Laboratory Directors

California Association of Crime Laboratory Directors

Minutes of the Business Meeting

Embassy Suites Hotel, San Francisco Airport

Burlingame, California

November 18, 2010

President Hayes called the business meeting of the Association to order at 4:17 P.M.

Establish a Quorum

 President Hayes established that a quorum of the general membership was present with 25 Regular members in attendance (exceeds minimum of 16 required for a quorum).

 Association members in attendance per roster:

 Applicants for membership in attendance per roster: Katina Repp, Jocelyn Weart.

 Guests in attendance per roster: Debbie McKillop, Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Crime Laboratory; Anne Marie Schubert, Sacramento DA’s Office.

Approval of the Minutes

President Hayes asked for any additions or corrections to the minutes of the last business meeting, held in Long Beach, California, on April 22, 2010. No additions or corrections were offered. President Hayes asked for a motion to approve the minutes.

Motion to accept the minutes of the 04/22/10 business meeting:

m/Nasser s/GialamasMotion passed.

Officer’s Business Reports

President (Hayes)

Activities of the President can be summarized as follows:

Legislative Activities

1. AB2009 (Logue)

• This bill was sponsored by Assembly member Logue and would specifically provide that a county's remaining share of Proposition 69 funds may, if authorized by a resolution of a county board of supervisors, be used by a local sheriff, police, district attorney, or regional state crime laboratory for expenditures and administrative costs made or incurred for utilizing an authorized laboratory for the processing and analysis of forensic identification samples and testimony related to that analysis in order to expedite the analysis of crime scene samples and proceed with pending criminal action or investigation within that county.
• On July 23, 2010, I sent a letter of opposition to the Governor’s Office on behalf of CACLD.
• On September 29, 2010, the Governor vetoed the bill.

1. AB558 (Portantino)

• This bill was sponsored by Assembly member Portantino and would require local law enforcement agencies responsible for taking or collecting rape kit evidence to annually report to the Department of Justice statistical information pertaining to the testing and submission for DNA analysis of rape kits.
• On July 23, 2010, I sent a letter of opposition to the Governor’s Office on behalf of CACLD.
• On September 29, 2010, the Governor vetoed the bill.

1. On behalf of CACLD I forwarded a document prepared by Bill Phillips and Jennifer Shen regarding questions posed by Assembly member Isadore Hall, III, in regards to a request to seek the Attorney General’s opinion regarding Department of Public Health’s enforcement powers related to forensic alcohol testing (Opinion 10-501).

1. On September 16, 2010, verbal and written 60 day notices were given to Paul Curry and Associates discontinuing their services as CACLD’s lobbyist.

1. On November 8, 2010, Dean Gialamas and I conducted a conference call with new CACLD lobbyist Warner and Pank, LLC in order to establish expectations and communication mechanisms. Dean Gialamas will be the point of contact for Warner and Pank, LLC and he will communicate with the CACLD Board of Directors. Warner and Pank, LLC will lobby for CACLD through tracking of proposed legislation and other state government activities specifically related to crime labs as well as other law enforcement issues, state budget issues, and state pension reform activities. Warner and Pank, LLC are scheduled to begin serving CACLD on December 1, 2010.

Miscellaneous

1. Opinion Paper on Crime Laboratory Oversight in California

• On June 29, 2010, an ad hoc committee of CACLD, CAC, and California Crime Laboratory Review Task Force representatives met in Oakland to discuss response options to the Task Force’s continuing efforts to define a crime lab oversight commission (or similar body) and to address certain members of the Task Force who published or contributed to published opinion pieces regarding the Task Force’s temporary suspension of its activities pending potential federal action regarding forensic science. It was determined that a “white” paper should be written clearly stating CACLD’s and CAC’s position on efforts to regulate or oversee California Crime Laboratories. Jeff Rodzen (lead), Adam Dutra, and I prepared the paper with significant input from the ad hoc committee and input from Board members and other CACLD and CAC members.
• On August 2, 2010, the paper was sent to Task Force Chairperson Dane Gillette by Jeff Rodzen.
• The paper was subsequently published in the 4th Quarter (2010) issue of the CAC News.

1. CACLD Website

• On September 21, 2010, with Board approval, I signed a contract with Brandon Tutmarc to update the CACLD website under the direction of President Elect Wes Grose.

1. Coverdell 2010

• On October 4, 2010, at the request of the Board I sent a letter to Bill Canepa of Cal-EMA requesting an extension to the Coverdell 2010 application until the end of November. The request was granted.

Respectfully submitted by:

Steve Hayes, President

President-Elect (Grose)

Activities of the President-Elect can be summarized as follows:

Four applications for regular membership were received since the last meeting: along with the $60 application fee for each. The applications were forwarded to Secretary Don Tapper and the fee checks to Treasurer Jill Spriggs:

Katina Repp, Assistant Lab Director

California Department of Justice

Bureau of Forensic Services – Santa Rosa

1557 Berger Drive Suite B-2

Santa Rosa, CA 95403

Phone 707.570.4064

Recommended by:

Tanya Beede

Kurtis A. Smith

Armand Tcheong, Criminalist Supervisor

California Department of Justice

Bureau of Forensic Services – Richmond

1001 W. Cutting Boulevard

Richmond, CA 94804

Phone 510.620.3300

Recommended by:

Ken Konzak

Linton Von Beroldingen

Mary M. Hong, Senior Forensic Scientist

Orange County Crime Laboratory

320 N. Flower Street

Santa Ana, CA 92703

Phone 714.834.6258

Recommended by:

Elizabeth Thompson

Thomas Nasser

Jocelyn Weart, Supervising Criminalist

Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office

Crime Laboratory

250 West Hedding Street

San Jose, CA 95113

Phone 408.808.5911

Recommended by:

Alice King

Joe Fabiny

President-Elect Grose asked the above candidates, if present, to leave the room during the discussion of the nomination of candidates (Jocelyn Weart was present and left the room). President-Elect Grose then asked if there was any discussion on the applicants. No comments were offered on the applicants.

President-Elect Grose offered up for membership the above four candidates. A vote of the membership carried by unanimous Ayes.

Member Jocelyn Weart was asked to return to the meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Wesley P. Grose, President-Elect

Secretary (Tapper)

Activities of the Secretary can be summarized as follows:

 Produced “Letters of Welcome” for new members.

 Attended meeting of the CACLD Board of Directors and the California Crime Laboratory Task Force at the Santa Clara County Crime Laboratory on May 19, 2010.

 Produced minutes for the Spring 2010 seminar Board and Business meetings.

 Distributed various announcements to the membership.

 Produced and distributed attendance, reclassification, and reinstatement letters to members.

 Updated the CACLD roster to reflect new members, resignations, and other changes.

 Updated the CACLD e-mail contact list.

 Distributed seminar information to the membership.

Membership records are summarized as follows:

 There are 139 members of the Association, distributed as follows:

Regular80

Affiliate48

Emeritus11

 Attendance by 16 regular members of the Association (1/5 of the Regular membership) at today’s Business meeting constitutes a quorum.

Respectfully submitted by:

Don Tapper, Secretary

Treasurer (Spriggs)

Activities of the Treasurer can be summarized as follows:

1. Seminars

1. Spring 2010-Long Beach, CA

Income$24,436.34

Expenses$18,195.24

Net$ 6,241.10

1. Fall 2010 (In progress)

Income-None

Expenses $500.00 Deposit-Embassy Suites

1. Spring 2011 (In progress)

Income-None

Expenses-None

1. Balances

1. Checking (10/31/10)$22,821.70
2. Business Market Rate (10/31/09)$11,520.16
3. CD $20,000 from checking and $10,000 from business$30,000.00

Market rate acct, expires 11-25-10

1. Total$64,341.86

1. Checks Written Since April 1, 2010

1. Deposits

06/01/10$12,050.00

06/15/10 $ 7,335.00

TOTAL$19,385.00

1. Pending Duties

1. Dues Notices 12-01-10

Respectfully submitted by:

Jill L. Spriggs, Treasurer

Past President (Fabiny)

Activities of the Past President can be summarized as follows:

Spring 2010 – Worked with Santa Clara County DA’s Office to prepare amicus curiae briefs on behalf of CACLD for several “Melendez-Diaz” type cases pending before the CA Supreme Court. These briefs were submitted by the DA’s Office and accepted by the Court in the cases of:

People vs. Gutierrez

People vs. Dungo

People vs. Rutterschmidt

People vs. Lopez

May 2010 – Requested Bill Phillips and Jennifer Shen to prepare comments on behalf of CACLD for submission to the AG’s Office to be considered for the AG’s opinion that CACLD is seeking with regard to the question of the Department of Health Services’ power and authority over crime laboratory forensic alcohol programs; with specific regard to their proficiency testing program. (Contact with AG’s Office in October 2010 indicated it will be at least several more months before an opinion is published.)

May 19, 2010 – Convened a meeting of CACLD’s Ad Hoc Advisory Committee to our CA Crime Lab Review Task Force representative (Bob Jarzen) to discuss and address the Task Force’s apparent efforts to recommend some type of forensic oversight body. CACLD members present at this meeting were:

• Mike Grubb
• Greg Thompson
• Tom Nasser
• Steve Hayes
• Bill Phillips
• Don Tapper
• Dean Gialamas
• Renee Artman
• Mary Gibbons
• Bob Jarzen
• Joe Fabiny

This meeting had two primary outcomes:

• A 2-page Position Statement regarding the CA Crime Lab Review Task Force’s on-going agenda of considering some type of governmental oversight body was prepared and submitted to the Chair of the Task Force. (CAC issued a similar Position Statement, dated May 26, 2010.)

• Language for a motion was prepared for presentation by CACLD’s Task Force representative Bob Jarzen at the next meeting of the Task Force (see June 3rd below).

June 3, 2010 – With the approval and urging of both CACLD and CAC, a motion was presented by CACLD representative Bob Jarzen at this meeting of the CA Crime Lab Review Task Force meeting to suspend further activities of the Task Force. The specific motion made and passed was, “to suspend future Task Force meetings; and to request authorization from the State Legislature to reconvene in 2011 to consider progress made at the Federal level”.

June 28, 2010 – I attended a meeting of CDAA’s Forensic Science Committee in Monterey. I briefed the committee on CACLD’s activities relative to the CA Crime Lab Review Task Force and also relative to the amicus curiae briefs for the “Melendez-Diaz” cases. I also invited CDAA to appoint a liaison to our organization, which they agreed to do. Subsequently appointed were:

• Supervising DDA Anne Marie Schubert (Sacramento County) who will attend CACLD meetings in the North.

• DDA Camille Hill (Orange County) who will attend CACLD meetings in the South.

June 2010 – Organized a joint meeting for CACLD and CAC to discuss and consider issuing a formal Point of View for submission to the CA Crime Lab Review Task Force. The meeting was held June 29th at Oakland PD Crime Lab and included Mary Gibbons, Steve Hayes, Bill Phillips, Greg Matheson, Jeff Rodzen, Adam Dutra, Jennifer Mihalovich, and Joe Fabiny. An outline was prepared for a Point of View document to be submitted to the CA Crime Lab Review Task Force regarding their on-going agenda to recommend some type of forensic oversight body.

Current CACLD President Steve Hayes and CAC President Adam Dutra, with assistance from Jeff Rodzen, assumed the lead responsibility to prepare a joint CACLD/CAC Point of View, which was subsequently issued July 28, 2010 as a 28-page document entitled: “AB-1079 and the California Crime Laboratory System: Statewide Forensic Science Oversight”.

July 1, 2010 – With the assistance of several CACLD members, I wrote a response on behalf of CACLD to the Sacramento Bee regarding an editorial that they had published on June 29th relative to the activities of the Crime Lab Review Task Force. The Bee published the response on July 4th.

July 2010 – I received confirmation from three of our members that they had been appointed to serve on the federal Interagency Working Groups (IWG’s) under the NSTC Subcommittee on Forensic Science:

• Dean Gialamas – Accreditation and Certification IWG
• Wes Grose – Standards and Protocols IWG
• George Sensabaugh – R & D, Testing and Evaluation IWG

July 2010 – With BOD approval, I arranged for Directors and Officers Liability Insurance for CACLD. The current policy is effective July 26, 2010 thru July 26, 2011 by Scottsdale Indemnity Co. (CFP Insurance Brokers).

Respectfully submitted,

Joseph M. Fabiny

Past President

Committee Reports

Historical Committee (Stenback)

Activities of the Historical Committee are summarized as follows:

~ Working on obtaining an inventory of records that currently exist with members of the organization. On March 9, 2010, I received a two-page inventory from Don Tapper. He also stated that he has many electronic records on his computer. Jill Spriggs stated on March 9, 2010 that she will inventory her items and provide me with a list. I have not received a list yet from Jill. Bill Phillips said he will provide me with a list of what he has at the November meeting. He also spoke to Wes Grose about housing the records at the LASD. We can discuss further at the Board Meeting.

~ Once the records have been identified, I would like to obtain and review them. A policy will be developed regarding records retention.

~ Photographs of the Spring 2010 meeting were taken by Wes Grose.

~ I’ve been in contact with the Historian for the IAI. He shared with me many good ideas that we may want to consider.

Respectfully submitted,

Lisa M. Stenback

Historical Committee

Legislative Advocacy and Policy Committee (Gialamas)

Activities of the Legislative Advocacy and Policy Committee are summarized as follows:

 Members include:

• Dean Gialamas (LASD), Chair
• Greg Matheson (LAPD)
• Wayne Plumtree (LASD)
• Yvette Sanchez-Owens (LAPD)
• Jill Spriggs (CA-DOJ)
• Eva Steinberger (CA-DOJ)

 Bill Tracking:

• ABX83: DNA Identification Fund – fine increase from $1 to $3 for every $10 imposed for DOJ labs only (ENROLLED by Gov on 3/8/2010)
• AB 383: DNA Evidence Procedures – extend limitation of testing from 2 years to 5 years – VETOED
• AB 558: DNA Reporting – requires annual reporting to DOJ on the sexual assault kit testing progress of agencies – VETOED
• AB 1691 – Crime Lab Oversight – a gut and amend bill that would require the re-convening of the CA Crime Lab Task Force – DIED in Leg
• This bill, according to the author will be back next year and will be one to watch carefully
• AB2009: DNA Identification Fund – allowing Counties to use funds for private labs - VETOED

 As a result of the surprise bill “gut and amend” regarding AB 1691 in August 2010, some concerns were raised by this committee and the membership about the quality of service of our legislative advocate, Paul Curry. Those discussions and subsequent decision by the Board of Directors resulted in ending the contract with Mr. Curry and retaining the services of Nick Warner of Warner and Pank.

• Chair Gialamas, at the direction of the Board, worked with Warner and Pank to establish a contract and terms for the Board’s review in September 2010.

 Assisted with writing letters to the Governor to oppose AB 558 and AB 2009. Worked with Nick Warner to make sure the letters were delivered to the Governor’s office during the enrollment period.

National Forensic Reform Related Notes:

 The Senate Judiciary federal crime lab reform language was released for comment on May 5, 2010 and send to the membership.

 The White House Subcommittee on Forensic Science created state and local agency spots on their Interagency Working Groups (IWG’s). Three CACLD members were invited to the IWG’s:

• Dean Gialamas – Accreditation and Certification
• Wes Grose – Standards, Practices and Protocols
• George Sensabaugh – Research, Development, Testing and Evaluation

Other notable CA appointees include:

• Jennifer Friedman, Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office (Standards, Practices and Protocols IWG)
• Jennifer Mihalovich, Oakland PD Crime Lab (Standards, Practices and Protocols IWG)
• Jennifer Mnookin, UCLA Law School (RDT&E)
• Scott Oulton, DEA San Diego (Accreditation and Certification IWG)
• Pauline Weaver, Alameda County Public Defender’s Office (Outreach and Communication IWG)

Respectfully submitted by:

Dean Gialamas, Committee Chair

Merchandise Committee (DeMaria)

Activities of the Merchandise Committee are summarized as follows:

 During the April CACLD meeting, it was decided that sample polo shirts would be ordered and put on display at the fall conference. It was also decided that a polo shirt would be included in the cost of registration for each attendee who pre-registered for the fall meeting.

 Polo shirts will be offered in the following styles: