Judge Orlando Hudson of Durham County Superior Court is not known for sugarcoating, and his words, spoken and written, in the case of Derrick Allen surely had a bitter aftertaste for prosecutors and the embattled State Bureau of Investigation.
In a 46-page order released last week that followed up an earlier ruling, Hudson said Allen, who spent 12 years in jail after being convicted in the 1998 sexual assault and death of his girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter, was instead a victim himself.
The culprits, Hudson indicated, were Durham prosecutors and the State Bureau of Investigation and its crime lab, who, the judge said, withheld key evidence to the point that it is now impossible for Allen to get a fair trial. Allen had accepted a plea deal because he feared the death penalty but in that deal did not admit guilt.
Among the judge's findings were that the D.A.'s office was misleading with regard to blood evidence and that SBI agent Jennifer Elwell, who did the blood work, wrote her report to indicate that tests had confirmed the presence of blood on the girl's underwear when they had not.
Then-Assistant District Attorney Freda Black, now in private practice, had said in court that the supposedly bloody underwear was the "most significant" evidence for the sexual assault charges against Allen.
Another assistant D.A. at the time, Tracey Cline, also was criticized by the judge for not disclosing evidence that might have been favorable to Allen. Cline is now the district attorney.
Both Cline and Black assert that they did nothing improper. But in light of the judge's findings, their conduct deserves a review by the State Bar, which enforces professional standards for attorneys.
With regard to the SBI, although Elwell has said she followed policies in place at the time, the agency's lab already has been discredited because of other cases where blood evidence was reported in misleading fashion. Attorney General Roy Cooper says corrective action has been taken, and that the DNA testing now used is by nature more precise.
The credibility of the Durham district attorney's office is on the line, and the Bar should do its job. Until it does, citizens couldn't be blamed for wondering about the fairness of the office, not just in the past but right now.
