(Asheville Citizen Times) With wait times for lab results in some cases reaching 12 months, North Carolina’s State Crime Laboratory director says he understands the mounting frustration of prosecutors and law enforcement.
A big increase in evidence submitted for testing, less time to do the analysis and no increase in the number of lab workers has created the longer wait times, Joseph R. John Sr. said in a recent interview.
“I don’t challenge them on the statements that they are waiting longer. They are. It is not through lack of effort on our part,” John said.
The issues have made their way into Western North Carolina courtrooms, where DWI cases are being continued while prosecutors wait for test results, raising the risk drunken drivers could return to the road before going in front of a judge.
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