In an effort to make an accurate determination of what really happened at the crime lab in San Francisco, more information is needed. We would have to have access to Attorney Sharon Woo’s entire email and her distribution list, more detail on Deborah Madden’s actions and health records, along with lab records. From this article the reader is left with too many questions as to what happened. The lab appeared to have problems, but there had to be more than one employee working at the San Francisco Police Departments crime lab. Then one email is written and a couple of months later the lab shuts down. Clearly blame is being placed on Madden because of her suspicious behavior but could this be a cover up for something or someone else? More investigation is needed.
I read some of the comments at the bottom of this article and I have to agree with one person who mentioned that people who work in a crime labs be tested, I think that they should be tested randomly every month. Also, at the end of this article the question at hand was who did Mrs. Woo send her emails to? Email should not be the only form of communication in a business. Some people receive so many emails that they can over look some, accidently delete one, or maybe they did not receive it. There is no harm in picking up the phone and making sure that what you have to say is heard by the person that needs to be aware or that can help in that situation. I want to know if this is the only thing that came up missing.
I know we are concurrently talking about how much it take to take care of a prisoner these days. Now this particular incident is going to open a lot of can of worms and going to reopen alot of cases. It is a shame that this individual was not removed from such a critical position earlier. We as tax paying citizen should be outrage about this incident. It is going to rain and continue to rain hard on this situation. I hate to be the one that must answer to higher authority why such no actions were taking by anyone that had knowledge of this particular incident. Now it will probably be at least or more that the prosecutors must reconsider dismissing more than 365 drug cases and have been unable to charge an additional 450 due to the lab's closure. I am pretty such there is a job opening in the lab......
Misdeamenor's like this will not be happening if individuals were drug tested at leat once a month. It wil then rid those who risk the a tech. lab.It is so dang irritating to know that U.S. citizens pay for such taxes thatgo to such places that aren't that careful with their process. AS for tech. labs, they should at least make everyone drug test once a month; thus, it would be in less risk than with having a drugged individual working up on important cases. I totally confirm that there is just not enough info on this article. I mean my qustion is "what TRULY happend? See it is the smallest things that are irritating especially knowing such a person worked for a tech. lab. Yes, Deborah may have made it a different sceneray through her "drugged" actions, but what is the main jist of her being "the one".?..?.
Personally, I would have to agree that people working in crime labs be tested, however, I do also believe that while some people may not test for any known substances that they may develop a drug problem later on in their work as crime lab technicians. I believe people overlooked what she was doing, especially if they are a prosecutor, because having a crime lab technician's credibility in question would mean the prosecution's case is in jeopardy and could ultimate result in a dismissal or losing the case in general. She was their "expert witness." Within some of these government positions and criminal justice positions, I believe that they honor the "don't ask, don't tell" rule. Although they can see what is clearly going on, they turn their backs as if nothing is happening just to achieve higher convictions. There is corruption within this system, yet not everybody is as corrupt. It would've been better just to handle the crime lab technicians drug and alcohol problem at hand instead of letting it get to this point to where their whole program is called into question. They should've drug tested her, fired her, and then replaced her with someone else, AFTER, of course they drug tested their new hire.
Sharon Woo has given a free pass to all the drug related cases that she has had anything to do with. Now because she has messed with the crime lab all the cases that she was on are affected even if they were guilty this helps the criminal because she no longer has any credibility as a prosecutor. The defense attorneys can argue that she tampered with the evidence and most likely they will win. Instead of helping her team she has done grate damage to them. This is unacceptable and I think that Sharon Woo should suffer some serious consequences. She has hurt the whole San Francisco court system this mistake will cost the district attorneys many cases.
This is a perfect example for the CJ being broken! For prosecutors to blatantly ignore Ms. Woo’s concerns with Madden’s conduct and unethical behavior is insane! Most appalling was Madden’s confession to using cocaine to hide a drinking problem and as a result more than 365 cases had to be dismissed along with the inability to charge additional 450 cases because the lab had to be closed. The audacity that Madden failed to show up in court to testify after being told by prosecutors is just another example of her character and disrespect of the law and her lack of remorse for those whose lives she affected. Seems like a blaming a game is going on here
This is very funny to me, especially because the lady looks like a lil old sweet lady; I can just imagine her sniffing up that cocaine. Lol. Besides that, we can see one of the issues that we have with law enforcements which is Corruption. 365 cases have gone dismissed! Why? I always wondered what the crime lab investigators would do with drug evidence, and now I have no doubts! Ha ha! Im just being funny but the thing is that I have an issue with how judges handle cases. Yes I know that credibility plays a big part in deciding innocence, but doesn’t our Constitution clarify that all men are created equal?! So why was this case and many other over looked until now? I realize that she spoke of all the “minimal” wrongdoings that she committed but shouldn’t she be punished for it. As for a solution to future problems, yes lab workers should be tested monthly. I truly believe they could have already been doing that as a policy and procedure requirement.
A person working in a crime lab should know right from wrong. She should have known eventually stealing cocaine from the lab would catch up to her. Emails should not be the only way of communication anywhere, especialy in a crime lab. Peoples lives can be changed forever if the wrong people are handling evidence. I am agreeing with what some of the other people said about the drug tests. people working with drugs law enforcment or not should be randomly tested every month. temptations do get the best of some people and with the random drug tests they will think more before stealing drungs.
Whoo…what to say? I agree that she does not look like the typical cocaine head, as one might picture her to be. Although, this might have given her more of an advantage to be able to hide it for as long as she did. I personally think those individuals who have the future of others in their hands (crime lab techs), should get drug tested. Crime labs have the accessibility to all sorts of drugs, and when those drugs come up missing, it should be a warning that it is going “somewhere”. As for the emails sent by Woo, I don’t think that they were taken seriously nor were they handled with the concern that it should have been addressed with. An investigation should have been done a long time ago, and because it wasn’t, who knows how much evidence or drugs were tampered with.
I wonder why internal affairs was not notified sooner of this problem. In my opinion, anyone suspected of skimming drugs or tampering with evidence at a crime lab, of all places, should be placed on immediate suspension pending a proper internal affairs investigation. A crime lab, above all other departments of law enforcement, must have absolute credibility since evidence is the strongest instrument of determining guilt or innocence. Errors with evidenced have let murderers walk free and put innocent men in prison until they have died. As such, this situation is completely unacceptable. I would be surprised to hear any attorney say in front of a jury that their drug lab is full of people who snort evidence but you should trust them anyway because they are “honest” about what they have done. The bigger problem is that the ones who have already been convicted by evidence from that crime lab are now probably going to be appealing their cases. I think that in this case, it is not so much about what Madden did that is so terrible (even though to me it is unbelievable), but what society is going to perceive from something like this. This crime lab may never reopen due to this incident.
Problems like this would not happen, if people from labs were drug tested. I would have to agree that drug testing should be done randomly. Also, I can't believe she would take the cocaine evidence, what's wrong with her? This greatly changes things since she has tampered with actual evidence. Also there isn't a lot of information in this article because I don't understand why things weren't done before this. She obviously wasn't very reliable and even known to be "undependable".
I totally agree with everyone who thinks drug testing should be done randomly, drug testing like that is done to staff at the boys & girls club because they work with kids, but a person that works in a crime lab full of all kinds of illegal drugs should be tested as well. She should be punished for tampering with evidence, now that the actual criminals probably won't pay for the crime they committed she should pay for it. I know that is kind of mean but she is already an older woman that should know right from wrong.If something isn't done about her doing wrong, all corrupt police officers will know they have nothing to worry about.
After reading this article, I also agree that people that work in crime labs should be tested randomly every month to prove that they are actually doing the jobs and not abusing their privileges. This is just another case that puts a bad rap on the criminal field and everybody in that field that is trying to better this country. I honestly cannot believe that 365 drug cases have been dismissed and 450 more cases have been unable to use because the lab closed. This started out as a women’s cocaine problem and turned into complete chaos which resulted in the lab being completed shut down for the time being. Madden did not just effect her life and her fellow co-worker’s lives, but she effected the streets and innocent citizens when the lab got closed down because that left these criminals out there to keep breaking the law. There needs to be more of an investigation on this matter and something needs to be done in regards to Deborah Madden. Whatever happens in the case, the main thing that needs to be done is that the crime lab needs to be opened as soon as possible with honest workers that are willing to clean up these streets.
Madden’s drug problem is a serious one, but one that could have been rectified with random drug testing. Working in the environment where narcotics are always present, it is important that the employees are not tempted by all the supply. Of drugs that transit the lab. I agree with many that have posted, we need to have mandatory drug tests on all crime-lab employees. Also, I think this case introduces another interesting issue effecting all federal jobs. I understand that Madden had been working a very long time. But the doubts of her credibility, her incompetence, and her frequent absences should warrant employment termination. There are plenty of individuals who are trained to do her job. If she doesn’t want to be at work, Madden should either retire or be terminated, not allowed to continue with her less than adequate performance. Government jobs at the state and federal levels tolerate much more negligence than private sector employment. With her erratic behavior and questionable credibility, Madden should have been terminated long before this point.
So this just show's there's crookedness everywhere. Not in just the government or with police officers, but lab technicians as well. I dont see why she would jeopardize her career. A well paid career I might add. I don't see why they let her come back so many months later when she had quit back when it went missing. I guess that just shows it could be right there in front of you and you couldn't even tell. Maybe her and the SFPD were in on it and sharing the drugs. Or could she claim she was around it and the smell got her addicted? At least you know they keep good records since they did realize there was some missing. They just need to figure out who has legal access to the drugs and tie the security together.
It is great to know that our Crime Lab Technicians are stealing cocaine when they should probably be testing it. She told the police that she only used cocaine to cover her drinking problem. This shows how accurate our crime labs are when they are dealing with things like this. I just can not get through my head on why she even did that anyway. Why cover up something that is bad with something that is even worse.
I believe people should be tested before they can work in a drug lab. The lab technicians who work in the drug lab come into contact with all the drugs that are confiscated. The technicians who work in the drug lab are there because they have been trusted not to mess with the drugs. Deborah Madden admitted to police that she used cocaine she found at work to mask a drinking problem. She traded one drug problem for another. Because of her actions prosecutors have dismissed more than 365 drug cases and have been unable to charge an additional 450 due to the lab’s closure. All of those cases that the prosecutors were dependent on have to be dismissed because of one person’s dim-witted decision. Hopefully crime labs will come up with better procedures to ensure something like this doesn’t happen again.
This is pretty embarrassing to our criminal justice system that the people we depend on have drug addiction problems that go unnoticed. There should be random drug tests, done on individuals who have access to drugs. It's not that we don't trust them, but anything can happen to anyone, so to be on the safe side everyone must be tested regularly and randomly. That's how it's done in the military, it doesn't matter your rank, your name can come up any time to do a urinalaysis. This also show, that our criminal justice system is willing to cover up things to protect themselves and their reputation. We, as the criminal justice system must do better with those who are employed, our people must be held accountable for their actions, no matter what position they're in. If not, how then can we expect our citizens to do the right thing.
The fact that because of the Lab's slip up of not dealing with the Madden situation in the first place is the reason why so many cases have gone unsolved or are being thrown out is unbelievable. It really almost takes all of the attention off Madden. Not that what Madden did is completely forgivable, she should be reprimanded in some way for her wrong doing (whether it be a fine or jail time if found to be necessary), but she admitted to everything she did. She let investigators know she did use the cocaine she stole from the lab. The fact that nothing was done at the beginning by the lab is infuriating when you find out so many cases had to be thrown out due to the closing of the lab and their irresponsibility.
I also agree with the random drug testing that they should do, especially when someone is handling drugs all day at a crime lab. It's also rather interesting how the lab doesn't want to charge Madden with anything. I believe there is a lot more investigation needed to be done. Also, if the lab knew that this lady had some issues why wouldn't they investigate to try and get to the bottom of it? Madden confessed to what she did because of what her lawyer had told her, but in my opinion she needs to be questioned more. This could easily just be a deal where she confesses to the obvious crimes made, but there could be more. I mean she could be involved in trafficing the drugs, who knows? more lenghty investigation is needed
This is another prime example of why frequent drug testing should be conducting. I think that even if there is not a policy set in place for this drug testing that the supervisor should have known that there was an issue with this employee that needed to be investigated.
In an effort to make an accurate determination of what really happened at the crime lab in San Francisco, more information is needed. We would have to have access to Attorney Sharon Woo’s entire email and her distribution list, more detail on Deborah Madden’s actions and health records, along with lab records. From this article the reader is left with too many questions as to what happened. The lab appeared to have problems, but there had to be more than one employee working at the San Francisco Police Departments crime lab. Then one email is written and a couple of months later the lab shuts down. Clearly blame is being placed on Madden because of her suspicious behavior but could this be a cover up for something or someone else? More investigation is needed.
ReplyDeleteI read some of the comments at the bottom of this article and I have to agree with one person who mentioned that people who work in a crime labs be tested, I think that they should be tested randomly every month. Also, at the end of this article the question at hand was who did Mrs. Woo send her emails to? Email should not be the only form of communication in a business. Some people receive so many emails that they can over look some, accidently delete one, or maybe they did not receive it. There is no harm in picking up the phone and making sure that what you have to say is heard by the person that needs to be aware or that can help in that situation. I want to know if this is the only thing that came up missing.
ReplyDeleteI know we are concurrently talking about how much it take to take care of a prisoner these days. Now this particular incident is going to open a lot of can of worms and going to reopen alot of cases. It is a shame that this individual was not removed from such a critical position earlier. We as tax paying citizen should be outrage about this incident. It is going to rain and continue to rain hard on this situation. I hate to be the one that must answer to higher authority why such no actions were taking by anyone that had knowledge of this particular incident. Now it will probably be at least or more that the prosecutors must reconsider dismissing more than 365 drug cases and have been unable to charge an additional 450 due to the lab's closure. I am pretty such there is a job opening in the lab......
ReplyDeleteMisdeamenor's like this will not be happening if individuals were drug tested at leat once a month. It wil then rid those who risk the a tech. lab.It is so dang irritating to know that U.S. citizens pay for such taxes thatgo to such places that aren't that careful with their process. AS for tech. labs, they should at least make everyone drug test once a month; thus, it would be in less risk than with having a drugged individual working up on important cases.
ReplyDeleteI totally confirm that there is just not enough info on this article. I mean my qustion is "what TRULY happend? See it is the smallest things that are irritating especially knowing such a person worked for a tech. lab. Yes, Deborah may have made it a different sceneray through her "drugged" actions, but what is the main jist of her being "the one".?..?.
Personally, I would have to agree that people working in crime labs be tested, however, I do also believe that while some people may not test for any known substances that they may develop a drug problem later on in their work as crime lab technicians. I believe people overlooked what she was doing, especially if they are a prosecutor, because having a crime lab technician's credibility in question would mean the prosecution's case is in jeopardy and could ultimate result in a dismissal or losing the case in general. She was their "expert witness." Within some of these government positions and criminal justice positions, I believe that they honor the "don't ask, don't tell" rule. Although they can see what is clearly going on, they turn their backs as if nothing is happening just to achieve higher convictions. There is corruption within this system, yet not everybody is as corrupt. It would've been better just to handle the crime lab technicians drug and alcohol problem at hand instead of letting it get to this point to where their whole program is called into question. They should've drug tested her, fired her, and then replaced her with someone else, AFTER, of course they drug tested their new hire.
ReplyDeleteSharon Woo has given a free pass to all the drug related cases that she has had anything to do with. Now because she has messed with the crime lab all the cases that she was on are affected even if they were guilty this helps the criminal because she no longer has any credibility as a prosecutor. The defense attorneys can argue that she tampered with the evidence and most likely they will win. Instead of helping her team she has done grate damage to them. This is unacceptable and I think that Sharon Woo should suffer some serious consequences. She has hurt the whole San Francisco court system this mistake will cost the district attorneys many cases.
ReplyDeleteThis is a perfect example for the CJ being broken! For prosecutors to blatantly ignore Ms. Woo’s concerns with Madden’s conduct and unethical behavior is insane! Most appalling was Madden’s confession to using cocaine to hide a drinking problem and as a result more than 365 cases had to be dismissed along with the inability to charge additional 450 cases because the lab had to be closed. The audacity that Madden failed to show up in court to testify after being told by prosecutors is just another example of her character and disrespect of the law and her lack of remorse for those whose lives she affected. Seems like a blaming a game is going on here
ReplyDeleteVery sad to see. Can you imagine how many cases have and will be affected by this? Thanks for sharing this info!
ReplyDeleteThis is very funny to me, especially because the lady looks like a lil old sweet lady; I can just imagine her sniffing up that cocaine. Lol. Besides that, we can see one of the issues that we have with law enforcements which is Corruption. 365 cases have gone dismissed! Why? I always wondered what the crime lab investigators would do with drug evidence, and now I have no doubts! Ha ha! Im just being funny but the thing is that I have an issue with how judges handle cases. Yes I know that credibility plays a big part in deciding innocence, but doesn’t our Constitution clarify that all men are created equal?! So why was this case and many other over looked until now?
ReplyDeleteI realize that she spoke of all the “minimal” wrongdoings that she committed but shouldn’t she be punished for it. As for a solution to future problems, yes lab workers should be tested monthly. I truly believe they could have already been doing that as a policy and procedure requirement.
A person working in a crime lab should know right from wrong. She should have known eventually stealing cocaine from the lab would catch up to her. Emails should not be the only way of communication anywhere, especialy in a crime lab. Peoples lives can be changed forever if the wrong people are handling evidence. I am agreeing with what some of the other people said about the drug tests. people working with drugs law enforcment or not should be randomly tested every month. temptations do get the best of some people and with the random drug tests they will think more before stealing drungs.
ReplyDeleteWhoo…what to say? I agree that she does not look like the typical cocaine head, as one might picture her to be. Although, this might have given her more of an advantage to be able to hide it for as long as she did. I personally think those individuals who have the future of others in their hands (crime lab techs), should get drug tested. Crime labs have the accessibility to all sorts of drugs, and when those drugs come up missing, it should be a warning that it is going “somewhere”. As for the emails sent by Woo, I don’t think that they were taken seriously nor were they handled with the concern that it should have been addressed with. An investigation should have been done a long time ago, and because it wasn’t, who knows how much evidence or drugs were tampered with.
ReplyDeleteI wonder why internal affairs was not notified sooner of this problem. In my opinion, anyone suspected of skimming drugs or tampering with evidence at a crime lab, of all places, should be placed on immediate suspension pending a proper internal affairs investigation. A crime lab, above all other departments of law enforcement, must have absolute credibility since evidence is the strongest instrument of determining guilt or innocence. Errors with evidenced have let murderers walk free and put innocent men in prison until they have died. As such, this situation is completely unacceptable. I would be surprised to hear any attorney say in front of a jury that their drug lab is full of people who snort evidence but you should trust them anyway because they are “honest” about what they have done. The bigger problem is that the ones who have already been convicted by evidence from that crime lab are now probably going to be appealing their cases. I think that in this case, it is not so much about what Madden did that is so terrible (even though to me it is unbelievable), but what society is going to perceive from something like this. This crime lab may never reopen due to this incident.
ReplyDeleteProblems like this would not happen, if people from labs were drug tested. I would have to agree that drug testing should be done randomly. Also, I can't believe she would take the cocaine evidence, what's wrong with her? This greatly changes things since she has tampered with actual evidence. Also there isn't a lot of information in this article because I don't understand why things weren't done before this. She obviously wasn't very reliable and even known to be "undependable".
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with everyone who thinks drug testing should be done randomly, drug testing like that is done to staff at the boys & girls club because they work with kids, but a person that works in a crime lab full of all kinds of illegal drugs should be tested as well. She should be punished for tampering with evidence, now that the actual criminals probably won't pay for the crime they committed she should pay for it. I know that is kind of mean but she is already an older woman that should know right from wrong.If something isn't done about her doing wrong, all corrupt police officers will know they have nothing to worry about.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article, I also agree that people that work in crime labs should be tested randomly every month to prove that they are actually doing the jobs and not abusing their privileges. This is just another case that puts a bad rap on the criminal field and everybody in that field that is trying to better this country. I honestly cannot believe that 365 drug cases have been dismissed and 450 more cases have been unable to use because the lab closed. This started out as a women’s cocaine problem and turned into complete chaos which resulted in the lab being completed shut down for the time being. Madden did not just effect her life and her fellow co-worker’s lives, but she effected the streets and innocent citizens when the lab got closed down because that left these criminals out there to keep breaking the law. There needs to be more of an investigation on this matter and something needs to be done in regards to Deborah Madden. Whatever happens in the case, the main thing that needs to be done is that the crime lab needs to be opened as soon as possible with honest workers that are willing to clean up these streets.
ReplyDeleteMadden’s drug problem is a serious one, but one that could have been rectified with random drug testing. Working in the environment where narcotics are always present, it is important that the employees are not tempted by all the supply. Of drugs that transit the lab. I agree with many that have posted, we need to have mandatory drug tests on all crime-lab employees. Also, I think this case introduces another interesting issue effecting all federal jobs. I understand that Madden had been working a very long time. But the doubts of her credibility, her incompetence, and her frequent absences should warrant employment termination. There are plenty of individuals who are trained to do her job. If she doesn’t want to be at work, Madden should either retire or be terminated, not allowed to continue with her less than adequate performance. Government jobs at the state and federal levels tolerate much more negligence than private sector employment. With her erratic behavior and questionable credibility, Madden should have been terminated long before this point.
ReplyDeleteSo this just show's there's crookedness everywhere. Not in just the government or with police officers, but lab technicians as well. I dont see why she would jeopardize her career. A well paid career I might add. I don't see why they let her come back so many months later when she had quit back when it went missing. I guess that just shows it could be right there in front of you and you couldn't even tell. Maybe her and the SFPD were in on it and sharing the drugs. Or could she claim she was around it and the smell got her addicted? At least you know they keep good records since they did realize there was some missing. They just need to figure out who has legal access to the drugs and tie the security together.
ReplyDeleteIt is great to know that our Crime Lab Technicians are stealing cocaine when they should probably be testing it. She told the police that she only used cocaine to cover her drinking problem. This shows how accurate our crime labs are when they are dealing with things like this. I just can not get through my head on why she even did that anyway. Why cover up something that is bad with something that is even worse.
ReplyDeleteI believe people should be tested before they can work in a drug lab. The lab technicians who work in the drug lab come into contact with all the drugs that are confiscated. The technicians who work in the drug lab are there because they have been trusted not to mess with the drugs. Deborah Madden admitted to police that she used cocaine she found at work to mask a drinking problem. She traded one drug problem for another. Because of her actions prosecutors have dismissed more than 365 drug cases and have been unable to charge an additional 450 due to the lab’s closure. All of those cases that the prosecutors were dependent on have to be dismissed because of one person’s dim-witted decision. Hopefully crime labs will come up with better procedures to ensure something like this doesn’t happen again.
ReplyDeleteThis is pretty embarrassing to our criminal justice system that the people we depend on have drug addiction problems that go unnoticed. There should be random drug tests, done on individuals who have access to drugs. It's not that we don't trust them, but anything can happen to anyone, so to be on the safe side everyone must be tested regularly and randomly. That's how it's done in the military, it doesn't matter your rank, your name can come up any time to do a urinalaysis. This also show, that our criminal justice system is willing to cover up things to protect themselves and their reputation. We, as the criminal justice system must do better with those who are employed, our people must be held accountable for their actions, no matter what position they're in. If not, how then can we expect our citizens to do the right thing.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that because of the Lab's slip up of not dealing with the Madden situation in the first place is the reason why so many cases have gone unsolved or are being thrown out is unbelievable. It really almost takes all of the attention off Madden. Not that what Madden did is completely forgivable, she should be reprimanded in some way for her wrong doing (whether it be a fine or jail time if found to be necessary), but she admitted to everything she did. She let investigators know she did use the cocaine she stole from the lab. The fact that nothing was done at the beginning by the lab is infuriating when you find out so many cases had to be thrown out due to the closing of the lab and their irresponsibility.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with the random drug testing that they should do, especially when someone is handling drugs all day at a crime lab. It's also rather interesting how the lab doesn't want to charge Madden with anything. I believe there is a lot more investigation needed to be done. Also, if the lab knew that this lady had some issues why wouldn't they investigate to try and get to the bottom of it? Madden confessed to what she did because of what her lawyer had told her, but in my opinion she needs to be questioned more. This could easily just be a deal where she confesses to the obvious crimes made, but there could be more. I mean she could be involved in trafficing the drugs, who knows? more lenghty investigation is needed
ReplyDeleteThis is another prime example of why frequent drug testing should be conducting. I think that even if there is not a policy set in place for this drug testing that the supervisor should have known that there was an issue with this employee that needed to be investigated.
ReplyDelete