4 forensic analysts part ways with Houston crime lab for reportedly running a competing business

Houston Chrnicle
Matt deGrood - Staff Writer
December 12, 2022

Four analysts have been fired or recently resigned from their jobs at the Houston Forensic Science Center, at which crime scene evidence is investigated and analyzed, after administrators learned they had been operating a forensics consulting business while working for the center.

Running the forensic services business while working for the center violated both administrative policies as well as state standards, given the potential conflict of interest that could arise out of doing so, according to Peter Stout, the president and CEO of the Houston Forensic Science Center.

“It was an unacceptable risk of a conflict of interest,” he said. “And it violated multiple policies in how they were doing this. That was the grounds for our parting of ways.”

Calls to DNA Mavens LLC, which is the business where several of the former analysts now work, were not immediately returned.

Stout Monday said he remained unsure whether the firings would result in any cases being revisited, explaining that since most of the issues were administrative and not with the results of death investigations, it was hard to say whether attorneys would insist on fresh investigations.

A spokesperson for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office echoed most of Stout’s explanation, arguing it didn’t appear the quality of work was an issue.

The Forensic Science Center manages Houston’s forensic laboratory and crime scene unit, handling about 30,000 cases per year among its 40 analysts, Stout said. Its experts conduct ballistics tests, drug testing and collect and document crime scene evidence, among other tasks.

Administrators with the center first learned about the issue three or four weeks ago, Stout said. One of the four analysts had previously been investigated for starting a consulting company, Stout said.

Department officials spoke to the woman and explained that running her side company was prohibited — only to learn she kept on running the business anyway, Stout said. That was when the center learned she, along with three other employees, had started a second business in August, he said.

One analyst resigned Nov. 23 when contacted about the second business, according to a letter sent to the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association. The other three were fired Nov. 28, according to the letter.

The firings and resignation mean the department lost 10 percent of its 40-person staff, Stout said.

“It speaks to the fact that we take conflicts of interest seriously,” Stout said. “We don’t take lightly having to dismiss that many people.”