Crime lab boss placed on leave

Mayor Bart Peterson relieved Forensic Services Agency Director James E. Hamby of his duties on Saturday amid growing concern that the crime lab chief had covered up problems in his agency.

Hamby on Saturday morning was ordered to his office, where a city attorney handed him a letter from Peterson placing him on administrative leave without pay. Hamby will be out of work off pending a criminal investigation.

The action came three days after Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi requested that a special prosecutor be appointed to probe allegations of wrongdoing in the crime lab.

The allegations, made in sworn statements by a crime lab scientist, were that Hamby had covered up abuses in DNA testing.

After Hamby acknowledged to The Indianapolis Star on Thursday that he hadn't been "as forthcoming" as prosecutors would like, Brizzi faxed Peterson a letter Friday seeking Hamby's removal.

"This office no longer has confidence in nor can we rely on Dr. Hamby's representations," Brizzi said. "Regardless of whether Dr. Hamby is eventually terminated, I request that he be placed on administrative leave until you have made a final determination."

John Commons, Brizzi's chief of staff, said one accusation against Hamby was that he pressured employees to remain silent about problems in the lab.

Brizzi wanted Hamby out of the office, so employees would feel free to cooperate, Commons said.

Peterson approved Hamby's temporary removal by phone from Nevada, where he was vacationing with friends, said Steve Campbell, his spokesman.

"Anytime there are allegations like this, you have to take it seriously and take strong and swift action," Campbell said.

City Public Safety Director Robert Turner will serve as acting director of the lab, Campbell said.

Presiding Superior Court Judge Cale Bradford will name the special prosecutor, Commons said.

As director of the crime lab since 1985, Hamby reported to the agency's five-member board, headed by Marion County Coroner John McGoff. Other members of the board include the police chief, the Marion County sheriff, a mayoral appointee and a City-County Council appointee.

The director's position is a mayoral appointment.

Hamby, 62, had no comment as he left his office in the Sheriff's Department. He was carrying only a cardboard box.

His attorney, Jim Voyles, said Deputy Mayor Michael O'Connor called Hamby on Friday evening and told him to meet with a city attorney in Hamby's office the next morning.

When Hamby and Voyles arrived, the city's chief litigation counsel, Anthony Overholt, handed Hamby the mayor's letter, Voyles said.

Campbell said a deputy was present to make sure that Hamby removed only personal items and "not any official correspondence or anything like that." The deputy also accompanied Hamby to his Far-Southside home to collect his county-owned vehicle.

Voyles characterized the mayor's decision as a precautionary measure in response to Brizzi's request for a special prosecutor.

"The mayor saw the need to put someone else in charge temporarily."

Peterson's letter, however, followed a flurry of activity involving numerous officials during the past week -- and more than a year of questions about the lab's integrity.

Commons said prosecutors first became alarmed about alleged problems in the lab in 2002, after lab technician Kuppareddi Balamurugan resigned. A few months later, Indianapolis defense attorney Jack Crawford filed a client's motion, questioning Balamurugan's DNA testing techniques, among other issues.

As prosecutors checked out the allegations, Hamby reassured them that the testing issue merely related to a single case involving the restarting of a testing machine before the results had been read.

"So we're thinking that it's no big deal," Commons said.

During the next months, however, prosecutors began hearing rumors of other problems.

In July, Brizzi ordered the lab to retest DNA evidence in 64 criminal cases after learning that Balamurugan may have skipped steps, including the testing of control samples needed to ensure the accuracy of his results.

About the same time, Indiana State Police audited the crime lab. While the agency found no evidence of incorrect test results, it did find administrative problems.

In December, crime lab scientist Mohammad Tahir gave a sworn statement in a serial rape case about problems in the lab. Tahir said he had taken concerns about Balamurugan's work to his supervisors but was told to "stick it."

Hamby accused Tahir of being an ambitious scientist who was angry about being demoted.

Tahir's description of the crime lab, however, was alarming enough that McGoff began calling other members of the Forensic Services Board a week ago to consider a special commission to investigate Hamby's administration.

"There was some concern that (Hamby) had not been forthcoming," McGoff said.

Marion County Chief Public Defender Dave Cook also wrote the crime lab's board members questioning Hamby's work. Cook's letter was followed by Brizzi's request for a special prosecutor and his letter Friday to Peterson.

"When you hear from the coroner, the public defender and the county prosecutor, that's enough impetus that something had to be done," Campbell said.

Star reporter Vic Ryckaert contributed to this report.

Call Star reporter Terry Horne at 1-317-444-6082.