NC prosecutors: dozens more crime lab errors found

RALEIGH, N.C. – North Carolina prosecutors say the state's crime lab has found dozens more cases of mishandled blood evidence, after more than 200 had already come to light.

Peg Dorer with the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys said Tuesday that prosecutors are preparing to review 75 additional cases. She said prosecutors were notified about the cases last week.

An inquiry into the crime lab's blood evidence practices last year found more than 200 cases were improperly handled during a 16-year period ending in 2003.

State Bureau of Investigation officials did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Tuesday.

District attorneys say they have reviewed 147 cases and found that each conviction was appropriate. They say that besides the blood work, there was overwhelming evidence of guilt including confessions, eyewitnesses and ballistics.