A lab tech who was caught faking results in drug case has thrown 7,827 criminal cases into question.
Nearly 8,000 criminal cases are under review after a State Police lab tech was allegedly caught making up results in one drug case, authorities said. PASSAIC COUNTY -- People who are currently in prison based on tests performed by a State Police lab tech allegedly caught faking results in a drug case may need to be let out until investigators can determine if those test results were legitimate, according to the assignment judge in charge of Passaic County.
Kamalkant Shah worked as a laboratory technician for the State Police laboratory in Little Falls and was found on Dec. 10 to have "dry labbed" suspected marijuana -- which, as a result, has cast a shadow over 7,827 criminal cases on which he worked.
"Basically, he was observed writing 'test results' for suspected marijuana that was never tested," Deputy Public Defender Judy Fallon said in a memo to Public Defender Joseph Krakora on Feb. 29.
Ernest M. Caposela, the assignment judge of Passaic County, told NJ Advance Media Thursday he's never before encountered a breach such as this in Passaic County but he was focused on performing "triage" on the most pressing cases first.
"The cases I'm most concerned about are individuals who are serving a sentence after a conviction after a trial (in which Shah's results were utilized)," Caposela said.
"If somebody was convicted based on one of these tests, until we know more, I think you've got to let them out," he said. "At least until we can determine whether these certifications have any integrity."
About 2,100 cases in Passaic County are now up for review due to the fallout of Shah's alleged breach. Before defendants in those cases can be notified, Caposela said, the county prosecutor's office first needs to identify them.
"We've always had issues with lab reports, but it's mostly with chain of custody," Caposela said. Cases where the lab tests themselves are subject to such scrutiny have been far more rare.
"I would imagine that once this gets around to people in prison, they're going to be calling their lawyers to find out if their cases were affected," he said.
About 2,000 cases have also been impacted in Essex County by the disclosure of the alleged breach, according to Katherine Carter, spokeswoman for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office. Most of those cases are marijuana cases and municipal court offenses, only nine of which are presently active, she said.
"All the evidence for these nine cases has been gathered and will be brought to the State Police tomorrow where it will be re-analyzed and new reports will be issued," Carter said on Thursday. "Of the 2,000, we will be reaching out to the Public Defender's Office or private attorneys."
Sussex County, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Greg Mueller, has about 263 cases dating back to 2005 which have been impacted by the alleged breach. Some notifications have already been made to attorneys representing the impacted defendants, Mueller said, and the majority of notifications will have been made by the end of the week. Any pending cases which have test results from Shah will be resubmitted immediately, he said.
Cases have also been identified in Bergen and Morris but authorities in those counties haven't yet disclosed how many were now up for review.
The Attorney General's Office provided serial numbers to prosecutor's offices last week that prosecutor's offices had to cross-reference with criminal cases in their counties. In Passaic County, 10 staff people were assigned to do this cross-referencing and had identified about 25 percent of the cases as of Wednesday.
"Step 2, notify all these folks," Caposela said. "We need to be completely transparent. (The defendants) can decide on what course of action to take, whether it's filing for post-conviction relief or an appeal. Some will probably do nothing."
Post-conviction relief is a process through which defendants can challenge their conviction or sentence.
Several attorneys who deal with criminal matters said Wednesday that Shah's alleged breach likely wouldn't affect the large number of defendants who pleaded guilty to drug possession.
Caposela agreed that a large number of drug cases -- many of which were adjudicated by municipal courts -- likely wouldn't be overturned if defendants accepted a plea early on in the process.
"One of the gaps is I don't really know the nature of the breach in the lab," he said. "The AG (attorney general) is really going to have to enlighten us on that."
Cases where defendants were convicted and didn't plead guilty are what concern Caposela the most -- especially if they've been convicted or are in county jail awaiting trial. The next highest priority are those defendants who are out on bail pending trial and those who were convicted and already served their sentences.
Defendants who were convicted and already served their sentence may also seek to file for post-conviction relief or appeal their sentences -- as it could challenge their status as a convicted felon or impact post-incarceration stipulations of their sentence.
According to Fallon's memo, the prosecutor's office's plan "is to submit for retesting specimens from open cases. The larger, and unanswered, question is how this impacts already resolved cases, especially those where the specimens may have been destroyed."
Peter Aseltine, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, said Wednesday there was only one instance in which Shah was observed improperly conducting a test, but that 7,827 cases statewide would be reviewed.
Calls placed to Morris County Assignment Judge Stuart Minkowitz and Bergen County Assignment Judge Bonnie Mizdol have not yet been returned. Essex County Assignment Judge Sallyanne Floria deferred comment to the State Judiciary. The Morris County Prosecutor's Office deferred comment to Attorney General's Office.
Messages placed to the prosecutor's offices in Bergen and Passaic Thursday have not yet been returned.
Justin Zaremba may be reached at jzaremba@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinZarembaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.