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Allegations against OSP forensic analyst may threaten cases By Melissa McRobbie Grants Pass Daily Courier MailTribune.com By Melissa McRobbie Grants Pass Daily Courier Posted Sep. 24, 2015 @ 5:02 pm By Melissa McRobbie Grants Pass Daily Courier Posted Sep. 24, 2015 @ 5:02 pm » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2325,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> The district attorneys' offices in Josephine and Jackson counties are reviewing a number of cases in light of allegations that a forensic analyst at the Oregon State Police crime lab in Bend tampered with drug evidence. Josephine County District Attorney Ryan Mulkins said his office is taking stock of how many local cases the analyst handled. Some evidence collected in Josephine County criminal cases is analyzed at the Bend facility. "If she was involved in a charged case that resulted in conviction, we will be notifying the defense," Mulkins said in an email to the Daily Courier. He declined to specify the number of cases. Jackson County District Attorney Beth Heckert said the Bend employee, who has been identified as Nika Larsen, processed latent prints in 110 Jackson County cases. It appears that fewer than 15 of those cases resulted in prosecution, Heckert said. Letters will be sent to defense lawyers in any cases that may have been compromised by Larsen, she said. Josephine and Jackson counties are among numerous counties statewide where district attorneys are looking into whether criminal convictions could be weakened by the allegations against Larsen. Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel has said his office is reviewing more than 500 cases that Larsen helped process. Representatives from the state attorney general's office, OSP and various district attorneys' offices were scheduled to meet this morning at Hummel's office to discuss the Bend worker. "We'll be discussing whether the case should be charged in state court or federal court," Hummel said Wednesday. Compounding the issue is the revelation late last week that a second OSP forensic analyst who worked out of the agency's Central Point crime lab was the subject of an April 2014 notice sent to 20 district attorneys' offices around the state by OSP. The notice alerted those offices of "issues surrounding the former employee," Jeff Dovci, who retired in November 2013. An Oregon State Police press release issued Friday stated that the concerns about Dovci stemmed from his testimony in a 2005 Douglas County murder trial that resulted in conviction. In 2013, after the conviction was overturned on appeal, documents were found that "could potentially cast doubt on the analyst's future testimony," the release stated. Hummel said his office reviewed two cases in which Dovci testified, but it was determined that the outcomes in those case weren't affected by the testimony. Mulkins said his predecessor, Stephen Campbell, was "contacted regarding Mr. Dovci" but the concerns raised didn't indicate that any Josephine County cases had been compromised. Heckert said her office was notified about a "very, very limited incident" involving Dovci. "There was a very narrow incident that occurred and we reviewed it and didn't believe that it amounted to anything," she said. Dovci has testified in a number of Josephine County cases over the years, including recently in the Gary Goins double-murder trial. Goins was convicted in May of murdering his brother and sister-in-law at their home near Hugo in 2011. Dovci has a company called Dovci Forensic Consulting and has testified in court cases as an independent witness since his retirement. He did not respond to a Daily Courier request for comment on this story but has defended his work in an Oregonian story. OSP Lt. Bill Fugate said his agency is passing along the information about the testimony in question, but isn't telling counties how to proceed. "It's up to each individual district attorney to decide if that testimony or (Dovci's) work on cases is valid," he said. Reach reporter Melissa McRobbie at 541-474-3806 or [email protected] By Melissa McRobbie Grants Pass Daily Courier MailTribune.com By Melissa McRobbie Grants Pass Daily Courier Posted Sep. 24, 2015 @ 5:02 pm » Comment or view comments /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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