In 2013, the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office joined forces with the Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS), the New England Innocence Project, the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory, the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office, and the Middlesex Superior Court Clerk’s Office to collectively implement M.G.L. c. 278A, which deals with post-conviction access to forensic and scientific analysis (enacted in 2012).
Some of the Working Group’s efforts to date include:
Developing a Best Practices Manual for Evidence Collection, Handling, Storage and Retention, Click here to view
Facilitating an agreement among the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, CPCS, the New England Innocence Project and the MA State Police Crime Lab to streamline access to information about evidence in the lab’s possession in order to allow access to initial discovery in Middlesex County cases without engaging in litigation;
Securing grant funding to support police departments in conducting inventories of their evidence to improve access to such evidence for testing in the future;
Providing trainings for attorneys on how to prepare 278A motions and for evidence officers that promote uniform protocols and practices for evidence handling, storing, and preservation; and
Instituting a pilot hair microscopy case identification project.