OSP scandal: Hummel seeks federal investigation

Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel is asking for a federal investigation of the Oregon State Police forensic analyst, Nika Larsen, who allegedly tampered with evidence at the crime lab in Bend.

“I’ve felt all along that we need someone else than the Oregon State Police investigating the Oregon State Police,” Hummel said Wednesday.

On Thursday, Hummel and several other district attorneys from across the state will meet with an attorney from the U.S. Attorney’s Office to discuss if the case will be handled at the state or federal level.

“This is a significant alleged criminal activity,” Hummel said. “It’s not just an isolated theft that impacts one victim. This is a crime that, if proven, impacts the entire criminal justice system in this state.”

So Hummel has called for a full federal criminal investigation.

“We don’t know yet what the impact is on other cases,” Hummel said. “I trust that whatever investigator is going to work on it, will not just look at the cases this analyst worked on but look at other cases from the lab, to see if that was isolated to this one analyst’s cases or if it might have crept into other cases.”

That is what a former OSP forensic analyst is worried about. Ken Meneely, who worked for the Springfield crime lab for 30 years before he retired, said he is very concerned this case could be only the tip of an iceberg.

“I’m extremely disappointed,” Meneely said. “The analyst, even though the evidence is supposedly well-secured when it comes into the lab, there’s still access to the evidence. That puts a big question mark on all the evidence in the lab.”

Meneely said the selection process to become a forensic analyst with OSP is vigorous. “They interview your friends and your family to vet your background,” Meneely said. “I just hope they’re holding the government agency accountable for this.”

He said when he worked at the crime lab, the policies and procedures seemed more than sufficient.

“Unfortunately, you don’t discover that they may not be adequate until an event like this happens,” Meneely said.

He also said he is especially disappointed because there are many great forensic analysts working for OSP whose reputations now have been damaged.

NewsChannel 21 also contacted the second OSP forensic analyst who had been under investigation recently. Jeff Dovci did not want to comment on the matter since the investigation into his alleged overstating of evidence on the witness stand is over.