When the face of SFPD’s Crime Lab Scandal, Deborah Madden, was interviewed by SFPD on February 26 (a week and a half before the lab was shut down, natch), she said many many crazy things! Of course, we’re just hearing about them now, because it wasn’t until Tuesday that a judge ordered prosecutors to release a transcript of this interview to the SF Public Defender’s office.
SF PD Jeff Adachi got his copy of this transcript today (as part of a 2,700 page document dump), and is holding a press conference at noon today to talk about the what this means for them — it’s a safe bet that there are a lot of folks that will be going free because of this.
But let’s talk about some of the wackier stuff from this transcript, shall we? But, first, let’s remember that Madden still hasn’t been charged with anything, at all. Which is kind of odd, because she admits to some stuff!
— Madden admitted that that she had stolen cocaine five times from evidence samples over a three-month period in late 2009.
— Madden also admitted that she took empty lab vials home (there were 21 found in her residence) to mix paint for plastic models that she builds. There is something about this that makes me feel kind of sad! (Of course, other things, like conviction based on flawed evidence, makes me way sadder)
— “I thought that I could control my drinking by using some cocaine. … I don’t think (it) worked.” Said Madden. Oh god. Seriously? Is this a thing? Help me out here.
— Madden says she had “fallen behind on her work and often dumped the drugs (for testing) into a hazardous waste bin or down the drain.” What about the fish, Ms. Madden? And the turtles?
— Madden makes it clear that she didn’t steal drugs from evidence. “If some fell on the counter or something and it was sitting there afterwards, I may have taken that, but no, I didn’t scoop it out of evidence.” This is a distinction that is kind of wasted on me, I think.
