Wisconsin crime labs' turnaround times slowed last year

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin crime labs took longer to deliver test results last year across a number of disciplines, as analysts continued to face the added difficulties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and spent more time testifying in court than the previous year, according to a state Justice Department report released Thursday.

The average turnaround time to develop a DNA profile jumped from three months to four; the time to analyze evidence for the presence of an illegal drug increased from 44 days to 61; and time to analyze bodily fluids or tissue for alcohol or drugs increased from 39 days to 48, according to the department's annual lab performance report.

The only areas where turnaround times improved were ballistics, tool mark and footwear analysis. The labs shaved almost 100 days off their ballistics turnaround time, from 247 days in 2020 to 157 days last year, although they handled 14 fewer cases. The time for tool mark analysis dropped from 1,164 days to 763. The number of tool mark cases, however, dropped from 23 to seven. Turnaround time for footwear analysis fell from 140 days to 12, with the labs handling two fewer of such cases than in 2020.

Delays have plagued crime labs across the nation for years, driven largely by prosecutors and police flooding labs with evidence submissions in the hopes of developing DNA profiles to determine suspects' identifies and build air-tight cases.

Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul said in an interview with The Associated Press that analysts spent much of 2021 doing what they could from home and working staggered shifts as the pandemic dragged on. They also spent more time testifying in court as judges worked to eliminate a backlog of trials that built up after the pandemic forced courts to close in 2020, before vaccines were widely available.

He also pointed out...