Former SBI agent Duane Deaver has been at the heart of the many of the problems at the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation: the exoneration of Greg Taylor, an innocent man who spent 17 years behind bars; an independent audit that found 229 cases where blood test results were withheld or misstated; the bloodstain pattern analysis group that was shut down by Attorney General Roy Cooper for unscientific work.

Deaver, who was fired and faces contempt of court charges for his conduct in the Taylor case,  has not spoken with reporters over the past year, until recently. Deaver spoke with WRAL's Cullen Browder in a segment broadcast Monday evening. 

Deaver said he's a scientist who's done nothing wrong, but has become a scapegoat for problems at the SBI that he did not create. Deaver said the SBI has treated him unfairly and he vowed to get his job back. He said the whole experience has been very hurtful.

"I'm telling you I didn't do anything wrong, and yet, my career is over."

Does he think Greg Taylor is innocent?
"That's not my job. I'd hate to think that anyone would be put in prison who is innocent and that I would be part of that."

His report in the case said there were chemical indications of blood on Taylor's car. The report did not mention that subsequent, confirmatory tests for blood were negative. Deaver defended that report as scientifically accurate.

"Never would was it considered on my part that we were withholding anything.
That's not the way we did business or wanted to do business."

And he said he didn't think his work led to Taylor's conviction.

"I think it's mistaken. I think it's mistaken to think that my report was the reason he was convicted."

That's not the opinion of Taylor, who blames Deaver's report for his conviction.
WRAL said it would publish the entire interview later this week. We're curious to see if Deaver was asked about his bloodstain pattern analysis work, particularly in the Kirk Turner case. Or the George Goode case, where a federal judge scolded him for  giving false and misleading testimony.

Deaver's lawyer, Phillip Isley, said Deaver would not be giving any more interviews.

Leaders of ASCLD, the American Society of Crime Lab Directors, have not been the biggest fans of The News & Observer's reporting on problems at the State Bureau of Investigation.  In addition to finding problems at the SBI, we've also reported on the failure of the accrediting agency ASCLD-LAB to catch  the problems in the SBI crime lab and the ASCLD-LAB's cozy relationships with ASCLD (a trade association), a lobbying group, and a for-profit consulting firm.

ASCLD leaders have repeatedly accused The N&O of errors and inaccuracies, but have yet to cite a single example. We've repeatedly asked them to point us to errors so we can assess the information and, if necessary, run corrections. It is News & Observer policy to correct all errors. Here's three examples of  complaints not backed by evidence.

CALIFORNIAN CRIES FOUL: In October, ASCLD president-elect Jill Spriggs, the director of California's state crime lab, gave a presentation to the N.C. General Assembly. A San Francisco newspaper later reported how Spriggs's remarks drew criticism from a defenses lawyer and a former lab analyst for the Los Angeles police.

Spriggs said The N&O misquoted her.

"I can tell you a lot of the things that were reported by the News & Observer in North Carolina were taken out of context," she told  The SF Weekly. "A lot of what they reported is wrong."

Spriggs, who has twice declined interviews with The News & Observer, has not pointed out what we got wrong.

As for misquote? Here's the quote in question, which you can compare to audio of her presentation, attached below.

"That is an accurate statement," Spriggs said. "A lot of times you got no results. It didn't mean it wasn't blood; it meant you didn't have enough sample, or maybe the sample was old. ...What else is red-brown that will give you a positive presumptive test for blood? There's nothing that I know."

Seven food banks in North Carolina will receive a total of $741,220 that was granted to the state as part of a settlement with major vitamin manufacturers in 2009. In an announcement today, Attorney General Roy Cooper said that the funds will be distributed as follows:

*Second Harvest Food bank of North West North Carolina (Winston-Salem) $158,188
*Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina (Charlotte) $173,143
*Second Harvest Food Bank of Southeast NC (Fayetteville) $73,912
*Food Bank of Central & Eastern NC (Raleigh) $168,523
*Inter-Faith Food Shuttle (Raleigh) $45,774
*MANNA Food Bank (Asheville) $72,061
*Food Bank of Albermarle (Elizabeth City) $49,619

If you missed CNN's one-hour documentary on the SBI, "Rogue Justice," you have a second chance this weekend. CNN will rebroadcast "CNN Presents" on Saturday, Feb. 5, at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. EST.

The show focuses on two stories familiar to News & Observer readers: Greg Taylor, who spent 17 years in prison before he was exonerated, and Floyd Brown, who spent 14 years locked up at Dorothea Dix before a judge ordered him freed.

Check it out and let us know what you think.

The problems at the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation will get a nationwide audience this weekend.

CNN will air "Rogue Justice" this Sunday, January 30, at 8 p.m. The show will focus on  Greg Taylor and  Floyd Brown, stories familiar to North Carolinians but little known outside the state.  It will repeat at 11 p.m.

CNN learned of the cases from reading The News & Observer's four-part series, "Agents' Secrets", which revealed how  agents bullied the vulnerable and some lab analysts pushed past the bounds of accepted science to deliver results that bolstered prosecutors' cases.

CNN  said  that Attorney General Roy Cooper did not agree to an interview with CNN despite repeated requests.

This is how CNN describes the documentary:

"Greg Taylor spent 17 years behind bars for a murder he did not commit.  Floyd Brown, also innocent, was forcibly detained in a mental institution for 14 years.  The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) was at the center of both cases....In Taylor’s case, the jury took just hours to sentence him to life, but the SBI had withheld evidence from the jury.  In Brown’s case, an SBI agent claimed that he had written down verbatim a six-page confession that Brown had given him describing the murder in intricate detail.  But Brown has the I.Q. of a seven-year-old and is incapable of even spelling his own name.  Though there was no physical evidence linking Brown to the crime, the alleged confession resulted in his confinement to a mental institution."

A telemarketer that used illegal telemarketing calls to trick seniors and other car owners into buying car warranties has been banned from doing business in this state.

Attorney General Roy Cooper won a judgement in Superior Court against Automotive Protection of New Jersey and its manager, Christopher Doyle.

The ruling was the result of a suit Cooper filed against the company in February of 2009.

The company and Doyle were ordered to pay $4.5 million in penalties, which will go to North Carolina Public Schools.

Duane Deaver, the poster boy for problems at the State Bureau of Investigation, was fired Friday. One reason cited for his firing were four words uttered in the Kirk Turner case, which you can find here. While the SBI didn't approve of Deaver exclaiming "That's a wrap baby!" on video, the termination letter contained  no criticism of the underlying work in the case.  Here's a video dissecting the work of Deaver and agent Gerald Thomas in the Turner case.

According to Deaver's lawyers, the SBI did not cite the substance of Deaver's work as grounds for termination.

The termination letter pointed to Deaver's testimony in the Greg Taylor case: he faces contempt of court charges for his conflicting statements to the N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission. The letter does not cite Deaver's report in the Taylor case, which failed to mention confirmatory tests for blood whose results were favorable to Taylor. You can find video on this case here, and stories on the contempt of court charges here and here.

The third ground for termination: Deaver apparently reviewed a case file for a colleague while on investigative leave, when he was prohibited from working. According to Deaver's lawyers, "There is an arguable violation of an obscure SBI policy."

Last week we wrote about how the SBI's policy and practice of reporting blood tests in the 1990s differed from the policy and practices of other states and the FBI.  The story relied on a June memo from Michael Wolf, one of two former assistant directors of the FBI who audited the FBI's serology section. The Wolf memo can be found below for your reading pleasure.

Documents:

A company that sells auto warranties has been banned from doing business in the state.

N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper said that Credexx, an auto service contract company, misrepresented its products and services to N.C. car owners.

Credexx is the second company prohibited from selling or pitching auto service contracts in North Carolina this year.  In November, Cooper won an agreement with U.S. Fidelis, formerly the nation's No. 1 seller of car service contracts.

Auto service contracts are different from warranties offered by car makers and included in the price of the vehicle. Service contracts are sold separately, usually by third party sellers, for an extra charge, and can cost more than $1,000.

California based Credexx also does business as Auto One Warranty Specialists. Its owner is David J. Tabb. The N.C. ban applies not only to Credexx but to any other business that Tabb owns, operates or manages now or in the future.  Tabb is also barred from training anyone or selling materials to anyone to operate a business in the state.

If Credexx or Tabb violate the judgment, they will be fined $50,000.

Cooper brought a case against Credexx and Tabb in April, contending that consumers were being misled about the benefits and coverage of service contracts. He also contended that some customers were not being given written contracts, told key terms and restrictions or paid refunds when requested.

According to the complaint, Credexx regularly mailed postcards or made telemarketing calls claiming that consumers’ auto warranties were about to expire.  When consumers responded, they faced a high-pressure sales pitch. 

In all, 22 consumers filed complaints against Credexx and Auto One Warranty Services.  In some cases, the Consumer Protection Division of the Attorney General's office was able to help consumers get their money back.

DirecTV will pay a total of $13.25 million to 49 states, including North Carolina, plus the District of Columbia.

The settlement stems from charges that DirecTV ads were misleading customers about how much they would pay for monthly service and then charging hidden fees and sticking consumers with long-term contracts.

As a result of the case, California-based DirecTV will pay $605,000 to North Carolina.

Consumers in North Carolina voiced nearly 1,000 complaints against the company since 2007, Cooper said. Common complaints were that consumers were not told how long they would have to sign up for or that they were enrolled in extra contracts when they tried to replace defective equipment. Others said they were promised cash back but were given account credit instead.