Colorado police departments failing to test rape kits

"A six-month investigation by KMGH-Denver found police departments across Colorado were failing to test hundreds of rape kits, critical evidence taken from a victim’s body after a sexual assault."

"While most departments said kits are rarely tested when the victim knows the suspect, one police department said these rape kits were prohibited from being tested due to state and federal law."

"The Associated Press uncovered this week that a Honduran military unit charged with murdering a 15 year old boy had been trained, equipped and vetted by the United States."

"The first story told the painful narrative of the victim’s father tracking the killers. The second story dug into the U.S. response to this and other alleged human rights abuses in Honduras. That story revealed that the U.S. may withhold as much as half of all aid to Honduras this year."

A KCRA Investigation following missing parolees found a serious flaw in the state’s prison realignment plan.

Sexual predators are supposed to be monitored by GPS under California’s Megan’s Law.  But KCRA has obtained a wanted list of parolees who either cut off or never showed up to wear their GPS monitor.  More than a thousand are missing and 900 of those are sex offenders. 

Under California’s realignment plan, even if the predators are caught it’s not a felony to cut off your GPS.  Last year, you’d serve out all of your sentence in the state pen.  Today, they don’t go back to prison, they end up in the county jail.  KCRA reviewed more than 8,000 parolee offenses over the last year and found most get minimal jail time ... if any.

"A KCRA investigation found that the California Department of Corrections quietly began a “review process” that could effectively let nearly 10,000 people who ran away from parole off the hook." 

"Using sourced internal memos and lists of parolees KCRA was able to determine that the 3-phase program would review everyone from minor offenders to those accused of the most violent offenses were in a hurried review that would end before July of next year.  If the prison system doesn’t discharge them, the warrants all end up in the hands of the county."

"Investigative reporter A.J. Lagoe, with WRIC TV8 in Richmond, Va, uncovers widespread fraud in Virginia’s court-appointed attorney system. Criminal defendants are lying about their assets in order to qualify for a free lawyer and all too often getting away with it thanks to a loophole in Virginia law."

"Now a man profiled in the 8News investigation, is convicted on multiple charges and state lawmakers are vowing to take action to close the loophole."

"Despite a stunning drop in homicides in D.C., murder remains a stubborn crime to solve and prosecute. The Washington Post has reviewed nearly 2,300 slayings in the city between 2000 and 2011 and found that less than a third have led to a conviction for murder or manslaughter, although the numbers have improved in the past few years."

"According to The Post’s investigation, more than 1,000 cases remain unsolved. In a 15-month study, Cheryl Thompson individually tracked every homicide in the District between 2000 and 2011 to learn what ultimately happened to each ensuing case."

The illicit trafficking of Oregon medical marijuana is widespread and highly lucrative, according to The Oregonian's analysis of highway stops, police reports and federal and state court records. Exploitation of the 14-year-old program is made possible by lax state oversight and loose rules lead to the production of far more pot than a typical patient needs, the newspaper found. Nearly 40 percent of Oregon pot seized on the nation's most common drug-trafficking routes during the first three months of this year was tied to the medical marijuana program. Dozens of trafficking prosecutions involve medical marijuana cardholders with existing criminal histories, some extensive.

The Indiana Department of Child Services director, James W. Payne, fought to discredit and derail his agency’s recommendations in a child neglect case involving his own grandchildren, the Indianapolis Star reported. The story is based on the newspaper’s review of hundreds of pages of documents from DCS legal filings, investigation reports, monthly status reports submitted by guardians and therapists, as well as police and court records. After the investigation, many – including the state’s Democratic candidate for governor – are calling for his resignation.

After a 10-month effort for records following the death of Derek Williams in Milwaukee police custody, the Journal-Sentinel alerted an assistant medical examiner with the county, who changed the ruling of the death from natural to homicide. The records include a vidoe of Williams suffocating and pleading for help from the back of a squad car, and the Jounral-Sentinel also alerted the medical examiner of a national expert who said the 22-year-old Williams did not die naturally of sickle cell crisis.