DOVER, Del. (AP) - A Delaware Superior Court judge has refused to issue a blanket ruling suppressing evidence in scores of pending drug cases because of an evidence tampering scandal at the state drug-testing lab.
But in a ruling issued late Monday, the judge said prosecutors in individual drug cases will have to meet a higher standard for establishing a chain of custody indicating that evidence has not been tainted.
The judge also said that in cases where there is evidence of tampering or a discrepancy with the amount of drugs reported seized by police, defense attorneys will be allowed to question witnesses about an ongoing criminal investigation of the drug lab.
That investigation has resulted in the arrests of two lab workers. The scandal also cost Delaware's former chief medical examiner his job.
