Page 15 - Flathead Beacon // 3.18.15

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MARCH 18, 2015 | 15
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New legislation could help open a satellite crime lab in Billings
By JUSTIN FRANZ of the Beacon
Delays at the Montana State Crime Laboratory are changing how local law enforcement and prosecutors are do- ing their jobs, but legislation in Helena could help alleviate the backlog of work at the state lab.
According to officials at the state crime lab, the number of cases their sci- entists have to study has risen dramati- cally in recent years, from about 5,300 cases annually in 2010 to about 8,100 cases in 2014.
“It can be as simple as a tube of blood from a DUI case to a homicide investigation with hundreds of pieces of evidence we have to process. We get a wide range of cases,” said Phil Kinsey, forensic science division administrator at the crime lab in Missoula.
Kinsey said the state crime lab has some department backlogs that are bigger than others. For example, while it may not take long for the state scientists to test a tube of blood from a DUI case, it will take longer for them
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to test drug evidence, mostly because there is so much more of it these days. The lab receives about 1,800 drug- related cases a year.
“The timeline for analyzing drugs has been extended in recent years be- cause we’re dealing with much more complicated drugs,” Kinsey said.
Because it takes so long to process drug evidence – and charges can’t be filed in a drug case until the crime lab has confirmed that the substance actually is a drug – prosecutors often wait to press charges. Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said law enforcement and prosecutors often delay charging someone because they worry if the drug evidence does not get processed quickly the case could be thrown out because the accused will not get a speedy trial.
“It’s not the (television show) CSI,” said Lincoln County Attorney Bernard Cassidy. “We don’t give the lab a piece of evidence and they run it immediately.”
But the delays could be alleviated if a new state crime lab is built in Billings. House District 44 Rep. Dale Mortensen, R-Billings, has introduced legislation in Helena this session that would require the state to construct a crime lab somewhere in Yellowstone County. The bill will be the subject of an Appropriations Committee hearing this week.
Kinsey said establishing a new crime lab in the Billings area makes sense, especially considering skyrock- eting crime rates in the eastern part of the state, due to the Bakken oil boom. In Roosevelt County alone, crime is up 855 percent since 2005.
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County prosecutors echoed the sentiment that the crime lab is bogged down and said they understand delays.
Municipal Matters
A recap of recent city council and county commission meetings
KALISPELL
•On March 2, the Kalispell Police Department held its annual recognition ceremony, honoring accomplishments from 2014 and years of service. Kalispell Police Department Officer Jordan Venezio was honored for five years of service. Officer Michelle O’Neil, Sergeant Brett Corbett and Captain Tim Falkner were recognized for 15 years of service, and Captains Wade Rademacher and Scott Warnell and Chief Roger Nasset were honored for 20 years of service. Police volunteers J.C. Clise, Melinda Jobe, and Pat King were recognized for donating more than 5,000 hours of accumulative time to the Kalispell Police Department. Officers Ben Sutton and David Massie were recognized with Meritorious Service Medals. Sergeant Brett Corbett, Officers Andy Haag, Jesse Allen, Michelle O’Neil, and Jordan Venezio were awarded Life Saving awards. Sutton was awarded the
“Fred Award,” which is an award recognizing the employee who had the most overall exceptional year.
• In the past two weeks, one single family house permit has been is- sued for a total of eight single fam- ily homes and two townhouses this year, according to the city’s build- ing department. This is virtually the same as last year at this time. In addition, a nine-unit apartment building at 1079 North Meridian Road, valued at $600,000, is un- der review. This building will be the first of several buildings pro- posed for this site. Commercial drawings have been submitted for Discount Tire, valued at $750,000, to be located at 55 Treeline Road next to PetSmart, and a $1.4 mil- lion remodel of the Forum building at 1845 Highway 93 South, which will house offices for the Whitefish Credit Union.
•The Kalispell Fire Department team placed fifth out of nearly 200 teams competing at the Scott’s
Seattle Fire Fighter Stair Climb, an annual event that challenges crews to climb 69 flights of stairs carrying 50 pounds of weight. The local team included nine staff members from Kalispell and three from Whitefish Fire Department. The local team raised $8,500 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
WHITEFISH
•The Whitefish City Council on March 2 approved a conditional use permit for a microdistillery and tasting room on Railway Street in downtown Whitefish.The applicant for the permit, Lauren Oscilowski, will run the handcrafted distill- ery in an existing building at 505 Railway Street. The distillery will operate under State Liquor Board requirements that limit hours of operation and maximum number of ounces permitted per customer.
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