Rockne Harmon co-authored a controversial internal memo on crime lab problems

​A judge unsealed court records today detailing a whistle-blower's allegations that police and prosecutors might have been involved in an orchestrated effort to mislead auditors about the state of the San Francisco Police Department's DNA-testing lab.

Superior Court Judge Charles Haines ordered that a transcript of a lengthy closed-door interview he conducted with Rockne Harmon, a former consultant on DNA issues to the San Francisco District Attorney's office, be entered into the public record. He had previously ruled that the transcript could be disclosed to defense attorneys under a protective order barring them from sharing it with anyone.

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Rockne Harmon

​Judge: "It's always the coverup that makes the things worse than the problem to begin with"

The San Francisco Police Department and District Attorney's Office are both implicated in allegations that a deliberate effort was made to conceal defects at the city's troubled forensics lab from state inspectors, according to court records that have been kept from the public eye under a judge's order.

The documents, obtained by SF Weekly, remain under seal at prosecutors' request in an ongoing murder case. They include a transcript of a confidential conversation between a whistle-blowing former consultant to the DA's office and Superior Court Judge Charles Haines.

The transcript reveals former prosecutor and DNA consultant Rockne Harmon's suspicions that "there was a deliberate attempt to subvert the inspection review process by the police department," and that at least one senior official in the DA's office was "right in the middle" of efforts to hide the lab's problems. Harmon also told Haines he believed the head of the crime lab's DNA testing section came close to "out-and-out lying, prevaricating" in testimony in a 2010 murder trial.

The prosecutor's revelations clearly made a serious impression on Haines, who upon hearing them exclaimed, "I have to make a note, it's always the coverup that makes the things worse than the problem to begin with."

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​Attorneys in the Public Defender's office have obtained a portion of a memo critical of the DNA section of the San Francisco Police Department crime lab, and say they plan to use the document as evidence in a high-profile murder case.

Deputy Public Defender Mark Jacobs said today that part of the memo, as well as a transcript of the memo's author describing its significance in a closed-door hearing with Superior Court Judge Charles Haines, was released under a protective order that prevents him from sharing it with reporters or the public.

At present, that protective order is scheduled to be lifted on Nov. 28, Jacobs said. Haines was going to make the documents public today, but prosecutors successfully argued for more time to draft a motion arguing why they should be kept under seal.

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Rockne Harmon

​A spokesperson for San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón said this afternoon that the DA's office will obey an appellate court's ruling that prosecutors disclose a potentially damaging memo on problems with DNA-testing procedures at the San Francisco Police Department crime lab.

DA's office communications director Stephanie Ong Stillman said prosecutors do not plan to appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court. "We do intend to comply with the court's order, and are waiting for the court's instructions on how to comply," she said.

Prosecutors have been fighting the release of the memo, whose full contents have never been made public, since SF Weekly first reported on its existence 10 months ago. It was authored by Rockne Harmon, a veteran prosecutor who worked as a consultant on DNA evidence for former DA Kamala Harris, and is believed to be critical of the supervisor of the crime lab's DNA section.

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George Gascón

​As expected, the office of San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón on Monday filed an appeal of a judge's order that prosecutors share with defense lawyers an internal memo criticizing the San Francisco Police Department crime lab.

The memo, authored by veteran prosecutor Rockne Harmon, a former consultant on DNA evidence to the DA's office, is believed to find fault with DNA-analysis procedures at the crime lab. Harmon, who no longer works for the DA, has said he believes it should be released.

While prosecutors' writ to the state appeals court is technically a sealed document -- presumably because since it contains some of the same information from the memo that the DA's office wants to keep under wraps -- a redacted version of it is available as a public record. You can read it here.

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Photo courtesy Sharmin Bock for District Attorney

Bill Fazio, David Onek, and Sharmin Bock speak to reporters at City Hall

​Candidates attempting to unseat District Attorney George Gascón in the November election held a joint press conference today to draw attention to Gascón's continued efforts to conceal an internal memorandum criticizing DNA testing at the San Francisco Police Department crime lab.

On the steps of City Hall, surrounded by reporters and TV news cameras, Sharmin Bock, Bill Fazio, and David Onek said that the memo -- whose existence was first revealed in a series of stories by SF Weekly -- must be released to restore public confidence in prosecutions that rely on DNA evidence.

"We've had Watergate. We've had Fajitagate," Fazio said, referring in the latter instance to a scandal that brought down high-ranking members of the SFPD between 2002 and 2004. "Now what do we have? We have DNA-gate."

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George Gascón

​Prosecutors in the office of District Attorney George Gascón have decided to appeal a judge's order that they release an internal memo detailing problems with DNA analysis in the San Francisco Police Department crime lab.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Saturday that the DA's office plans to appeal San Francisco Superior Court Judge Charles Haines' ruling last week that the memo constitutes exculpatory evidence in a murder case, and thus must be handed over to defense lawyers.

DA's office spokeswoman Stephanie Ong Stillman said today that the appeal -- which will be made in the form of a writ before the state appeals court -- has not yet been filed. Haines stayed his order until Oct. 4 to allow prosecutors time to appeal his decision if they chose.

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​A judge rejected a prosecutor's pleas today that he reconsider his decision to release a controversial secret memo criticizing the San Francisco Police Department crime lab, stating that he is "compelled by law" to share the document with defense attorneys.

In his rulings, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Charles Haines also gave some indication as to how the memo on DNA-testing lapses at the lab could affect the murder trial where it is now slated to be entered as evidence -- and why he changed his mind about the document after ruling just a day earlier that it was not relevant to the case.

At one point, the judge even hinted that the information he had reviewed might contain evidence of dishonesty or criminal behavior by prosecution witnesses. "I want to emphasize: I am compelled by law to rule this way," he told Braden Woods, chief of the criminal division of the district attorney's office.

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Rockne Harmon

​A judge ordered prosecutors to release an internal memo criticizing DNA testing procedures at the San Francisco police crime lab today, an unexpected turn of events that could have serious political and legal ramifications for the SFPD and the office of District Attorney George Gascón.

Just yesterday, Superior Court Judge Charles Haines had ruled that the memo -- authored by Rockne Harmon, a renowned DNA expert and veteran prosecutor who formerly worked at the San Francisco DA's office as a consultant -- was not relevant to the murder trial of James Mayfield, a 65-year-old church deacon charged with the brutal 1976 murder of a young sculptor.

Today, however, Haines reversed his ruling, after an extensive one-on-one discussion in chambers with Harmon, who had been subpoenaed by the Public Defender's Office. In a move that shocked both defense attorneys and prosecutors, Haines emerged late in the day to state that the DA's office must disclose the memo under the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Brady v. Maryland, which requires prosecutors to share evidence with defendants that can help their cases.

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Rockne Harmon

​An internal memo criticizing DNA analysis procedures at the San Francisco Police Department crime lab has become an issue in prosecutors' efforts to obtain a conviction based on DNA evidence in the rape and murder of a San Francisco woman in 1976.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Charles Haines ruled today that the memo itself would be kept under seal at the request of the district attorney's office. However, he said that he would allow the memo's author, veteran prosecutor and DNA expert Rockne Harmon, to testify in court about the document's significance.

Deputy Public Defender Mark Jacobs is seeking the memo to aid the defense of James Mayfield, 65, who has been charged with killing a 29-year-old sculptor, Jenny Read, in her Potrero Hill home 35 years ago. Read was allegedly tied up, raped, and stabbed 13 times. A "cold hit" on DNA evidence found at the scene led to Mayfield's arrest in 2009. At the time of his arrest, Mayfield was living and working at a Bayview church.

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