Failed coverup? Indianapolis police chief resigns over blood sample
From USA Today:
[div class="excerpt" style="border-left: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-top: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-right: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-radius: 0.3077em 0.3077em 0em 0em; box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px #bfbfbf;"]Indianapolis police chief resigns over blood sample[div class="excerpt" style="border-left: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-right: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-radius: 0em 0em 0.3077em 0.3077em; background-color: #f4f4f4; box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px #bfbfbf;"]INDIANAPOLIS – Who could have imagined that one blood sample would cause so much trouble? It has raised suspicion about the competence of the city's police department. It has raised concerns about whether justice can be served. And now — now that this blood sample has been mishandled yet again — it has toppled the chief of police.
Paul Ciesielski resigned Tuesday as chief of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, the same day that Mayor Greg Ballard announced that blood drawn from suspended officer David Bisard had been improperly moved and possibly ruined. Bisard is awaiting trial in the crash that killed one motorcyclist and injured two others on Aug. 6, 2010. A blood draw that was botched by IMPD had indicated Bisard's blood-alcohol level was 0.19 when his patrol car hit the motorcycles, which would be well above Indiana's 0.08 legal threshhold for driving drunk.
"At best, this matter shows gross incompetence; at worst, possible criminal intent," Ballard said at a news conference with Indianapolis Public Safety Director Frank Straub. "I want to express how angry and disgusted I am that this happened."
The FBI will probe why — despite a judge's explicit instructions to preserve Bisard's blood samples for further testing — a second vial was moved from a refrigerated compartment in a property room in the City-County Building to an unrefrigerated area of a backup property room at the IMPD Training Academy, 10th Street and Post Road.
Much more at the link. Nasty motherfucking business, folks.
PB
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