A forensic examiner in the Texas Department of Public Safety crime lab in Houston was kept on the job despite years of low production, a high error rate on drug cases and a dubious understanding of the chemistry involved in the job, according to a report by the state's Forensic Science Commission.

Nearly 5,000 drug cases statewide that were analyzed by forensic examiner Jonathan Salvador are in question because of his shoddy work.

The 25-page report, finalized Friday, paints a picture of an understaffed crime lab where Salvador's substandard work was allowed to go on for years, in part, because replacing him meant other chemists would have to absorb his caseload.

DPS supervisors said Salvador was promoted despite a lack of attention to detail and a "lack of understanding of chemistry" because of a culture of granting promotions based on years of service with the agency.

"The section supervisor indicated that … he did not feel it was appropriate to deny a promotion unless that person was totally inept, which Salvador was not," the report said.

More Information Still behind bars despite questions At least four Harris County defendants remain behind bars with pending appeals involving forensic examiner Jonathan Salvador, whose record of shoddy work is forcing reviews of thousands of drug cases. Leroy Edward Coty: 42, sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2010 after pleading guilty to possession of more that 400 grams of cocaine. Geoffrey Douglas Gonzurd: 32, sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2011 after pleading guilty to illegal possession of hydrocodone, a prescription painkiller. Carlos Ibarra: 27, sentenced to 12 years in prison after admitting he sold less than 4 grams of cocaine to an undercover officer. Ibarra was convicted of cocaine possession in 2008. Kenneth McSwain: 50, sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty in 2009 to selling cocaine with a firearm. He previously had been convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm in New Orleans. Source: Harris County Public Defender's Office

Read More

Five counties affected

Salvador examined evidence in 4,900 drug cases from 29 counties from 2006 through early 2012, including more than 250 each in Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Galveston and Fort Bend counties, lab records show.

During that time, he often "scrambled" to handle the minimum number of cases expected of examiners and had a 33 percent error rate, usually with administrative or clerical problems in his files.

The report concluded that "Salvador struggled with corrections and an overall understanding of the chemistry, especially in difficult cases."

Salvador quit in August after a Texas Rangers' investigation concluded he had falsely claimed to have tested a drug sample but actually used results from another case.

In May, then-Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos presented findings from the Rangers' investigation of Salvador to a grand jury, which declined to indict him.

DPS spokesman Tom Vinger released a statement Friday noting that the agency had cooperated fully with the Forensic Science Commission for the report and has implemented more stringent quality- control measures to help prevent similar issues in the future.

"In addition, DPS top management has underscored to all laboratory managers and section supervisors - both verbally and in writing - their obligation to accurately report employee performance on evaluations, and to use the various disciplinary tools available," according to the agency's statement. "We continue to provide assistance in cases worked by this former employee, including re-examining evidence when requested."

The report notes that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state's highest criminal court, has overturned more than a dozen convictions in cases that Salvador handled - even when there was evidence left to re-test - reasoning that any evidence in Salvador's custody was "compromised."

When he took office in January, Harris County District Attorney Mike Anderson dismissed hundreds of pending cases handled by Salvador, he said Friday. His office is contesting efforts to overturn a handful of convictions until they are reviewed more closely.

"There are about five (appeals), and we're taking them as they come in," Anderson said. "We want to be careful with it and look at it and see what we've got before we make a call on it."

Some still in prison

In Leroy Edward Coty's case, Anderson said, there are videotapes and other evidence that could secure a conviction without using the drug results tested by Salvador.

Coty, 42, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2010 after pleading guilty to possession of more that 400 grams of cocaine, according to court records.

He is one of four Harris County defendants who remain in prison from more than 400 drug cases tested by the disgraced examiner, according to the public defender's office.

"This problem came up in the Houston police crime lab, where overworked forensic scientists frequently take shortcuts," said attorney Bob Wicoff, chief of appellate division of the Harris County Public Defender's Office. "And the result, frequently, is wrongful convictions."

Other attorneys whose clients have been implicated by Salvador's findings said the DPS needs to do more, including independent audits and blind testing.

"The dirty underbelly of this story is the peer review process," said Norm Silverman, an attorney who secured a dismissal for a client whose evidence was tested by Salvador. "When Salvador was running amok, as he was, the peer review process allowed it. They work together; they're friends. They don't want to get each other in trouble."

He said defense lawyers are never told that results that don't "come out right" by a technician with a spotty history are being retested.

"We're never told that things seized from our client are being tested by a chemist with a 50 percent error rate," Silverman said. "There needs to be a national standard for what goes on in a crime lab."

Harris, Galveston and Montgomery counties have the greatest number of cases affected, according to the report.

In Galveston County, about 700 cases were affected. Convictions in more than a dozen cases have been set aside in cases where Salvador tested the evidence. District Attorney Jack Roady adopted a general policy of dismissing cases where evidence was ever in Salvador's custody.

Integrity of evidence

"It's a pretty big mess," Roady said. "All of the work put in by all of the law enforcement agencies and the original prosecutors is for naught."

Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon, after conferring with defense lawyers in that county, has sent letters to the defendants whose cases could be affected by Salvador. Only two appeals have been filed.

"When you swing, you want to swing hard," Ligon said. "We want to make sure that the evidence we use is sufficient and has integrity. No one wants the nightmare of convicting an innocent person."