NATIONAL NEWS

Los Angeles sheriff’s department to retest 4,000 DNA samples after using faulty kits for 8 months

Mar 27, 2025, 11:10 AM

FILE - A roll of police tape is left on the windshield of Los Angeles County sheriff's vehicle in t...

FILE - A roll of police tape is left on the windshield of Los Angeles County sheriff's vehicle in the parking lot of its training academy in Whittier, Calif., Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said this week it will retest 4,000 DNA samples and open an internal investigation after learning that it used potentially flawed test kits for eight months.

Sheriff’s officials said Wednesday that a test kit manufacturer sent a letter in August warning the department to stop using certain kits that were prone to giving incomplete results. However, the letter was received by a civilian employee who didn’t discard the kits or send them back, according to a department statement.

The department used the flawed kits from July through February, testing thousands of samples from criminal investigations.

The problem was discovered Monday when a supervisor at the department’s Scientific Services Bureau found the manufacturer’s letter.

The department said it has opened an internal investigation to assess how much the faulty kits have affected criminal cases, and will retest some 4,000 DNA samples.

“We take the integrity of our criminal investigations and the reliability of our forensic testing very seriously,” Sheriff Robert Luna said in a statement. “The Sheriff’s Department is working diligently to assess the impact and to prevent such situations from occurring again.”

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said his office had begun working with the sheriff’s department to determine the extent of the problem.

Sheriff’s officials said the bad tests might have led to incomplete results, but they are “not likely to have falsely identified any individual.”

The department declined to name the manufacturer.

National News

FILE - Students walk past a display for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month at Farmington High Sc...

Associated Press

Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month has only grown in 5 decades

It has been almost 50 years since the U.S. government established that Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders and their accomplishments should be recognized annually across the nation. What started as just one week in May has evolved over the decades into a monthlong tribute of events in cities big and small. The nature […]

24 minutes ago

Associated Press

Man driving stolen Porsche in Brooklyn fatally shot by police, NYPD says

NEW YORK (AP) — A man in a stolen Porsche trying to evade law enforcement was shot and killed by an officer Tuesday night in Brooklyn, according to the New York Police Department. The 28-year-old was driving on the Belt Parkway just after 8 p.m. when officers flagged the vehicle as “suspicious,” NYPD Chief of […]

2 hours ago

Montana Democratic Minority Leader Sen. Pat Flowers, left, speaks with Republican Sen. Josh Kassmie...

Associated Press

Montana Republicans dominated the 2024 election. How did Democrats gain power at the statehouse?

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Following Montana Republicans’ overwhelming dominance in the fall election, a group of GOP lawmakers kicked off the 2025 Legislature with an unexpected move: ceding power to Democrats. The minority took full advantage, remaking legislative committees and banding with a handful of moderate Republicans to thwart GOP leaders’ efforts to make Montana’s […]

2 hours ago

A mural adorns a wall next to the Massapequa High School, in Massapequa, N.Y., Friday, April 25, 20...

Associated Press

A town refuses to give up the school’s Native American mascot — and gets Trump’s support

MASSAPEQUA, N.Y. (AP) — As a high school hockey player, Adam Drexler wore his Massapequa Chiefs jersey with pride. But as the Chickasaw Nation member grew up and learned about his Indigenous roots, he came to see the school’s mascot — a stereotypical Native American man wearing a headdress — as problematic. Now his Long […]

3 hours ago

The Tied Arch Bridge construction site, which will take high-speed trains over State Route 43, is s...

Associated Press

California high-speed rail leader pushes state to support private investment

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A long-delayed project promising nonstop rail service between San Francisco and Los Angeles in under three hours may be able to secure the private funding it desperately needs if California agrees to pay the investors back, its chief executive told The Associated Press. Ian Choudri, who was appointed CEO of the […]

3 hours ago

FILE - People are seen on the beach and in the water in front of the Kahala Hotel & Resort in Honol...

Associated Press

Hawaii plans to increase hotel tax to help it cope with climate change

  HONOLULU (AP) — In a first-of-its kind move, Hawaii lawmakers are ready to hike a tax imposed on travelers staying in hotels, vacation rentals and other short-term accommodations and earmark the new money for programs to cope with a warming planet. State leaders say they’ll use the funds for projects like replenishing sand on […]

3 hours ago

Los Angeles sheriff’s department to retest 4,000 DNA samples after using faulty kits for 8 months