Crime lab delay jeopardizes trial
By The Associated Press
December 15, 2006
GREAT FALLS - District Judge Dirk Sandefur suggested that Cascade County send evidence in a murder case to an out-of-state crime lab so he doesn't have to drop the charges due to an unreasonable delay in getting the case to trial.
Michael Max Miller is charged with killing his 45-year-old brother-in-law, LaMarr Windham, who was reported missing at the end of June. Authorities found Windham's body three weeks later on the south side of the Missouri River near Rainbow Dam.
Miller's trial, scheduled to begin last Monday, was postponed for five months while prosecutors await DNA results from a pair of blood-spattered boots sent to the state crime lab in Missoula more than a month ago.
Funding and staffing problems at the state crime lab have caused a major backlog, said Crime Lab Director Bill Unger.
He said his DNA staff fell from four employees to one 18 months ago, causing the entire department to shut down for seven months.
Unger said Montana doesn't offer attractive salaries to bring in experts in the field of forensic DNA. Instead, the lab hired skilled employees who had little experience.
A status hearing in the Miller case is set for March 8.
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