INDIANAPOLIS — Kevin Riley was one of only a handful of firearms examiners working at the Marion County Forensics Services Agency.
Last year, the examiners and technicians conducted more than 5,000 firearms examinations and often testified in Superior Court violent felony cases.
That workload, and the integrity of dozens of cases, may now be jeopardized after Riley’s arrest on 10 child pornography and child exploitation charges.
Riley has been released on a $15,000 bond and faces a December trial date.
”Recently we had the arrest of one of our employees,” said Lab Director Richard Amberger. ”But as far as the lab goes, we do not believe, and in consultation with the prosecutors thus far, any case work that he performed would be impacted. However, we are looking at everything and the cases that were currently assigned to him will be handed out to the remaining staff.”
Examiners and technicians process firearms seized for evidence, compare fired bullets and cartridge cases, conduct serial number restorations and document other firearms identification evidence.
Over the past few years, IMPD, the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office have all placed more emphasis on collecting and testing firearms evidence and prosecuting gun crimes, often pledging not to bargain away gun charges while in pursuit of other felony convictions.
One veteran Indianapolis defense attorney told FOX59/CBS4 that the prosecutors may need to rethink that strategy in the wake of Riley’s arrest and the questions it raises about his integrity and non-bias even though the child pornography charges are not related to his work in the crime lab.
“An expert witness, such as a ballistics expert, must be impartial, completely impartial, he cannot take a side, either the defense or the state, in a murder case,” said Jack Crawford, a former Lake County Prosecutor. “He’s got to show that impartiality, and I would think that if a person has pending charges here in Marion County, that witness could not appear to be impartial because he’s got to face the prosecutor’s office in a criminal court of law.
”In any case he’s going to be called upon to give testimony involving the state of Indiana, he’s got a pending case with the state of Indiana, his testimony is gonna be clouded by his inclination to curry favor with the prosecutor and with the state because he’s got to go to court very soon on some serious charges, so his credibility and his impartiality are gonna be subject to some serious question.
”That testimony is doomed. The prosecutor is going to have to retest everything done by this particular person,” said Crawford. ”As a former prosecutor, an incident like this can be a tremendous headache for the prosecutor. He’s gotta evaluate that situation in every case. Is it better for me to plea bargain this case out to a lesser charge than have to expose my expert witness to questions about whether or not they’re facing child sexual offense charges.”
The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office deferred to the Forensics Services Agency on its assignment and administration of firearms testing, however, “In terms of pending cases, there are procedures for how to proceed when a witness/expert is unavailable for testimony or trial due to issues such as a pending criminal case.”
Riley has been suspended without pay.
The Forensics Services Agency is already shorthanded following the recent death of a supervisor, a longtime IMPD officer.
