Have politics and personalities influenced decisions in police controlled labs?

I recently received a head's up about an open letter written by an LE commander for whom I used to work.

This letter has stirred up some strong emotions and heated comments. You can read the letter, so without speaking to the specifics of his allegations, it does raise some very interesting questions for LE agency laboratories. If politics and personalities can (allegedly) make their way into internal investigations and sway outcomes, can they also make their way into criminal proceedings?

Remember that the NAS Report called for moving forensic science labs outside of police or prosecutor control. More stories like this will only serve to move us faster toward that eventuality.