A senior Queensland Health manager was warned by a forensic scientist in a private meeting that it was "possible criminals are getting off scot-free in Queensland", an inquiry into DNA testing has heard.
Scientist Ingrid Moeller met with Lara Keller, the acting executive director of Queensland Health's Forensic and Scientific Services (FSS) on March 17 this year to discuss forensic testing issues and "inaction by management".
Ms Keller's hand-written notes about the meeting were shown to Commissioner Walter Sofronoff KC during hearings on Monday.
She agreed with counsel assisting the inquiry Michael Hodge KC that Dr Moeller had discussed concerns with scientific processes, including issues relating to problems with DNA testing of major crime scene samples and sperm detection in alleged sexual assault cases.
Ms Keller told the inquiry into forensic DNA testing in Queensland that Dr Moeller had said she was scared of managing scientist Cathie Allen and that "Cathie punishes people".
She said she referred "a combination" of issues, including Dr Moeller's complaints to the ethical standards unit (ESU) but that the complaints were sent back because the ESU deemed they "didn't constitute official corruption".
Ms Keller admitted that she never investigated Dr Moeller's complaints because: "I was confident at that stage that there was going to be an external independent review".
"I was hopeful that that would include all of the scientific processes," she said.
No experience in DNA profiling
An interim report by Mr Sofronoff published last month found that between early 2018 and June this year, laboratory scientists gave "untrue" or "misleading" witness statements about the detection of DNA in some crime scene samples.
Mr Sofronoff found that under an agreement between Queensland Health and the Queensland Police Service, crime scene samples that did not contain quantities of DNA above a certain threshold were not processed further and were reported in witness statements as having "no DNA recorded" or having "insufficient DNA for further processing".
He said this was despite the possibility of obtaining an "interpretable profile".
Ms Keller admitted to the inquiry on Monday she failed to understand "urgent" police concerns about DNA testing of major crime scene samples when they were first raised with her late last year.
She told Mr Sofronoff that, although she had scientific training, she had no experience in DNA profiling.
The inquiry heard Ms Keller first became aware of problems with DNA testing of major crime scene samples in December last year when she was copied into a chain of emails between Ms Allen and Queensland Police Inspector David Neville.
But she told Mr Sofronoff that at that stage she did not seek to inform herself about the problems or how they had arisen, having only been in the job less than three months at the time.
"I expected that Cathie would address those concerns on behalf of that team," Ms Keller said.
When asked by Mr Sofronoff how she could manage "if you don't have an adequate knowledge of the subject matter", Ms Keller said her role was not to be an expert in the various disciplines performed at Forensic and Scientific Services (FSS).
"I don't think there is such a person who could be a specialist in every single aspect of FSS," she said.
"My role is not to be that scientific expert because I have a team at FSS of those people who provide me with that advice.
"I see my role as being overarching for the management of the campus so that's what I think I've done."
COVID led to slow progress in review
The inquiry on Monday was shown an email sent by Inspector Neville to Ms Allen in early December raising concerns about the threshold for further processing and asking for "further examination to make sure we are maximising our chances of solving crime, particularly for major crime matters".
Inspector Neville said a review by police had found 51 out of 160 samples, originally reported as having insufficient DNA for further testing, had provided a profile when further processing was requested.
On December 16, Ms Allen emailed Inspector Neville, pledging to "review scientific data available".
More than two months later on February 22, Ms Allen wrote to Inspector Neville again, advising that: "Due to the community transmission of COVID-19 affecting Forensic DNA Analysis staff members … slow progress had been made."
She said FSS had submitted a request for a quote to extract the necessary data from the Forensic Register.
But when Ms Keller asked for a copy of the quote for her records, it was revealed Ms Allen had only made the request on February 18 – more than two months after Inspector Neville had raised the DNA testing issue as "a high priority".
Despite the delay, under questioning by counsel assisting the inquiry Michael Hodge KC, Ms Keller said she had never asked Ms Allen about why she had waited so long to request the data.
The inquiry continues.
