By Amanda Hernández, Stateline.org

Across the country, state and local crime labs are drowning in evidence.

From rape kits to drug samples to vials of blood, delays in forensic testing are stalling prosecutions, stretching court calendars and forcing impossible choices about what gets tested — and what doesn’t.

Now, as the need for forensic testing grows, state and local crime labs may face steep federal funding cuts that could further delay justice for victims, derail criminal investigations and overwhelm already backlogged systems.

Two key federal grant programs that support state and local forensic labs are at risk: One faces a major cut, while the other is funded below its authorized cap despite growing demand.

The proposed cuts have alarmed forensic experts and crime lab directors who say some labs rely heavily on these federal grants to keep up with mounting caseloads.

“That would have dire consequences on a lot of crime laboratories who depend on those funds for maintaining operations,” said Scott Hummel, the president of the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors, a national nonprofit professional organization.

“If you limit those resources even further, there will be backlogs,” said Hummel, who also works as a quality assurance manager at the Kansas City Police Crime Laboratory in Missouri. “Those backlogs just keep growing and growing, and labs are forced to make difficult decisions on how they prioritize their casework.”

When labs fall behind

Crime labs are often invisible to the public but essential to criminal investigations. They test DNA, analyze drug samples, match ballistics and verify evidence in everything from rape cases to gun homicides. The evidence may lead to arrests, but it’s also critical in court, shaping outcomes for victims, defendants, prosecutors and defense attorneys alike.

But years of underinvestment have left many labs without enough scientists, equipment and funding to keep up. As forensic technology has advanced — particularly in digital evidence and DNA testing — demand also has risen sharply.

“As technology gets better, there’s an expectation, I think, that labs can do more than they have the capacity for,” Hummel said.

At the same time, new state laws and testing mandates are increasing pressure on already strained labs. In some states, changes in drug laws — such as renewed crackdowns on marijuana or stricter DUI thresholds — have led to a surge in requests for toxicology and drug analysis. Other states have expanded mandatory evidence testing requirements, often without providing additional funding.

Some lab directors who spoke with Stateline said that even well-intentioned policies can create bottlenecks when resources don’t keep pace with demand.

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“It’s important for policymakers to realize that the criminal justice system is demanding more from us, and so we need the resources to keep up with the increased demand,” said James Carroll, the crime laboratory director with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Low pay is also a challenge, with some analysts opting for private-sector jobs that offer higher salaries and better benefits. Training new analysts can take months or even years, making it difficult to quickly fill critical positions and retain experienced staff.

“We have to be absolutely perfect, and if you have something that isn’t perfect, that can be a career ruiner,” said Mike Lyttle, the assistant director of the forensic services division at the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. “That is a lot of pressure.”

But that pressure can come at a cost — especially when analysts bear the brunt of it.

Lab directors and managers who spoke with Stateline said that overworking staff is not only inappropriate, but also risky. It can lead to quality issues, including “dry labbing,” or fabricated results, which could call hundreds or even thousands of cases into question.

As delays mount across the country, some state and local governments are rethinking how their crime labs are structured and funded.

In Colorado, officials are dealing with the aftermath of a major DNA testing scandal involving state-run labs, and several new laws have been enacted to establish a review board and address backlogs. Lawmakers in Rhode Island considered a bill earlier this year that would have shifted oversight of its state crime lab to the state attorney general’s office, but the bill was tabled for further study.

In Shelby County, Tennessee, a new $1.5 million investment will go toward the region’s first local lab focused on rapid DNA analysis, digital forensics and weapons ballistics. Memphis City Council officials also are working on funding at least two new positions at a state laboratory to prioritize cases from the Memphis area.

Hard choices

The national push to test sexual assault kits has helped bring attention to forensic evidence backlogs. But in some labs, it has also forced tough choices about what gets tested first.

In Oregon, for example, Brian Medlock, the director of the state police forensic science division, announced in January that the state lab had halted DNA analysis for all property crime evidence. Testing won’t resume until the sexual assault kit backlog is cleared — a goal the agency doesn’t expect to meet until the end of the year. As of June, 474 sexual assault kits were still awaiting testing, according to the state’s dashboard.

Like Oregon, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation also is deprioritizing nonviolent cases as it works through its rape kit backlog. The agency currently has six forensic biology analysts in training across the state, limiting how many cases it can process, according to Lyttle.

The goal is to eventually process lower-priority cases, he said, but the current focus remains on sexual assault kits. Still, Lyttle acknowledged that delaying the analysis of evidence in nonviolent cases can be a missed opportunity. Uploading DNA profiles from those cases to the national database, CODIS, could help identify offenders earlier — potentially before they go on to commit more serious crimes.

“You may be losing people early because you’re deprioritizing those nonviolent cases and not getting them identified as quickly as you could,” he said. “Every case is important.”

Looming cuts

Trump has proposed slashing one major forensic science grant program and holding funding flat for another — a combination that some officials fear could worsen evidence backlogs amid rising demand.

The Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants Program, which aims to help labs replace aging equipment, train staff and reduce case backlogs, would be cut by 71% under President Donald Trump’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget — from $35 million to $10 million.

Another, the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program, would receive $120 million under the proposal — below the $151 million cap authorized by Congress in 2023. While Congress can approve up to that amount, it often allocates less: $130 million in fiscal year 2023, and $120 million in both fiscal years 2024 and 2025.

The program helps labs process backlogged evidence, including sexual assault kits, and supports the expansion of the national DNA database, CODIS.

These proposals are part of the administration’s annual discretionary budget request; Congress must finalize federal agency yearly spending by Sept. 30. Presidential budget proposals are often reshaped by Congress, but Trump’s spending plans have found strong backing among Republicans on Capitol Hill. With the GOP holding majorities in both chambers, proposals to cut or limit funding for forensic science programs may be more likely to advance.

A state in crisis and a model for change

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation’s crime labs are under intense scrutiny following a major DNA testing scandal and widespread staffing shortages that have slowed down forensic work across the board. The bureau is facing backlogs in every discipline or type of case, according to Lance Allen, a deputy director who oversees forensic services.

Much of the current crisis stems from the case of Yvonne “Missy” Woods, a former DNA scientist now facing more than 100 criminal charges for allegedly manipulating DNA results over her 30-year career. Her alleged misconduct, combined with long-standing understaffing issues, has led to severe delays.

As of June, the average turnaround time for processing sexual assault kits in Colorado was 570 days, or about 1 1/2 years, with more than 1,200 kits still awaiting testing, according to the state’s dashboard. The agency’s goal is to reduce that timeline to 90 days.

“We are not satisfied with this turnaround time either, and this backlog is also unacceptable to us, and we know we have to do better,” Allen told Stateline.

But the backlog isn’t limited to sexual assault cases. Blood alcohol testing has also slowed dramatically, according to defense attorney Matthew Haltzman, who said he has handled cases in which results took five to six months to come back.

In that time, he said, even clients who were ultimately found not to be intoxicated were forced to navigate the court system — attending hearings, undergoing weekly drug and alcohol testing and complying with pretrial supervision.

“It’s just a lose-lose for everybody in the legal process, but more so for the accused than anyone else,” Haltzman said. “It’s a massive deprivation of liberty.”

The current turnaround time for all toxicology tests is 99 days, or just over three months, according to Vanessa Beall, the Colorado bureau’s toxicology program manager. About 80% of cases are completed within that time frame or less, and all toxicology tests include blood alcohol and drug analysis.

With additional toxicologists, the bureau is already meeting its 2025 goal and aims to reduce that turnaround time to 70 days by the end of 2026.

This year, the bureau and state lawmakers have rolled out measures aimed at restoring trust in the system. Those efforts include sending more than 1,000 rape kits to private labs to reduce turnaround times, expanding staff training programs and establishing a review board within the state attorney general’s office to improve oversight.

Lawmakers also approved $3 million to support outsourcing and lab operations, along with a separate law requiring the reporting of misconduct within Colorado’s state-run forensic laboratories.

Meanwhile, Connecticut is drawing national attention for its consistent performance and growing capabilities.

Once plagued by serious issues — including a suspended accreditation in 2011 that disrupted criminal proceedings — Connecticut’s forensic lab has steadily strengthened its operations. This year, it earned a perfect accreditation score for the third year in a row.

Following its accreditation loss, the lab faced a backlog of 12,000 cases, and by 2013, turnaround times stretched up to 2 1/2 years. Today, the average turnaround is just 20 days across all disciplines.

DNA cases, including those involving sexual assault evidence, are typically processed in about 27 days. Firearms cases take about 35 days, and computer crimes about 60, according to Guy Vallaro, the director of the Connecticut Division of Scientific Services.

He credits much of the lab’s progress to its team of scientists and staff, who he says are deeply committed to both accuracy and improvement.

“When you have a good staff, you can do incredible things,” Vallaro said.

Stateline reporter Amanda Hernández can be reached at ahernandez@stateline.org.

©2025 States Newsroom. Visit at stateline.org. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By ILLIA NOVIKOV

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian missiles hit a Ukrainian army training ground, killing three soldiers and wounding 18 others, authorities said, targeting Ukraine’s efforts to make up a severe manpower shortage in the nearly 3½-year war.

The Russian Defense Ministry asserted that the strike killed or wounded about 200 Ukrainian troops. The ministry said Ukraine’s 169th training center near Honcharivske in the Chernihiv region was hit with two Iskander missiles, one armed with multiple submunitions and another with high explosives.

Meanwhile, Russia continued its stepped-up aerial campaign against Ukrainian civilian targets, launching 78 attack drones overnight, including up to eight newly developed jet-powered drones, Ukraine’s air force said. At least five people were wounded.

In this photo, provided by the Kharkiv regional military administration, on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, a building burns after Russian strike on Kharkiv, Ukraine. (Kharkiv regional military administration via AP)

More civilians are being killed

The U.N. mission in Ukraine notes a worsening trend in civilian casualties from Russian attacks this year, with 6,754 civilians killed or injured in the first half of 2025 — a 54% increase from the same period in 2024.

Since Russia launched an all-out invasion of neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, at least 13,580 Ukrainian civilians, including 716 children, have been killed, according to the U.N.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he’s giving Russian President Vladimir Putin a shorter deadline — until Aug. 8 — for peace efforts to make progress or Washington will impose punitive sanctions and tariffs. Western leaders have accused Putin of dragging his feet in U.S.-led peace efforts in an attempt to capture more Ukrainian land.

Attacks on Ukrainian military facilities

Ukrainian forces are mostly hanging on against a grinding summer push by Russia’s bigger army, though the Russian Defense Ministry has claimed recent small advances along the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line.

Ukrainian ground forces acknowledged the Russian strike on a military training ground in the Chernihiv region of northern Ukraine, but its casualty report differed widely from Moscow’s.

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A Russian Defense Ministry video showed multiple small explosions apparently caused by a missile with a shrapnel warhead, followed by one big blast, apparently from the other one armed with a high-explosive warhead.

A similar Russian strike occurred last September, when two ballistic missiles blasted a Ukrainian military academy and nearby hospital, killing more than 50 people and wounding more than 200 others.

Ukrainian authorities said a commission led by the head of the Military Law Enforcement Service has been formed to determine whether negligence or misconduct by officials contributed to the casualties in Chernihiv.

The attack was the fourth deadly strike in five months on Ukrainian military facilities. The previous three killed at least 46 soldiers and wounded more than 160, according to official reports.

Russia also has been trying disrupt Ukrainian military recruitment by hitting regional buildings coordinating the call-up.

On Wednesday, Russian forces targeted a regional military administration building in the northern Sumy region, injuring a 75-year-old woman, the administration said. It said they struck the same building with drones last Friday and Saturday.

Ukraine badly needs more troops

Though Ukraine has more than 1 million people in uniform, including the National Guard and other units, it badly needs more.

There have been questions about how Kyiv is managing the war, from a flawed mobilization drive to the overstretching and hollowing-out of front-line units through soldiers going AWOL.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a bill Tuesday that allows Ukrainian men over the age of 60 to voluntarily sign contracts with the armed forces. The law allows those who want to contribute their experience and skills, particularly in noncombat or specialized roles.

In February, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry began offering new financial and other benefits that it hopes will attract men between the ages of 18 and 24 to military service. Men in that age group are exempt from the country’s draft, which covers men between 25 and 60 years old.

Ukraine has lowered its conscription age from 27 to 25, but that has failed to replenish ranks or replace battlefield losses.

By JENNIFER PELTZ, CEDAR ATTANASIO, DAVE COLLINS and JOHN SEEWER

NEW YORK (AP) — Investigators on Wednesday were looking into how a former high school football player who blamed the game for his mental health problems carried out a deadly attack on an office building that is home to the NFL.

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Shane Tamura, 27, killed four people on Monday before killing himself, spraying the skyscraper’s lobby with bullets and then continuing his rampage on the 33rd floor, authorities said.

In a handwritten note found in his wallet after the attack, Tamura claimed he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, known at CTE, and accused the NFL of hiding the dangers of brain injuries linked to contact sports, investigators said.

Detectives on Wednesday were digging into the Las Vegas casino worker’s background and motivations. They planned to question a man who supplied gun parts for the AR-15-style rifle used in the attack, including the weapon’s lower receiver, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in a video statement.

Among the dead were a police officer, a security guard and two people who worked at companies in the building. An NFL employee was badly wounded but survived.

Tamura, a surveillance worker for the Horseshoe Las Vegas, had meant to target the NFL’s headquarters in the building but took the wrong elevator, authorities said.

It’s unclear whether he showed symptoms of CTE, which can be diagnosed only by examining a brain after death.

Tamura, who played high school football in California a decade ago but never played in the NFL, had a history of mental illness, police said without giving details. In the three-page note found on his body, he accused the NFL of concealing the dangers to players’ brains for profit. The degenerative brain disease has been linked to concussions and other repeated head trauma common in contact sports such as football.

At a Tuesday night vigil for those killed in the shooting, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and other faith leaders delivered prayers at a park about a dozen blocks from where the shooting took place.

Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul spoke of the need for stronger gun laws.

“We cannot respond to senseless gun laws through vigils,” Adams said.

NFL boss calls shooting ‘unspeakable’

Tamura’s note repeatedly said he was sorry and asked that his brain be studied for CTE.

The NFL long denied the link between football and CTE, but it acknowledged the connection in 2016 testimony before Congress and has paid more than $1.4 billion to retired players to settle concussion-related claims.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who works out of the offices, called the shooting “an unspeakable act of violence.”

The shooting happened at a skyscraper on Park Avenue, one of the nation’s most recognized streets, just blocks from Grand Central Terminal and Rockefeller Center. It is less than a 15-minute walk from where UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed last December by a man who prosecutors say was angry over what he saw as corporate greed.

The map above highlights confirmed travels of the gunman who carried out a deadly shooting in a midtown Manhattan office building. (AP Graphic)

Video shows the gunman stroll into the building

Tamura drove across the country in the days before the attack and into New York City, Tisch said. Surveillance video showed him exit his BMW outside the building at about 6:30 p.m. Monday wearing a button-down shirt and jacket with the rifle at his side.

Once inside the lobby, he opened fire and killed Islam and Wesley LePatner, a real estate executive at the investment firm Blackstone, which occupies much of the building. Tamura then made his way toward the elevator bank, shooting the NFL employee and an unarmed security guard, Aland Etienne, who helped control access to the upper floors.

Tamura waited for the next elevator to arrive in the lobby, let a woman walk safely out of the elevator, then rode it up to the 33rd-floor offices of the company that owns the building, Rudin Management. He killed a worker for that company before killing himself, officials said.

Friends and family mourn killed officer

Officer Didarul Islam, 36, who was guarding the building on a paid security job when he was killed, had served as a police officer in New York City for over three years. He was an immigrant from Bangladesh and was working a department-approved building security job when he was shot.

Islam leaves a pregnant wife and two children. Friends and family stopped by their Bronx home on Tuesday to drop off food and pay their respects.

“He was a very friendly guy and a hardworking guy,” said Tanjim Talukdar, who knew him best from Friday prayers. “Whenever I see him or he sees me, he says, ’How are you, my brother?’”

Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut, and Seewer from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press reporters Michael Balsamo, Philip Marcelo and Julie Walker in New York; Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia, Rob Maaddi in Tampa, Florida; Mike Catalini in Trenton, New Jersey; and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.

By AMANDA SEITZ

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is pushing an initiative for millions of Americans to upload personal health data and medical records on new apps and systems run by private tech companies, promising that will make it easier to access health records and monitor wellness.

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Leaders from more than 60 companies, including major tech companies such as Google and Amazon, as well as prominent hospital systems like the Cleveland Clinic, will convene at the White House on Wednesday afternoon to discuss what the administration is calling a “digital health ecosystem.” The new system will focus on diabetes and weight management, conversational artificial intelligence that helps patients, and digital tools such as QR codes and apps that register patients for check-ins or track medications.

The initiative, spearheaded by an administration that has already freely shared highly personal data about Americans in ways that have tested legal bounds, could put patients’ desires for more convenience at their doctor’s office on a collision course with their expectations that their medical information be kept private.

“There are enormous ethical and legal concerns,” said Lawrence Gostin, a Georgetown University law professor who specializes in public health. “Patients across America should be very worried that their medical records are going to be used in ways that harm them and their families.”

Officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, in charge of maintaining the system, have said patients will need to opt in for the sharing of their medical records and data, which will be kept secure.

Officials say patients will benefit from a system that lets them quickly call up their own records without the hallmark difficulties, such as requiring the use of fax machines to share documents, that have prevented them from doing so in the past.

“We have the tools and information available now to empower patients to improve their outcomes and their healthcare experience,” Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator for CMS, said in a statement Wednesday.

Once the system is set up, popular weight loss and fitness subscription service Noom, which has signed onto the initiative, will be able to pull medical records, including labs or tests, of its users into its AI-driven analysis of what might help users lose weight, CEO Geoff Cook told The Associated Press.

“Right now you have a lot of siloed data,” Cook said.

Patients who travel across the country for treatment at the Cleveland Clinic often have a hard time obtaining all their medical records from various providers, said the hospital system’s CEO, Tomislav Mihaljevic. He said the new system would eliminate that barrier, which sometimes delays treatment or prevents doctors from making an accurate diagnosis because they do not have a full view of a patient’s medical history.

Having seamless access to health app data, such as what patients are eating or how much they are exercising, will also help doctors manage obesity and other chronic diseases, Mihaljevic said.

“These apps give us insight about what’s happening with the patient’s health outside of the physician’s office,” he said.

CMS will also recommend a list of apps on Medicare.gov that are designed to help people manage chronic diseases, as well as help them select health care providers and insurance plans.

Digital privacy advocates are skeptical that patients will be able to count on their data being stored securely.

The federal government has done little to regulate health apps or telehealth programs, said Jeffrey Chester at the Center for Digital Democracy.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and those within his circle have pushed for more technology in health care, advocating for wearable devices that monitor wellness and telehealth.

Kennedy also sought to collect more data from Americans’ medical records, which he has previously said he wants to use to study autism and vaccine safety. Kennedy has filled the agency with staffers who have a history of working at or running health technology startups and businesses.

“This scheme is an open door for the further use and monetization of sensitive and personal health information,” Chester said.