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Faced with indisputable evidence that the state crime lab was overwhelmed by its caseload, and that justice was suffering, Virginia took action in January. Gov. Mark Warner and the General Assembly agreed to funnel an additional $3.1 million into the Division of Forensic Science to add 34 jobs and raise salaries.

Similarly decisive action may be needed if an extended audit shows the DNA analysis errors in the Earl Washington Jr. case were not isolated. Forensic evidence is far too important to the state's quest for justice to allow its reliability to be undermined by preventable technical errors or political pressure. The American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board recommended the audit after reviewing the analysis of DNA evidence in Washington's capital case. Though a high-profile rape-murder and handled by one of the crime lab's top technicians, the auditors found major errors in 1993 and 2000.

The technician, Jeffrey Ban, made a mix of mistakes, the board reported, including failure to note signs of contamination, a "questionable" finding of a possible DNA match with Washington in 1993, and using too-small samples and ignoring contradictory test results in 2000.

The 1993 errors helped keep Washington in prison an additional seven years. Those committee later prematurely excluded a convicted rapist who is now a suspect.

To his credit, lab director Paul B. Ferrara plans to follow all of the audit's recommendations. The board advised sample re-examinations of only 50 cases, but Ferrara plans to do 150. And any death-sentence cases that relied on "low-level" DNA testing - amounts of DNA at or below normal detection limits - will be considered for review, officials said.

Of greatest concern, though, is the audit's finding that pressure from then-Gov. Jim Gilmore may have affected findings in 2000. Ban deviated from testing protocol because "[i]nconclusive results were not an option," he told auditors.

Whatever Gilmore's role, outside pressure is never acceptable. If a similar case arises, Ferrara said, senior scientists will review any procedural deviations and help with the analysis.

Gilmore and former Attorney General Jerry Kilgore noted that the Washington audit found no systemic problems. But it could not, given its limited scope. That task lies with the followup audit, the results of which may require further action.