BOSTON, July 18, 2017—A Suffolk prosecutor praised by top jurists for his work on the Department of Public Health lab crisis led a presentation last week for prosecutors from across the country on tackling problems at forensic labs, District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

The Prosecutors’ Center for Excellence selected Assistant District Attorney Vincent DeMore to address top prosecutors from 23 states on Friday at its national best practices meeting in Minneapolis. The PCE’s mission is to help prosecutors improve the criminal justice system, to address emerging topics, and to support statewide best practices committees for prosecutors. The focus of the summit was to share successful ideas and to discuss best practices to enhance the criminal justice system.

“As prosecutors, our duty is to seek justice, not victory,” Conley said. “We best fulfill that duty by identifying best practices, adhering to them in our daily work, and moving the criminal justice system forward in fairness, accuracy, and integrity.”

Experts from around the nation gave presentations on ethics, discovery practices, forensic laboratory issues, and other discussions on prosecutors’ constitutional and legal obligations. The participants shared innovative ideas and approaches on these topics from their own states.

DeMore led a presentation on Massachusetts’ response to the crisis at the Department of Public Health’s Hinton Laboratory. DeMore has been recognized by a former justice of the Supreme Judicial Court and others for doing “a wonderful job” and providing “enormous assistance to the court” in identifying, re-litigating, and dismissing thousands of Suffolk County drug convictions affected by the actions of rogue chemist Annie Dookhan.

“The national best practices movement by prosecutors has seen remarkable progress in the span of just a few years,” said Kristine Hamann, Executive Director of PCE. “This meeting demonstrates the benefits of the best practices movement that has spurred the sharing of new ideas and innovations that are being implemented by prosecutors around the country.

Hamann is a former Visiting Fellow at the Bureau of Justice Assistance/Department of Justice and former Executive Assistant District Attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

“Mr. DeMore helped Massachusetts chart a legal and ethical course forward through the unprecedented crisis at the Hinton Lab,” Conley said. “I can’t think of a prosecutor more qualified to identify and promote effective responses to similar cases with our counterparts from across the country.”

The Prosecutors’ Center for Excellence is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, tax-exempt organization committed to providing critical support for prosecutors striving to improve the criminal justice system. 

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.