The Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory will now perform toxicology testing in many homicide, motor vehicle and other cases, according to an announcement on Friday by Dora Schriro, the commissioner of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection.
Schriro says the move is necessary because testing is vital to criminal investigations and court proceedings.
The state’s chief medical examiner had announced in May that his office would no longer perform toxicology testing in deaths that are due to trauma including homicides and motor vehicle deaths.
The medical examiner said his staff is overwhelmed because of budget cuts and an increase in the number of autopsies due to drug overdoses.
The state’s crime lab in Meriden has had its own problems dealing with a backlog. In 2011 it lost its national accreditation. It regained accreditation 2012, after the state spent more money on the lab.
