LANSING, Mich. (AP) – A state forensics scientist who said she tested DNA in her husband’s underwear to find out whether he was cheating could be disciplined if investigators determine she violated the use of state equipment.
Ann Chamberlain-Gordon of Okemos testified in a March 7 divorce hearing that she ran the test in September on the underwear of Charles Gordon Jr. Asked by his attorney what she found, she answered: “Another female. It wasn’t me.”
She also said during a May 25 hearing in Ingham County Family Court that she ran the test on her own time with chemicals that were set to be thrown away.
Michigan State Police, which oversees the Lansing forensics lab where Chamberlain-Gordon works, started to investigate her after her husband’s attorney wrote to authorities and media outlets questioning how many times DNA tests have been improperly run.
Investigators expect to decide by next week what they found. Her duties have not been restricted during the investigation, state police spokeswoman Shanon Akans said Tuesday.
“We don’t know exactly what was or wasn’t done,” Akans said.
State police policies on the care and use of property say “department supplies, materials or equipment shall not be used for any non-duty or non-department purpose.”
A request for comment was left Tuesday with Chamberlain-Gordon.
Charles Gordon’s attorney, Michael Maddaloni, said Tuesday that his client disputed his wife’s testimony that he acknowledged a sexual encounter with another woman after she found the female DNA on his underwear.
Gordon played with the Canadian Football League as a defensive back from the early 1990s through 1997.
Chamberlain-Gordon received the award for Outstanding Contribution to the Michigan State Police Biological Services in 2006 for her research and method development in embryonic and fetal DNA recovery, according to Forensic Science Consultants Inc., which lists her among its workers.
Chamberlain-Gordon has worked for the state police as a forensic scientist since 1999 and supervised the biology unit in 2005, according to the company’s Web site. She has given expert testimony in more than 50 cases, including at a widely publicized trial last year in the death of a boy slain by his adoptive parents.