Chief of Mass. Crime Lab Chosen to Lead Conn. Lab

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The director of the state crime lab in Massachusetts has been tapped to lead the troubled crime lab in Connecticut.

The appointment of Guy Vallaro as director of the Connecticut’s Forensic Science Laboratory was announced Monday.

The Connecticut lab has struggled with a huge case backload and other problems identified in U.S. Justice Department audits. It won back its professional accreditation earlier this year.

The crime lab currently led by Vallaro is separate from the Massachusetts Department of Health lab there where a chemist is accused of faking drug test results. Vallaro will begin his job in Connecticut in late December.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Vallaro will help restore Connecticut's lab as a national model.

The state lab in Meriden is responsible for most of the forensic testing related to criminal investigations in Connecticut.

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