LUMBERTON — The most high-profile criminal case cited in a review critical of the State Bureau of Investigation’s crime lab — the 1993 murder of basketball star Michael Jordan’s father — should never have been included in the report.

The mistake was acknowledged by Chris Swecker, one of two former FBI field agents who examined SBI crime lab practices, in an e-mail sent to Robeson County District Attorney Johnson Britt on Wednesday. Britt prosecuted the two men now serving life in prison for James Jordan’s murder.

“This is to inform you that a case prosecuted by your office was mistakenly included in category three of the report. This case involves Larry Martin Demery and Daniel Andre Green,” Swecker wrote to Britt.

The review of thousands of criminal cases during a 16-year period alleges that the crime lab omitted, overstated or falsely reported evidence in 230 cases, including Jordan’s.

Demery pled guilty and Green was convicted by a jury in the murder of James Jordan, who was shot to death at an Interstate 95 rest stop in Robeson County on July 23, 1993.

The reviewers “misinterpreted the language” of a blood analysis report the crime lab conducted in the Jordan case, according to Britt.

The Jordan case was lumped in with other cases where blood test reports “failed to mention the negative or inconclusive results” of follow-up testing, according to Swecker’s letter to Britt.

Follow-up tests were indeed conducted by the crime lab of the seat from Jordan’s car, Swecker wrote. Lab notes show that four followup tests were conducted and were inconclusive. Basically, the lab report of blood tests in the Jordan case were complete; the mistake in the case review was characterizing the lab report as incomplete.

When the review was released, Britt said publicly that the convictions in the Jordan case would stand, that other evidence in the case was overwhelming and his office didn’t rely on blood evidence in the case. He cited eye witnesses who saw Green and Demery with Jordan’s stolen Lexus, cell phone records that were traced to Demery and Green, and a video Green made that shows him with Jordan’s jewelry.

“I’m just glad that they got it straight,” Britt told The Robesonian on Wednesday.

The review found 230 cases in which eight SBI analysts filed reports that, at best, were incomplete, The Associated Press reported last month. Of those, 190 resulted in criminal charges. The report says the lab may have violated federal and state laws mandating that evidence favorable to defendants be shared with their lawyers. It also bolsters defense attorneys’ long-held argument that the lab is in the pocket of law enforcement, the AP reported.

Swecker told The Robesonian that his review began by inspecting about 15,000 files, which eventually led to the final review listing 230 cases suspected of being incomplete or handled improperly.

The cases were referenced by case numbers and included defendant’s names, he noted, but he and his co-reviewer didn’t know the Jordan murder case ended up in the final list.

“We didn’t ID the victims in those cases. We didn’t ID the cases as low profile or high profile ... I had no idea that was the Jordan case,” Swecker said.

Swecker believes the mistake was discovered when the SBI was making copies of lab records in the 230 cases.

“I think what happened was the SBI was copying lab files, and in looking at the lab notes in the report they saw the qualifying sentence (that further tests were conducted). They are making copies of the lab notes to provide to the district attorneys,” Swecker said.

Sixteen other cases from Robeson County were included in the 230 cases cited in the review. Britt said he will be reviewing them.