Image from a prosecution’s bitemark expert. All it shows are common dental features.

Overstated forensic science opinions can lead suspects into false confession. This Irish Times article gives this an overview and covers Itiel Dror’s decades long work examining how prosecutorial enthusiasm effects police run crime labs.

(excerpt)

According to Dror, one of the biggest problems is that forensic evidence is usually treated in court as beyond reproach and frequently not even challenged by the defence. It is so powerful it can force defendants to plead guilty in the hope of a lesser sentence, even if they are innocent.

“Often forensic examiners overstate the evidence and they rarely present the limitations and uncertainty.

“Every science has uncertainties, but they forget their role.”

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/why-forensic-evidence-may-not-be-as-certain-as-we-d-like-to-think-it-is-1.2451578