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Monthly Archives: March 2018
AAAS takes on police “forensic” fingerprint guidelines being an unscientific excuse for accuracy testing
All my forensic casework has seen attorneys asking experts about their “training and experience” relationship to rendered opinions. The AAAS (The American Association for the Advancement of Science” (The World’s Largest) calls out this permissive aspect of qualifying an expert’s “science” … Continue reading
Dodgy Forensics: Here’s Why Crime Labs Need to Be Independent From the Police
Either this crime lab director is a cop or he was trained by one to keep his mouth shut to advantage the District Attorneys’ Office. The Orange County (Trumpland of California) DA Raukaukus has a few smooth moves of his … Continue reading
Prevalence of junk forensic experts in US criminal courts
The core phrase used is “junk experts sneaking” into the courts. Bitemarks as usual, lead the way. The current USDOJ thinking is that everything is AOK. All but two states (California and Texas) do not consider the constitutional rights … Continue reading
If Bitemark Identifiers Are Flawed, Why Did The AAFS Just Recertify Them?
The decades of criticisms about the American Board of Forensic Odontology’s (ABFO) relationship with the American Academy of Forensic Science (AAFS) has been a waste of time and effort. This US bitemark bunch gets an accreditation review each five years … Continue reading
Convicting an Innocent Man Quote Runs Up Against Prosecution Experts’ Immunity Protections
Sir William Blackstone made his legal commentaries in 18th century England. Serious old-school forensic problem exists with fingerprint experts. Their old-saw statement of “zero-error rate” is beginning to sound unrealistic to judges who have some forensic training. This case in … Continue reading
Is the “Nazification” of Forensic Science possible under Trump and Jeff Sessions?
Up to this point in history, the 20th century is gone, but it’s compendium of events regarding totalitarian use of governmental “mind control” of science and technology has continued into the 21st. Topics such as eugenics, population “cleansing” of dissidents, … Continue reading
Using bitemarker cases to reflect on how courts should protect the innocent from junk forensic science – Some do and some don’t
Another mini-review of bitemark matching fallacies that present in the US courts since 1954 and which contributed to dozens wrongful convictions. That number continues to increase. This article focuses on Alfred Swinton’s recent release from a Connecticut prison. It does … Continue reading
If you want the latest Forensic terminology guidelines – pay up for ASTM documents
Some of these federal OSAC documents on everything “forensic” in regards to vernacular and evidence descriptors are free. Others cost $$$. I find it incredible that governmental funded forensic study groups can produce intellectual property for forensic science practitioners and … Continue reading
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Tagged American Academy of Forensic Science, Forensic science
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Forensics: Author John Grisham talks about courtrooms “flooded with an avalanche of unreliable, even atrocious ‘science.’ “
He brings out Mississippi’s “The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist” along with other forensic failures in this L.A. Times Op-Ed. “It’s a maddening indictment of America’s broken criminal justice system, in which prosecutors allowed — even encouraged — flawed … Continue reading
Forensics: Incompetent officer field drug testing puts another innocent in jail for months – Vitamins “tested” as Oxycodone
Another field drug test mistake sends woman to jail — for months So much for “Law and Order” accuracy in field drug testing and law enforcement forensics. The recent USDOJ PR piece on forensic “transparency” and “validity” hasn’t made its … Continue reading
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