“Grits” runs us the story on the enormous effort undertaken in Texas to teach judges and prosecutors that bitemarks are the spawn of the alchemists and soothsayers among us.

Grits for Breakfast legal blog

The timeline of getting  TX courts to include “junk forensics” as legitimate grounds for appeal.

• Bill would allow habeas appeal on discredited forensic science (2009)
• ME testimony false according to science but not Texas law (2011)
• CCA laments ‘disconnect’ between changing science and reliable verdicts’ it helped create (2012)
• Bills would bolster Great Writ for the 21st century, expose prosecutor misconduct (2013)
• Governor signs junk-science habeas bill (2013)
• Godsey: ‘Texas now on cutting edge of efforts to free the innocent’ (2013)
• Fran Keller released based on refuted junk science (2013)
• SA4 to walk free: New Texas statute combats injustice caused by junk science (2013)
• Interpreting Texas’ new junk science writ (2014)
• CCA: Junk-science writ covers bad scientists as well as bad science (2014)
• Texas’ new junk science writ called ‘elegant’ and ‘phenomenally important‘ (2014)
• Backstory: Texas Observer on the San Antonio Four (2014)
• San Antonio Four case, Texas junk science writ lauded in national press (2014)
• Neal Robbins writ headed back to CCA after Lege ostensibly passed fix
• Podcast: Tweaking Texas’ junk science writ (2015)
• Previewing oral arguments on Texas’ junk-science writ (2015)
• Difficult-to-read tea leaves from oral arguments on Texas’ junk science writ (2015)
• Abbott signs bill codifying broad reading of Texas’ junk science writ (2015)
• Court of Criminal Appeals judges call out colleagues’ judicial activism on junk science writ (2016)
• Confronting junk science and judicial activism at the Court of Criminal Appeals (2016)
• Texas, California ‘junk science writs’ should stir bills in other states (2016)
• Don’t gloat that Texas is ahead on forensic science reform (2016)