Author Archives: csidds
Forensics and Law for the Week: From the News and Courts in the US
Scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Michigan State University have published a new study on the development of an algorithm that can determine whether a fingerprint found at a crime scene contains enough information to be uploaded … Continue reading
Houston crime lab gets more bad press: misplaced evidence
https://www.click2houston.com/news/dna-evidence-in-19-year-old-case-found-in-former-houston-forensic-science-employees-office The article states that the new administration of the revamped crime lab reported this discrepancy and have safeguards in place regarding eliminating this type of error.
DNA swabs during arrest not expunged and survive to skew database stats
DNA collected at arrest often not removed from crime databases for those not convicted “Once you enter the system, you can never leave……” http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2017/08/dna_collected_at_arrest_often_not_removed_from_crime_databases_for_those_not_convicted.html
A Bravo for Christina Cattanero, leading identification expert for Euro migrants
Giving Dead Migrants a Name By pushing forensics to its limits, a courageous scientist is attempting to identify the badly decomposed remains of 700 people who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea Nearly unspeakable. 20,000 dead in 10 years. This anthropologist … Continue reading
Another FBI “standard, reliable, trusted” method goes haywire – Profilers
If you wonder how accurate criminal profiling actually is, just read this LA Times article about the myths surrounding it’s admission into criminal courts. Ole US DOJ has long “accepted” whatever these people come up with regarding perps. The next-gen … Continue reading
DOJ certifies Junk ‘science’ as……….”standard, trusted, reliable”
Try this for Dep AG Rosenstein painting forensics with a very broad brush. This would never work in the health science community, but that’s obviously of no concern to the lawyers running forensics for the US Department of Justice. He … Continue reading
Holtzclaw case points to the misuse and mis information of DNA evidence
Add this case to the list of fundamental problems associated with crime lab related determinations of DNA profiling that, as in this case, are misinterpreted in favor of guilt. The alternatives were never brought forth by defense counsel. A … Continue reading
Another glimpse at how the Fed ignores scientific proofs – Arson and the ATF
Here is a long-standing federal agency, Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, basking in their scientifically outdated historical about arson caused fires. They use a “process of elimination” theory of criminal actions. Others call it old fashioned and biased. http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Experts-cast-doubt-on-ATF-s-arson-finding-in-West-11725989.php One must … Continue reading
Reversal of Conviction started Statute of Limitations for Federal Wrongful Claim?
Sent back for a new trial after being released from prison because of prosecutorial misconduct, the defendant gets barred from suing the prosecutor and cops over his original incarceration. Judge dismisses wrongful imprisonment suit against former Blount County prosecutor and detective … Continue reading
Fours years of suspicion and interrogations, film-maker excluded by better DNA Testing
Here is the 48 Hours look at Michael Usry Carol Dodge as having become prime suspects in a cold murder case from Idaho. Ancestry.com had something to do with it, of course. Here is what just came out from the … Continue reading
