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Author Archives: csidds
Insufficient response from Insurer regarding smoke, ash and char damage #ThomasFire #Insurance #StateFarm
This is just a short synopsis on what I have learned from personal experience during the Thomas Fire in Ventura, CA. My residence insurer is State Farm. All the following facts are documented and true. There is little to do … Continue reading
Forensics: Taking apart the “science” of matching objects and patterns to innocent defendants
An extensive review of forensic exaggerations brought into criminal courts. Only two US states have statutes allowing appellate review of cases where junk forensic experts run amok. (Excerpts) “The legal concept of newly discovered evidence including a change in science,” … Continue reading
“Accelerating forensic science” versus judicial inertia due to “stare decisis”
See the framework for “new” forensic paradigms entering the judicial environment in every convoluted detail. Here is an issue-laded Jurimetrics open access paper (18 pages) dealing with the interface of judges’ ‘science’ decision making and changes within forensic science. Simon Cole … Continue reading
Crime lab scandals advance to over 10,000 cases and increased investigation of multiple labs
Forensics ‘data manipulation’ may have affected 10000 cases The Guardian An investigation into alleged data manipulation at a forensics laboratory has identified more than 10,000 cases which may have been affected, the National Police Chiefs’ Council has said. Forensic experts started reviewing cases after concerns … Continue reading
Man’s murder confession spurred by DNA phenotyping mug shot
This case deserves a closer look. Parabon DNA lab did the testing. The method of developing physical traits from DNA samples is a burgeoning business. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/nov/18/ryan-riggs-texas-man-confesses-murder-dna-image/ More discussion on the issues involving these genetic mug shots from the ACLU (American … Continue reading
Gunslinger Billy the Kid hangs out with his crew, one who shot him a couple years later.
American 1880’s outlaw and historical serial killer, Billy the Kid (William Bonney) sat for a tintype with some of his cohorts. Billy (second from left) was soon after shot down by the man on the far right (Pat Garret) who … Continue reading
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Tagged document examiner, facial recognition, Forensic science
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The New Phrenology scam crops up in China and makes inroads in Criminal Justice…..again
Long determined to be forensically incompetent, some researchers are testing a hundred year old Bertillon Paradigm of criminal visage prediction for law enforcement. He did come up with the first consistent use of photography at crime scenes. Plus he is … Continue reading
Blood spatter continues: It’s purveyors and assumption spur critics to express weaknesses
This is a continuation of our previous blog on blood drops and criminal justice. It is expressly “old school” and experts really heavily on “experiments” both in courtrooms and their ‘spatter” rooms. Calling this science is also present in … Continue reading
“Almost junk forensic science” of blood spatter expertise – Its not as simple as it’s taught in class
Here is a good look at why “forensics” should be considered amateur-hour non-science in many jurisdictions. Article goes within a conviction that had the same cop being the crime evidence collector, analyst, and lead investigator. Much goes wrong in the … Continue reading
“A pernicious pseudo-forensic science” languishes in a MS courthouse
For the umpteenth time, a court judge slowly ponders a life and death conviction which used junk forensic ‘experts’ now dwindled credibilty to put a person in prison and on death row. The dentist has a string of misadventures and … Continue reading
FORENSICS and LAW in FOCUS @ CSIDDS | News and Trends 