Author Archives: csidds

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About csidds

Dr. Michael Bowers is a long time forensic consultant in the US and international court systems.

Forensics: Politicos and Prosecutors run amuck protecting their interests in running US crime labs

A fully developed expose’ by William C. Thompson of the  University of Irvine. He expounds the ‘sub rosa’ motivations of the DC big wigs who this year fired the managers and legal counsel of one of the first independent crime … Continue reading →

Posted in AAFS, criminal justice, DNA mixtures, Forensic Science Bias | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

AP:Mississippi death row inmate returns to trial court to argue for vacating conviction – bitemarks

Besides new DNA from post-conviction testing, the MS Special Assistant Attorney General Jason L. Davis  says that “new” evidence showing bite marks are now discredited “science” should now be barred. He seemed confused about his own state’s crime lab’s DNA results … Continue reading →

Posted in AAFS, ABFO, Bad Forensic Science, Bite Marks, Bitemarks, criminal justice reform, CSI, Forensic Science | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

A USC alum and faculty who is a “Dental Detective” – The Ostrow School of Dentistry

This article starts on the school’s Trodent Summer 2015 digital magazine on page 17.  

Posted in AAFS, Bad Forensic Science, Crime, criminal justice, CSI, Forensic Dentistry | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

MS Supreme Court remands Howard for new litigation, again

Originally posted on FORENSICS and LAW in FOCUS @ CSIDDS | News and Trends:
In response to recent oral arguments, the MS high court just issued this 2015-08-06 order remand howard. This case has major prosecutorial bitemark ID evidence issues. New DNA…

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MS Supreme Court remands Howard for new litigation, which is not progress.

In response to recent oral arguments, the MS high court just issued this 2015-08-06 order  Howard for a “new evidentiary hearing.” This case has had major prosecutorial bitemark ID junk evidence issues for decades and nearly a ten year effort to get … Continue reading →

Posted in AAFS, Bite Marks, Bitemarks, CSI, DNA profiling, exoneration | 1 Comment

Forensics: More judicial illiteracy about scientific principles

Somewhere there must be an appellate judge who understands something about reliability. The 7th US Circuit sure needs some help. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2015/08/04/federal-appeals-court-drug-dog-thats-barely-more-accurate-than-a-coin-flip-is-good-enough

Posted in AAFS, Bad Forensic Science, criminal justice, CSI, expert testimony, forensic testimony | Leave a comment

Tradition-bound U.S. system mired in scientific illiteracy, author says

Originally posted on Wrongful Convictions Blog:
The American legal system assumes that innocent people don’t confess to crimes they didn’t commit. It also assumes that eyewitness testimony is reliable and that jurors are impartial even though scientific research shows otherwise.  Therein lies the cause of…

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Flickering Examples of Science getting into Forensics | From Science and the DNA Newsletter

Forensic labs and experts considering blind testing to remove potential context bias  At the NIST “Error Management” Conference earlier this month, experts agreed that “a key problem…is that people who evaluate evidence from crime scenes have access to information about … Continue reading →

Posted in AAFS, ABFO, criminal justice, criminal justice reform, CSI | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Unvalidated excuses used against unarmed police shooting victims.

Never let it be said that there isn’t an expert available to help out your case. Just a phone call away and all for $1000 an hour. http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/08/junk-science-and-police-shootings.html?om_rid=AAWnTC&om_mid=_BVv7o2B9EMd6D1

Posted in Brown shooting evidence, CSI, expert testimony, Forensic Science Bias | Leave a comment

Forensics: 1996 op-ed warning about DNA’s effect on bitemark opinions

A warning to bitemark experts that has been ignored by the AAFS and its flesh bite experts. This was published in the forensic dental newsletter of the ABFO. http://www.expertlaw.com/library/identification/bite_marks.html

Posted in AAFS, ABFO, Bite Marks, Bitemarks, CSI, Forensic Science, forensic science reform | 4 Comments