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: More details on How forensic investigators use DNA, fingerprints and other methods to identify remains after a fire | CNN

The facts are grim. The devastating fires in Maui have caused at least 115 deaths, yet only 46 of those have been identified two weeks on from the blaze, police said Thursday. Hundreds of people remain unaccounted for, too. — … Continue reading

Posted in AAFS, DNA profiling, Forensic Dentistry, human identification, missing persons | 2 Comments

Forensics: Dental IDs from fire victims in Lahaina

The weeks of fragmentary information from Hawaii and news media has raised some concerns I want to mention. The hurdles to identification involved in this type of mass disaster are huge principally because of the high temperature effects on human … Continue reading

Posted in AAFS, DNA profiling, Forensic Science, human identification, Lahaina disaster, missing persons | Leave a comment

Forensics: Civil Judges get it. But criminal courts still allow bitemarks. Junk Science in the Courtroom Keeps Coming Back – and Getting Swatted

There’s something about autism that invites scapegoating. The latest attack was on makers of Lexapro, the anti-depressant medication, when used during pregnancy. Six plaintiffs recruited three experts to testify to a supposed causal connection between the drug and their children’s … Continue reading

Posted in AAFS, Bad Forensic Science, Bite Marks, Bitemarks, costs of wrongful convictions, criminal justice reform, Forensic Science, Forensic Science Bias, US Crime labs | Leave a comment

Forensics: Teeth are involved in Identifying fire victims through DNA analysis: A geneticist explains what forensics is learning from archaeology

Identifying fire victims through DNA analysis: A geneticist explains what forensics is learning from archaeology — Read on phys.org/news/2023-08-victims-dna-analysis-geneticist-forensics.html

Posted in AAFS, DNA profiling, human identification, missing persons | Leave a comment

Forensics: Premature burial case in hospital morgue.

Awful story. Hospital defense is absurd. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/maria-de-jesus-arroyo-gran-3383123

Posted in AAFS, premature burial | Leave a comment

Forensics: GEDmatch Loophole Gave Police Access to Private DNA Data

Thanks to @maxhouck@substack.com. Forensic genetic genealogists skirted GEDmatch privacy rules by searching users who explicitly opted out of sharing DNA with law enforcement. — Read on theintercept.com/2023/08/18/gedmatch-dna-police-forensic-genetic-genealogy/

Posted in AAFS, Civil rights, DNA profiling, missing persons | Leave a comment

Forensics: Anthro BS from the 19th century into the 20th. The skull maps that quantified racism

These maps — of geographical differences in skull shapes — have vanished from acceptable science (and cartography). — Read on bigthink.com/strange-maps/cephalic-index-maps/

Posted in AAFS, Bad Forensic Science, Civil rights, Forensic Science Bias, forensic science misconduct | Tagged | Leave a comment

Forensics: “If You’re Lucky, It Could Be Days’: Maui Fire Forensic Expert Compares Painstaking Identification of Remains to 9/11 Aftermath

Dr. — Read on themessenger.com/news/maui-forensic-expert-identification-of-remains

Posted in AAFS, DNA profiling, forensic pathology, Forensic Science, human identification, missing persons | Leave a comment

Forensics: Revealing the Smithsonian’s ‘racial brain collection’

The Smithsonian’s human brains collection was led by Ales Hrdlicka, a museum curator in the 1900s who believed that White people were superior. — Read on http://www.washingtonpost.com/history/interactive/2023/smithsonian-brains-collection-racial-history-repatriation/

Posted in AAFS, human identification | Leave a comment

Forensics: This Gross negligence is systemic. They held him 525 days past his release. Will the courts let him fight back?

The U.S. Supreme Court created the rule in 1982, after previously setting a “good faith” standard in 1967. Since this move of the goalposts, government officials have used qualified immunity to escape accountability for torture, theft and retaliation, along with hundreds of other … Continue reading

Posted in AAFS, Civil rights, criminal justice reform, prosecutorial misconduct | Leave a comment