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Category Archives: costs of wrongful convictions
Forensics: 44 exoneration cases involving bitemark opinions had a 77% error rate. The Impact of False or Misleading Forensic Evidence on Wrongful Convictions | National Institute of Justice
Wrongful conviction, or the conviction of a person for a crime that they did not commit, is one of the greatest travesties of the criminal justice system. As of 2023, The National Registry of Exonerations has recorded over 3,000 cases … Continue reading
Forensics: Unfair Ballistics examiners wrongly describe some results, Iowa State profs say
When ballistics experts say a match between 2 bullet casings is ‘inconclusive,’ it nearly always means a non-match, a result that could help defendants — Read on http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2023/11/27/forensic-ballistics-examiners-results-questioned-in-isu-research-iowa-state-evidence-crime-scene/71584697007/
Forensics: A medieval test in use. “Unreliable” Lung Float Test Still Being Used to Convict Women of Murder — ProPublica
The “lung float” test claims to help determine if a baby was born alive or dead, but many medical examiners say it’s too unreliable. Yet the test is still being used to bring murder charges — and get convictions. — … Continue reading
Forensic bias: Telling us less than what they know: Expert inconclusive reports conceal exculpatory evidence in forensic cartridge-case comparisons.
APA PsycNet DoiLanding page — Read on psycnet.apa.org/
Forensics: Koehler, Mnookin and Saks on The scientific reinvention of forensic science. Bitemarks NOT reinvented in their analysis. Ask the #AAFS why this has NOT happened.
Forensic science is undergoing an evolution in which a long-standing “trust the examiner” focus is being replaced by a “trust the scientific method… — Read on http://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2301840120
Forensics: Fake cop evidence. Who pays out millions to the wrongfully convicted in Ohio? You do.
Charles Jackson retraced the same steps he took in 1991, walking into Casino East bar on Cleveland’s east side, that night he had no idea just how much those steps would cost him. — Read on http://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/taxpayers-on-the-hooks-as-the-state-pays-out-of-millions-of-dollars-to-wrongfully-imprisoned
Forensics: Anatomy of junk forensics baffling Juries that don’t understand forensic science who send innocent people to prison − a short training video could help
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary… — Read on http://www.ctinsider.com/news/article/juries-that-don-t-understand-forensic-science-can-18393874.php
Forensics: OUCH!Connecticut agrees to a $25 million settlement in the Henry Lee evidence fabrication case | AP News
Connecticut’s attorney general has agreed to a $25.2 million settlement with two men who spent decades in prison for murder, based partly on evidence presented by famed forensic scientist Henry Lee that a judge later found was fabricated. — Read … Continue reading
Forensics: More Junk Cop Forensics. AI Led to Her Wrongful Arrest for Carjacking at 8 Months Pregnant
Police falsely accused Porcha Woodruff of carjacking after misusing facial recognition technology, which experts say has built-in racial biases. — Read on people.com/porcha-woodruff-arrest-ai-facial-recognition-7966714
Forensics: Finally. Appeals court agrees shaken baby syndrome is ‘junk science’ in some cases
A New Jersey appellate court sided with two fathers accused of child abuse who argued the science behind shaken baby syndrome isn’t sound. — Read on newjerseymonitor.com/2023/09/13/appeals-court-agrees-shaken-baby-syndrome-is-junk-science-in-some-cases/