Latest News on Forensic Science and Criminal Law
-
Join 223 other subscribers
Category Archives: criminal justice
The bloom is off forensic DNA’s infallibility – Scientific American
Eric Frimpong and Santa Barbara defense attorney Robert Sanger in 2008. With the FBI making a step to reel in its history of wayward forensic conclusions, Scientific American wades into the “restructuring” of DNA opinions in much the same way. … Continue reading
Forensic look at death penalty statistics: 25% of exonerated were on Death Row
A 2013 infographic study by the California Innocence Project puts the cost in California at a staggering $4 billion since 1978. Statistics contained in this report, when overlayed with the national increase of exonerations ( now at 1793) , in the … Continue reading
Advances of science affects some convictions – so far bitemarks aren’t included
The resounding inconsistencies in how US courts “handle” forensic expertise is brain-numbing. The Mississippi Supreme Court and the state attorney General Jim Hood’s go to chief appellate guy, Jason Davis (pictured above), are still investing in the now bitemark rejecting … Continue reading
DNA “falsifiability” gets some airtime, CRIME LAB chaos in MA, “vigorous debate’ in SBS
The latest in scientific quandaries within forensics from the NY Legal Aid Society Newsletter. Fool’s Gold: Legal Aid Society DNA Unit featured in Atlantic Magazine article about the increasing use of unreliable DNA “science” in the criminal justice system DNA … Continue reading
Posted in AAFS, criminal justice, criminal justice reform, CSI, DNA mixtures, DNA profiling, forensic science misconduct, forensic science reform
Tagged American Academy of Forensic Science, Bad forensic science, DNA profiling, falsified evidence, forensic examiner error, Forensic science, junk forensic science
Leave a comment
Another crime lab scandal arises from Virginia : Old school blood-typing failures
On the heels of Keith Allen Harward’s 33 years of wrongful incarceration, Virginia is now tackling hundreds of cases over the decades containing more questionable forensic “science.” Harward’s erroneous identification from a bitemark is only the beginning. “The Innocence Project … Continue reading
Forensics: National Inst of Justice training webinars
Controlled Substances & Toxicology Focus on DNA Sequencing IPE & Trace Evidence Postmortem Interval & Molecular Autopsy
Posted in criminal justice, CSI
Tagged American Academy of Forensic Science, criminal justice, CSI, Forensic science
Leave a comment
Forensics: The role of social media as a watchdog on abuse of power and and imperfect science
I have significant experience listening (especially at the last AAFS meeting) and reading snide comments from mostly volunteering participants (commonly defensive) in the “forensic science reform” debate demeaning the “blog” aspect of journalistic reporting. My vocal response at the AAFS … Continue reading
Expanding government DNA archives form major debate on involving innocent people
The shadow of “big brother” watching you comes out in print within this piece about massive forensic DNA collection in numerous states. California has the biggest database. “The question is: Do we want the government to have all these genetic … Continue reading
Posted in Civil rights, criminal justice
Tagged Criminal Justice, Forensic science, government dna databases
Leave a comment
Forensics : Details of trace evidence obtained in child murder/abuse case in Canada
The only thing the defense could get in rebuttal was that the CSI tech didn’t “test” every object available at the crime scene residence. Its a hint that the CSI could have missed some exculpable evidence usable for the defense’s … Continue reading
Posted in criminal justice, CSI, expert testimony
Tagged Criminal Justice, CSI, Forensic science, forensic testimony
Leave a comment
Forensics: The White House Office of Sci Tech investigates Bitemark Believers on Jan 15
The Obama Administration offers a potpourri of forensic practitioners at a public hearing scheduled for Jan 15th. Among them is one of the pro bitemark witnesses who pled for mercy before the Texas For Sci Commission a month ago. Here is … Continue reading
FORENSICS and LAW in FOCUS @ CSIDDS | News and Trends 