Latest News on Forensic Science and Criminal Law
-
Join 223 other subscribers
Category Archives: criminal justice reform
Forensics: The timeline of battling junk forensics in the Texas courts – lessons learned – all from bitemarks
“Grits” runs us the story on the enormous effort undertaken in Texas to teach judges and prosecutors that bitemarks are the spawn of the alchemists and soothsayers among us. Grits for Breakfast legal blog The timeline of getting TX courts … Continue reading
Forensics: Texas becomes the first State to call bitemarks “junk science.”
As usual in these innocence cases, it took decades to overcome the inequities of flawed and exaggerated forensic experts. In this case, Steven Chaney is has been finally declared “actually innocent” and will receive $2.5 million for his decades in … Continue reading
Forensics: When do District Attorneys refuse to test DNA? When the test could be paid by the incarcerated.
This story is from Florida. It could be from any state in the US. DAs always roll towards preserving their convictions. This makes platitudinous statements about “justice” from Attorney Generals and their deputies hollow, pathological mythomania. http://www.tampabay.com/projects/2018/narratives/blood-and-truth/the-lingering-case-of-tommy-zeigler/?platform=hootsuite
Forensics: Harvard murder from 50 years ago. New DNA shows just how wrong initial investigators’ theories can be
This is is commonly what happens once DNA testing is done AFTER a conviction. One of the problems is the cost of post conviction testing that has to be borne by the Innocence Project and other innocence litigators. Donate … Continue reading
Forensics: Another grassroots attempt to establish a Forensic Science Commission in Wisconsin. This paper written by PhD candidates.
http://www.sciencepolicyjournal.org/uploads/5/4/3/4/5434385/bratburd.pdf The LEO crime labs won’t like this intrusion on their domains. A 2005-2008 study suggesting similar went nowhere in the WI legislature.
Forensics: Excuses for using inaccurate dental ageing methods fill this interview with University of Texas adjunct professor Dr. David Senn
The UT system made $16,000 so far this year from ICE cases involving children claiming to be children. The method is quite popular with the man hired to do it. He also considers ” bitemark matching” to be useful for … Continue reading
Forensics: UK police love this “conclusive” bitemark opinion – DNA never gets mentioned
Five teeth out of 32 seems enough for everyone in this murder conviction in the UK. The dentist looks satisfied on the video. (the 3rd video in the article). Problems about expert error rates, etc., always go out the window … Continue reading
The Senseless Legal Precedent That Enables Wrongful Convictions | The New Republic
The top of the legal pyramid in the US claim Constitutional rights and associated case law do not “extend” to pre-trial negotiations. This affects 95% of criminal cases that occur in the country. This regressive thinking puts other cases influencing … Continue reading
Forensics: Grits for Breakfast: Most crime labs accused innocent person in DNA mixture study
Grits for Breakfast: Most crime labs accused innocent person in DNA mixture study — Read on gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2018/09/most-crime-labs-accused-innocent-person.html The dark side of the NIST DNA mis-identification report covered in my last blog. Subterfuge and disclaimers to quash use in court by … Continue reading
Forensics: Another expert with 40 hours of training recants his own testimony
.https://www.propublica.org/article/blood-spatter-expert-robert-thorman-joe-bryan-case/amp?__twitter_impression=true Blood-Spatter Expert in Joe Bryan Case Says “My Conclusions Were Wrong” The expert whose testimony was key to Bryan’s conviction for his wife’s 1985 murder says he now believes that some of his techniques were incorrect. His admission comes … Continue reading
FORENSICS and LAW in FOCUS @ CSIDDS | News and Trends 