Category Archives: CSI

Forensics: A compendium on the failure of the US death penalty. 

On societal, legal and moral grounds. By Liliana Segura and Jordan Smith.  https://theintercept.com/series/the-condemned/

Posted in costs of wrongful convictions, Crime lab scandal, CSI, death penalty, Forensic Science Bias | Tagged | Leave a comment

#FORENSICS: When the crime scene evidence never gets to the crime lab. Sadly, both are managed by the same people. Says alot about the future of cop DNA testing.

From the great state of Orange County, California. https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article237862684.html

Posted in AAFS, Civil rights, costs of wrongful convictions, Crime lab scandal, CSI, Forensic science misconduct | Comments Off on #FORENSICS: When the crime scene evidence never gets to the crime lab. Sadly, both are managed by the same people. Says alot about the future of cop DNA testing.

#Forensics: Errors in fingerprinting matches get some air time. Training and low standards a major focus.

One major issue in the fingerprinting world is how court testimony of these experts can mislead juries to expect mis-matches never occur. Fingerprint Analysis Is High-Stakes Work — but It Doesn’t Take Much to Qualify as an Expert

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#Forensics: How DNA transfer is affected by “shedder” status. 

Any assumption that a DNA mixture can prove who was and wasn’t the perp gets clobbered in this study. Some people shed (i.e. leave) DNA more than others.  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1872497319301164

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Dana Delger ’10 Fights to Keep Flawed Forensics From Convicting the Innocent | Columbia Law School

Dana Delger ’10 works as a strategic litigator for the Innocence Project and fights against using flawed forensic evidence, like bite marks, in criminal cases. — Read on http://www.law.columbia.edu/news/2019/11/dana-delger-fights-to-keep-flawed-forensics-from-convicting-the-innocent These lawyers know how to talk science. No wonder the crime … Continue reading

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Planned Texas execution under unprecedented US and international scrutiny. This article says why.

https://theintercept.com/2019/11/08/rodney-reed-death-row-texas/

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Forensics: Dundee and Glasgow take a look at the bitemarkers

Let’s see if prosecutors and the judiciary get the gumption and honesty to see this as the death knell for bitemark flim flam. Congrats to the Scots and Open Access publishing! https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00414-019-02163-5

Posted in AAFS, ABFO, Bad Forensic Science, Bitemarks, costs of wrongful convictions, CSI, expert testimony, forensic science misconduct, junk forensic science | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

#Forensics: Cop DUI machines busted. 

…..and the police want to do their DNA rapid and inhouse. Yikes.  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/03/business/drunk-driving-breathalyzer.html

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#Forensics: read the difference between hanging vs strangulation. Special focus on the hyoid bone, cartilage, and vertebral fractures.

By Judy Melinek MD One might infer from this lit review, that the Epstein family’s medical expert has gone WAY OUT on a limb. https://www.medpagetoday.com/blogs/working-stiff/83087

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#Forensics: Contextual bias influences and weak forensic testing results leads to jury overestimation of guilt

When police lab results are weak or ambiguous, juries commonly use non science circumstances to increase its value. https://phys.org/news/2019-10-csi-current-impact-bias-crime.html

Posted in AAFS, Crime, criminal justice, CSI, Forensic Science, Forensic Science Bias | Leave a comment