Category Archives: CSI

Interim Austin Crime Lab boss gets the boot; lab closed

Austin’s police chief apologized Friday for massive problems at the Police Department’s crime lab, saying he had ceased all efforts to reopen the DNA part of the troubled facility and had removed the man recently hired to get it back … Continue reading

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Prosecutors started to look at Austin PD DNA analyst 6 years ago

Its better late than never, I guess. Good example on how DA CIUs (conviction integrity units) get a bad rap. This Cleveland DA says some of them are just ‘news releases.’ “During that sexual assault trial, prosecutors wrote two memos … Continue reading

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The cost of Austin crime lab failure reaches $6.5 – $14 million estimates

Regardless of the politicians assurances, this taxpayer cost will surely go up to  include whatever additional legal costs that occur over the propose next five years. Its 12 years worth of crime lab cases. So far, no one has blamed … Continue reading

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Austin Crime Lab woes gets even worse – Pushback against DNA upgrades

Here’s a short bit from why the Austin TX police run crime lab road to recovery just fell off a cliff. The state’s overseers are having resistance to retraining some of the existing employees. As in ………. “a supervisor’s decision … Continue reading

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Politics, Military Police and Forensic Science Conflicts

The white hats in the forensic science world like to say that “truth” in their investigations always wins out. Read this story about how a US military medical examiner in Afghanistan got his investigation quashed by a general whose name … Continue reading

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Prosecutors dragging their feet on uncovering extent of years long crime lab scandal

In part, the crime lab scientist stole, used and messed with drugs while employed at the crime lab since….. “An interim report by state Assistant Attorney General Thomas Caldwell said, “Ms. Farak began using controlled substances regularly in the last … Continue reading

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Judges receive Science Commission training about junk bitemarks

There is more non-science flim-flam being praised in Hollidaysburg, Blair County, Pennsylvania (pictured above). The bitemarkers’ attack once again. I’m sure the judge needs some help figuring things out. Short Backstory Texas hit the news this year in its de-listing … Continue reading

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Look-back and breaking news on why crimes labs should have independent oversight

This all blows opposite to what the cop crime labs are saying and its a good thing. Here’s the latest from California about botched lab false-positive semen testing results that goes back decades. A hearsay statement has the Santa Clara … Continue reading

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Utter silence from over 400 individual US crimes labs after @PCAST forensic report

The US crime lab communities that receive public funding were said to number over 400 (see below) in the 2009 Bureau of Justice Statistics report.  Its striking to me that NOTHING has been in the news about what they think … Continue reading

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Chummy crime labber gets close scrutiny.

Not exactly PC in today’s hyper sensitive awareness of cognitive bias in police crime lab environments   http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/11/19/do-thank-you-notes-hint-at-impropriety.html

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