Category Archives: CSI

Forensics: More judicial illiteracy about scientific principles

Somewhere there must be an appellate judge who understands something about reliability. The 7th US Circuit sure needs some help. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2015/08/04/federal-appeals-court-drug-dog-thats-barely-more-accurate-than-a-coin-flip-is-good-enough

Posted in AAFS, Bad Forensic Science, criminal justice, CSI, expert testimony, forensic testimony | Leave a comment

Flickering Examples of Science getting into Forensics | From Science and the DNA Newsletter

Forensic labs and experts considering blind testing to remove potential context bias  At the NIST “Error Management” Conference earlier this month, experts agreed that “a key problem…is that people who evaluate evidence from crime scenes have access to information about … Continue reading

Posted in AAFS, ABFO, criminal justice, criminal justice reform, CSI | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Unvalidated excuses used against unarmed police shooting victims.

Never let it be said that there isn’t an expert available to help out your case. Just a phone call away and all for $1000 an hour. http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/08/junk-science-and-police-shootings.html?om_rid=AAWnTC&om_mid=_BVv7o2B9EMd6D1

Posted in Brown shooting evidence, CSI, expert testimony, Forensic Science Bias | Leave a comment

Forensics: 1996 op-ed warning about DNA’s effect on bitemark opinions

A warning to bitemark experts that has been ignored by the AAFS and its flesh bite experts. This was published in the forensic dental newsletter of the ABFO. http://www.expertlaw.com/library/identification/bite_marks.html

Posted in AAFS, ABFO, Bite Marks, Bitemarks, CSI, Forensic Science, forensic science reform | 4 Comments

Forensics : 1960 When bitemarks were considered equal to fingerprints……..

………a British dentist said “bruises in human flesh” bitemarks were”unreliable evidence” and expressed reasons that were, 49 years later, used by the National Academy of Sciences in 2009 . He also said “usually a self-styled expert” and “so-called expert (s)” … Continue reading

Posted in AAFS, ABFO, Bite Marks, Bitemarks, CSI, expert testimony, forensic science reform | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Bad actors and negligent experts in Crim Justice still immune.

This follows up previous blogs about how citizens, damaged by CJ incompetence (including some lawyers) and bad acts, run afoul of legal interpretations of immunity for state employees and their minions. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2015/07/30/people-wronged-by-the-criminal-justice-system-face-a-long-road-to-compensation (copyright 2015 Dental and Forensic Services LLC )

Posted in AAFS, ABFO, Civil rights, costs of wrongful convictions, criminal justice, criminal justice reform, CSI, Exoneration costs, expert testimony, forensic science misconduct | 1 Comment

First US DNA exoneree from 1993 gets political

http://www.innocenceproject.org/news-events-exonerations/kirk-bloodsworth-urges-congress-to-fund-dna-testing-and-innocence-efforts

Posted in costs of wrongful convictions, criminal justice, criminal justice reform, CSI | Leave a comment

More DNA PR on hair from Australia. Why don’t we hear about the data?

Once more, we get  a university talking about “great breakthroughs” in forensic analysis. This one is abut collecting “trace” DNA from hair shafts (i.e “shed hair”) which “improves success rates” not seen using prior methods. My main gripe is that these … Continue reading

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Update: White House Report on Forensics Science: “Eradicate” the Use of Bitemarks

  Update on the Update: More on this today (Wednesday July 22, 2015)  from Radley Balko at THE WATCH On Tuesday, July 21, the White House OSTP issued an oral presentation by: Jo Handelsman “Dr. Jo Handelsman is the Associate Director for … Continue reading

Posted in AAFS, ABFO, Bad Forensic Science, Bite Marks, Bitemarks, criminal justice reform, CSI, Forensic Dentistry, junk forensic science | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Forensics: From the New York Legal Aid Society’s DNA UNIT – The latest and the best news

Connect with them @LegalAidNYC   A New York Trial Court precludes LCN and FST evidence after extensive Frye Hearing litigated by the Legal Aid Society’s DNA Unit (New York Law Journal)Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Mark Dwyer issued a written decision precluding … Continue reading

Posted in Bad Forensic Science, criminal justice, CSI, Forensic Science, Forensic Science Bias, forensic testimony | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment