Category Archives: expert testimony

Where forensic lab reports are not testimonial – Wisconsin

Posted on February 18, 2017 by csidds

Apparently these judges in Wisconsin believe through a circuitous logic that crime lab results are not available for cross-examination. Sometimes. They approved a pathologist to talk about a tox result at a hearing about cause of death. As is usually … Continue reading →

Posted in expert testimony, Forensic Science | Tagged confrontation clause, criminal defense, forensic testimony | Leave a comment

Serial rapists and underachieving government crime lab; cops as “super-experts”

Posted on October 13, 2016 by csidds

“Did Failures at APD’s Crime Lab Lead to Sexual Assaults in Houston?” (Austin Chronicle) A new Harvard Law Review article titled “The Judicial Presumption of Police Expertise” questions whether police should be treated as expert witnesses when giving testimony in criminal … Continue reading →

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Here’s a criminal lawyer’s worst nightmare: Hiring a forensic expert with a faked resume.

Posted on September 28, 2016 by csidds

Interesting story for a few reasons: The opposing expert was a cop and thought this defense expert’s CV looked suspicious. This in itself isn’t unusual. Fact-checking an expert is a rather basic act by both sides in court cases. I’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in AAFS, Bad Forensic Science, criminal justice, expert testimony | Tagged AAFS, ABFO, ADA, ASFO, bias, bite mark, bite marks, bitemark, bitemark analysis, bitemark evidence, bitemark testimony, Bitemarks, board certified dentist, comparison confirmation bias, David Sheets, DNA, Dr. Greg Golden, Dr. L.T. Johnson, Dr. Michael Bowers, Dr. Michael West, Dr. Robert Barsley, Dr. roger Metcalf, Elsevier, exoneration, expert opinion, forensic, Forensic Dental Evidence, forensic dentist, forensic dentistry, forensic odontologist, Forensic Odontology, Forensic science, homicide case, Humberto Leal, Innocence partners, innocence project, Innocent, Investigator's Handbook, JADA, junk forensic experts, Kennedy Brewer, Kunco, Leal, Leigh Stubbs, Levon Brooks, Mary Bush, Michael bowers, Michael West, Mississippi Innocence, NAS National Academy of Science, National Forensic Science Foundation, observer effects, Odontology, Peter Bush, Ray Krone, Ray Miller, reliability research, Saliva, screening film, starks, Stinson, surveillance video, toolmark, University of Buffalo, UV photography, validity, West, Wisconsin, wrongful conviction, wrongful convictions, wrongfully convicted | Leave a comment

Here we go again. New appeal case. Waukegan. Dead baby. “Missed evidence.” Kathleen Zellner

Posted on August 19, 2016 by csidds

Another example how weak physical evidence relating to COD, the baby’s prior medical history, the DA and Def atty’s fumblings, a courthouse with cops’ history of witness coercion with wrongful convictions, and a “new statement” from the DA’s pathologist, brings … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, CSI, expert testimony, forensic pathology | Tagged Forensic science, Miscarriage of justice, wrongful convictions | 1 Comment

A lesson about scientific proofs vs. “causation beliefs” use in courts

Posted on June 24, 2016 by csidds

This written appellate opinion sums up the challenge of “gatekeepers” (the judges) at the trial level filtering out expert witness bombast of opinion from actual scientific “causation.” The bombast in the forensic field of testimony can be seen in the … Continue reading →

Posted in AAFS, expert testimony | Tagged American Academy of Forensic Science, Forensic science, forensic testimony, junk forensic science | Leave a comment

Another obstinate and proudly relentless prosecutor from Louisiana

Posted on June 15, 2016 by csidds

On to Louisiana and its about a death penalty conviction for child murder. “Dale Cox (pictured above) was the Louisiana prosecutor against Crawford (the defendant), a case which rested almost exclusively on the testimony of a state forensic pathologist who claimed … Continue reading →

Posted in AAFS, criminal justice, criminal justice reform, death penalty, expert testimony, wrongful convictions | Tagged American Academy of Forensic Science, criminal justice, junk forensic science, Miscarriage of justice | Leave a comment

Forensics: Forensic Pathology study on skin injury patterns shows lack of agreement

Posted on April 18, 2016 by csidds

Published in the Apr 15 2016 Journal of Forensic Sciences, this paper are the results of a NAME (US medical examiners) online study of human skin injury pattern diagnostic categories ( the basics of “blunt,” “sharp,” and “source” identification) undertaken … Continue reading →

Posted in AAFS, CSI, expert testimony | Tagged American Academy of Forensic Science, CSI, forensic pathology, Forensic science | Leave a comment

UK MD “Erased” Waney Squier “distain” for her peers is claptrap. Famed Spilsbury would be ashamed.

Posted on March 22, 2016 by csidds

Spilsbury in his lab. A bunch of stuffed medical shirts demand their respect at all costs to public safety and claim “ipse dixit” expertise to those who submit to their “peer” review. “Disdainers” beware. Respect your betters in science or … Continue reading →

Posted in criminal justice reform, CSI, expert testimony, forensic pathology, Forensic Science | Tagged Exculpatory Evidence, Forensic science, forensic testimony, junk forensic science, Miscarriage of justice, UK Forensic Science, wrongful convictions | Leave a comment

Forensics : Details of trace evidence obtained in child murder/abuse case in Canada

Posted on January 21, 2016 by csidds

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

How a DA used an “inconclusive” DNA result to imply it supported the victim’s testimony

Posted on January 6, 2016 by csidds

No one ever denies that criminal trials are merely a war of words supporting implications of guilt or innocence. The experts were not at the crime scene, and neither was the jury nor the judge. That’s what makes victim visual … Continue reading →

Posted in AAFS, expert testimony, Forensic Science Bias | Tagged American Academy of Forensic Science, Criminal Justice, expert bias, Forensic science, forensic testimony, ineffective assistance of counsel | Leave a comment