Category Archives: Forensic Dentistry

Exonerations of defendants accused by bitemark dentists grows to two dozen

The passage of time has dealt the remaining believers in bite mark identification a serious blow. When the Innocence Project (IP) published this wrongful list posted here, the numbers were rather few, considering the popularity of the method of using … Continue reading

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Bite mark expert defends his methods as good for the court system without scientific validation

Use this as a counter-point to the recent Associated Press investigation on the failure of bite mark comparisons as a reliable forensic science. Over at the Bite Marks Evidence blog, David Averill posts this incredible video used in a 2011 … Continue reading

Posted in Bad Forensic Science, Bite Marks, Bitemarks, CSI, Forensic Science, Wrongful Conviction | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Innocent and after spending 20 years in Illinois prison, Bennie Starks sues prosecution’s bitemark experts

Bennie Starks In a twist of fate, two Illinois dentists are being sued by Bennie Starks whom they determined, in a 1986 trial, left a bite mark on a rape victim. They claimed the bite mark as “medically certain” to … Continue reading

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The use of DNA from bite marks takes casework, status and money from ABFO dentists

The AP article (use your search engine for “bite marks” and “unreliable”) in June 2013 suggested that the bite mark dentists of the American Board of Forensic Odontology have been “supplanted by the more reliable science of DNA.” More recently, … Continue reading

Posted in Bad Forensic Science, CSI, Forensic Science, William Richards Exoneration Case | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Bite mark experts sound desperate in AP review of bad forensic science

Well, the story had to come out eventually. The Associate Press extensive investigation into the US forensic dental organization, the American Board of Forensic Odontology (ABFO), reviews their past mistakes in court cases and current denials of problems in their … Continue reading

Posted in Bad Forensic Science, CSI, Forensic Dentistry, Forensic Science, William Richards Exoneration Case | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

PBS-2012 Nova Production On Doubtful Forensic Science

With major contributors from the forensic science community, this in-depth PBS presentation discusses the strengths and weaknesses of forensic examiners and their effects on the US judicial system. Erroneous convictions involving bite mark identification and other “impression evidence” are the … Continue reading

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An academic’s views on problems existing in forensic science testimony and methods

This is a repost of a 2009 article published by UCLA Today. The author is well established as an external evaluator of forensic methods. Shortly after this article appeared she was given a $700,000 research grant by the NIJ to … Continue reading

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FORENSIC TESTIMONY: Science Biases and Subjectivity

This is a repost of my June 5, 2013 blog on the important subject of bias in forensic science   Added comment: The expanding revelations of extraneous influences that can plague forensic experts in court has added to the existing literature … Continue reading

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50 Years of Judicially Determined BRADY Violations Against Prosecutors are Worthless

This op-ed from the HuffPost’s Radley Balko makes the case that prosecutorial misconduct is a factor in a majority of exoneration cases and exists in other criminal convictions.  The judicial and legal organizational responses to violations of Brady are nil. Legal … Continue reading

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Cases and Opinions on Bitemark Evidence

go to http://www.bitemarks.org The blog listed above tells the story of the effects of unvalidated bitemark opinions in the US. The major culprits are selected members of the America Board of Forensic Odontology. http://www.abfo.org

Posted in Bad Forensic Science, Forensic Dentistry, Innocence March | Tagged , | 1 Comment