Latest News on Forensic Science and Criminal Law
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Category Archives: Forensic Science
Forensics: Director of D.C.’s troubled crime lab resigns after scathing audit report
Good grief. Their ballistics unit got the previous director fired. Back then the lab was praised for being independent from law enforcement. Then law enforcement took it back. The agency botched a ballistics exam in a murder case, then “misrepresented” … Continue reading
Forensics: This should include ME/Coroner offices. Craft an African American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
Universities and museums must catalogue the remains of Black Americans in their collections, and pause research pending consultation with descendant communities. — Read on http://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01320-4
Forensics: Human tissue preserved since World War I yields new clues about 1918 pandemic | Science | AAAS
RNA found in specimens from German patients shows the virus may have adapted between first and second waves — Read on http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/05/human-tissue-preserved-world-war-i-yields-new-clues-about-1918-pandemic
Forensics: SBS in OZ. Top scientists question basis for Victoria’s baby shaking prosecutions
Three young men are about to appeal against their convictions for killing or injuring infants by shaking them. The scientific community is split on the subject. So are the convictions sound? — Read on http://www.smh.com.au/national/top-scientists-question-basis-for-victoria-s-baby-shaking-prosecutions-20210513-p57rkm.html
Forensics: More on fraud in academia. Behind China’s ‘mind power’ egg scandal, where academic ghostwriters quote US$400 to get bogus science published | South China Morning Post
Writers advertising on e-commerce platforms say they can arrange for articles to be published in journals indexed on China’s largest research database — Read on amp.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3133548/behind-chinas-mind-power-egg-scandal-where-academic
Forensics: How Your DNA—or Someone Else’s—Can Send You to Jail
Although DNA is individual to you—a “fingerprint” of your genetic code—DNA samples don’t always tell a complete story. The DNA samples used in criminal prosecutions are generally of low quality, making them particularly complicated to analyze. They are not very … Continue reading
Forensics: What? Philly says it found the remains of the MOVE bombing victims it thought it had cremated and discarded
Health commissioner Thomas Farley resigned on Thursday after acknowledging he ordered the remains cremated and disposed. But the city found the remains in a basement office on Friday. — Read on http://www.inquirer.com/news/thomas-farley-philadelphia-health-commissioner-move-bombing-20210514.html
Forensics: Beware of forensic experts expressing certainty
Opinion piece about reigning-in exaggerated and one-sided expert testimony. Offers a free online tutorial via Coursera. Its organized by Christophe Champod and the UNIL forensics faculty. “Challenging Forensic Science: How science should speak to court.” I just signed up. Expert … Continue reading
Forensics: AAFS 2012 meeting abstract on the failure of bitemark analysis
This one got me no love from the ABFO bitemarkers.