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Category Archives: Forensic Science
Forensics: Irish “unmarked mass graves” of children shows “harsh, harsh conditions”
“Tánaiste and Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald said the discovery is an infinitely sad reminder of an Ireland that was a “very harsh, harsh place” for women and their babies.” You can be sure, this is not the only location … Continue reading
Posted in Forensic Science
Tagged forensic DNA, unknown human remains, unmarked mass graves
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Missing in America: California’s premier Unidentified Persons Unit
US Stats: 4,000 unknown human bodies found each year. >1000 remain unidentified after one year. >40,000 human remains exist as ‘unidentified’ in the US. Missing person reports in CA now at 20,000. Unknown bodies in CA exceed 3,000. I recently … Continue reading
Where forensic lab reports are not testimonial – Wisconsin
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
Disproportionate number of minorities in DNA databases misdirects cases
Here is a lede from the New York Legal Aid Society about the slowly trending use of racially skewed DNA bases being LEO searched for relatives of suspects. (More news below). The limitations of familial DNA also made headlines in … Continue reading
Posted in DNA profiling, Forensic Science
Tagged CSI, DNA profiling, Forensic science
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When flies besmirch the crime scene, this might avoid DNA mistakes
Interesting look at separating fly DNA from human DNA at a messy crime scene. Hopefully the fly crap can be separated out after the research is completed. There are cases where flyspecks (regurg and poop) are mis-identified as blood spatter and … Continue reading
Posted in DNA mixtures, Forensic Science
Tagged fly poop at crime scenes, Forensic science
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Forensics: Making sure your employer get paid regardless…….
An insider look about genetic ‘counselors’ selling imperfect testing services and exaggerating results in order to stay employed. Hmm, the same might be said for police using junk drug testing kits from Kmart. https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/03/05/when-baby-due-genetic-counselors-seen-downplaying-false-alarms/bBC0KAFVidJASkkOiMg6DI/story.html
Big Civil Payout in Digital Fingerprint Mis-handling and Release to Third Party
This is just about a tanning salon franchise. The settlement class action amount is chump change compared to what will happen if/when biological info in commercial use gets lost or stolen or surreptitiously resold. As usual, the lawyer gets alot … Continue reading
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
Good grief – Belgium forensic evidence lab blown up – Cops say “criminals not terrorists”
Arson in Brussels Belgium’s national forensics lab was set on fire early Monday, causing an explosion in the wing of the building where the evidence labs are located. Read full story from the Belgian news media. Read full story from The … Continue reading
The bloom is off forensic DNA’s infallibility – Scientific American
Eric Frimpong and Santa Barbara defense attorney Robert Sanger in 2008. With the FBI making a step to reel in its history of wayward forensic conclusions, Scientific American wades into the “restructuring” of DNA opinions in much the same way. … Continue reading
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