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Sheriffs being Coroners get some heat in California
The interplay of law enforcement and death investigations being under the same roof is a national problem. California is getting a dose of that in the news. It is a problem endemic throughout the US. Elected Coroners qualify with a … Continue reading
Forensic Confusion: ICE testing for age of purported juvenile detainees not done according to its own rules.
Here is another great example of the intersection between forensics and criminal justice. It surely is a mess. These two articles lay out how US Immigration courts are rendering opinions on the chronological age of detainees without completing the … Continue reading
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Tagged American Academy of Forensic Science, Forensic science
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When Prosecutors continue to use Bitemarkers’ Junk Testimony in New Jersey
Participating in post-conviction appeals of defendants convicted from the use of bitemark pattern “matching” brought me to a crossroads with my memberships in both the bitemark group (ABFO) and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS). The cross-road on the … Continue reading
Police searched genealogy records back to the early 1800s in tracking down the “Golden State” killer
In 1980, a Ventura County medical examiner played a role in getting the killer’s DNA from a murder scene. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/to-find-alleged-golden-state-killer-investigators-first-found-his-great-great-great-grandparents/2018/04/30/3c865fe7-dfcc-4a0e-b6b2-0bec548d501f_story.html?utm_term=.7f1e51de3fb2
How NOT to get a DNA sample from a non-cooperating inmate – Pepper spray, violence, and handcuffs.
Judge bars DNA evidence obtained at ACI through ‘unreasonable force and violence’ http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20180428/judge-bars-dna-evidence-obtained-at-aci-through-unreasonable-force-and-violence
Cops messed up an earlier 2017 Golden State Killer “hit” – Got the wrong guy
Court records say a 73 year man was a “person of interest” and was tracked down by police for his DNA in an earlier search of DNA records pursued in 2017. He was not the perp arrested this week. A … Continue reading
Recanting and chumped medical “experts” led to 25 years on death row. DAs in Bakersfield withheld hospital records of infant death
Kern County is a leader of California counties having inmates on death row. A man would have been executed under the new California statutes allowing “swifter justice.” Of course, the CA DA Association spent millions, along with sanctimonious “victim rights … Continue reading
“Discarded DNA” from a 72 year old ex-cop and a Familial DNA archive search leads to his arrest as a serial predator
Police obtaining your DNA without a warrant is one issue in this case. That’s allowed if you go out in public or don’t incinerate your trash. Once in the dumpster, there is no “expectation” of privacy. The other issue is … Continue reading
Grandpa’s cremated remains sent to police lockup as heroin _
Local police chief thinks using a glove box for driving with Grandpa is highly unusual.
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Tagged American Academy of Forensic Science, Forensic science
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Convicting an Innocent Man Quote Runs Up Against Prosecution Experts’ Immunity Protections
Sir William Blackstone made his legal commentaries in 18th century England. Serious old-school forensic problem exists with fingerprint experts. Their old-saw statement of “zero-error rate” is beginning to sound unrealistic to judges who have some forensic training. This case in … Continue reading
