Dr. Ophaven is a champ.
A forensic doctor testified that science used in the death penalty case of Robert Leslie Roberson III, was flawed during the continuance of the evidentiary hearing Monday, March 8
Shane Jenkins is set to go before a judge at 10 am this morning for his part in the Capitol Insurrection… The Washington Times Shane Leedon Jenkins of Houston, Texas, was arrested Friday on several charges related to the rioting at the U.S….
— Read on m.dailykos.com/stories/2021/3/8/2019718/-FBI-Says-Citizen-Sleuth-ID-d-Violent-Insurrectionist-From-His-Facebook-amp-Twitter-Posts
Innocence Project sleuths question Syracuse man’s murder conviction after 30 years in prison – syracuse.com
— Read on www.syracuse.com/crime/2021/03/innocence-project-sleuths-question-syracuse-mans-murder-conviction-after-30-years-in-prison.html
Judges hate to rule on scientific issues and opt to “let the jury sort it out.” Its a sign of poor legal/science competencies. Plus inadequate and outdated “rules of evidence” in places like New York. California and Texas now have junk science writs to compensate.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and subsequent revisions to Federal Rule of Evidence 702, are seldom properly applied in criminal cases. Civil cases use them much more frequently.
— Read on papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm
At the end of May 1983, two pieces of Italian Renaissance armor went missing. The circumstances around their disappearance still remain a mystery.
— Read on www.nytimes.com/2021/03/06/world/europe/louvre-art-theft.html
Ever wonder why we lose our teeth? Biological anthropologist Shara Bailey has the answers. She’s knows her stuff. Old human teeth found from from multiple million years ago.
— Read on www.sciencefriday.com/segments/baby-teeth-anthropology/
Dear potential jurors, Did you know that in more than 2,000 murder cases across the United States from 1985-2000 used faulty forensic hair analysis? In 27 of those cases the suspect was executed.
— Read on addisonindependent.com/opeds/letter-editor-forensic-hair-analysis-unreliable-tool-court
Elected officials are the worst in admitting past mistakes regarding forensic science. I have met one or two.
The N.C. Department of Justice has stonewalled efforts to review decades of files where the state crime lab used bad science to send innocent men to prison. That changed after questions from WBTV.
— Read on www.wbtv.com/2021/03/03/bad-science-sent-innocent-men-prison-nc-doj-wouldnt-review-other-cases-where-it-was-used/
Dr. Melinek knows her stuff. Cops influence suspects and then move onto the forensic pathologists with false confessions. She mentions a recent joint paper on racial bias in forensic decision-making that adds proof to the presence of bias and resistance of practitioners to address these issues.
No one is immune to prejudice
— Read on www.medpagetoday.com/blogs/working-stiff/91462
Here is access to the JFS article on forensic biases.
Dental students love to see lectures about forensics. Thank you CSI. I have talked with dental students at Ostrow USC for decades in short seminar format. My principal topic is human identification. The bitemark portion talks about DNA collection from skin injuries and I debunk tooth pattern “matching.” This generation of dental students are aware of wrongful convictions and junk forensics. They shake their heads when I show them bitemark exoneration cases. Many say “how could they say this is science?” I usually say “money and status” and reinforce the failure of the bitemarker group, the American Board of Forensic Odontology (ABFO) continuing to teach dentists about bitemarks as acceptable “science.” The ABFO solidified their bitemark mythology at the recent online American Academy of Forensic Sciences convention.
The students enjoy the slides of my and colleagues casework from the last 37 years of forensic consultations and writing on dental identification. Their enthusiasm is remarkable and they ask about future involvement in odontology. This is when I get sad. And upset.
I run my story about literally walking into the Ventura County Medical Examiners office (in 1984!) and receiving a carte blanche invite to help out. I tell my students that their dental training in radiology, anatomy, dental diagnostics, and dental materials should allow them entry to the multi-disciplinary world of forensic identication. My mentors did it, and so did I. In-house OJT training has ALWAYS been a mainstay for dentists in the US. My principal forensic investigation training occurred within those walls. The AAFS/ABFO meetings provided “show and tell” assurances that bitemark matching was reliable. How times have changed.
I have to inform these eager students that those opportunities have disappeared due to the affiliation of the ABFO (abfo.org) and the National Association of Medical Examiners (@theNAME1966). NAME now requires its forensic pathology membership to hire only ABFO diplomates.
This is reprehensible in multiple levels.
1. There is NO data supporting licensed dentists being less reliable than ABFO dentists.
2. It is inconceiveable that the 100 ABFO dentists can provide coverage for all the US law enforcement agencies.
3. Clearly this is a money grab by the ABFO to funnel aspiring dentists into its occasional and expensive training events.
4. The forensic science bias and cognitive dissonance (I call it “forensic gaslighting”) of the ABFO should not be allowed to infiltrate the US death investigation system.
Final comment, why would NAME want to do this? How is this possible?
FORENSICS and LAW in FOCUS @ CSIDDS | News and Trends 