Here is an article talking about the UK judicial utilization of its multi-million pound national database. Homicide cases come in as the highest users of DNA info at 8%. Sexual assault cases are barely a blip.
The AAAS, (the American Association for the Advancement of Science) maybe the upcoming opposition to the now Trump-run DOJ forensic “commission.” They released a report that latent print examination producing testimonial certainties as to one person identity gets the gong. The DAs, like this dude, predictably ignore this type of non-cop-alligned empirical effort.
Their study group agrees that latents (i..e. crime scence derived) are:
….report makes clear that while latent fingerprint examiners can successfully rule out most of the population from being the source of a latent fingerprint based on observed features, insufficient data exist to determine how unique fingerprint features really are, thus making it scientifically baseless to claim that an analysis has enabled examiners to narrow the pool of sources to a single person.
https://www.aaas.org/news/fingerprint-source-identity-lacks-scientific-basis-legal-certainty
Early look at recognition and retrieval of hands and fingers using vacuum metal deposition.
https://www.west-technology.co.uk/forensic/2017/09/28/visualisation-grab-mark-impressions-fabric/
A brand new juried paper in @ScienceDirect on a 235 case metadata look at the evidentiary contents of “unsafe” convictions in Wales, and England. “Unsafe” is a Brit legal term that parallels “wrongful conviction” which is used in the US.
The authors’ compilation of multi-factors includes forensics and, besides having an exemplary list of references (many from the US), should be considered strikingly similar to prior efforts at compiling empirical data on errors within Criminal Justice systems in the US and abroad.
Or, it may be just another part of the so-called conspiracy of criminal defense lawyers and LS profs who want to undermine public safety in order to reap millions of $$.
Here’s a short list of these prosecutorial-related naysayers producing Fake News that forensics is immune to faults, quacks, and fools.
More fake news about wrongful convictions
Much like using the 1978 revelation that bitemarks “convicted” serial killer Ted Bundy, this September 12th, 2017 article tracks the origins of another forensic myth still in effect in sexual offender punishment masquerading as “therapy’ in Wisconsin.
When Junk Science About Sex Offenders Infects the Supreme Court
Talking about the “CSI Effect” of “perfect matching” versus the science-lacking truth in use in reality. My bitemark buddies are prominant cast members.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScmJvmzDcG0&feature=youtu.be
Broke and no ID. The unsung generosity of the Innocence Network comes to the surface once again.
Rather than getting government and public assistance if he had been guilty, this exonerated man just got released after 15 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted. Onto the street. Probably at night.
Also as usual, the defense team who fought for his freedom take on the task of taking care of him.
This is disgusting neglect and is repeatedly the case in the US and other nations. (This next link has some annoying pop-ups.)
Specialized nursing training to provide care for victims of violent crime and forensic investigations. On-the-job training is not sufficient. If you can believe it, some police agencies train officers to collect biological evidence from patients. Unbelieveable. They’re called Phleboto-Cops.
Here is the recent outrageous police union response to the Utah ER nurse arrest by a cop who is (uhh, was) a phlebot0-cop within the hospital.
Scroll down for the Duquesne U infographic.
The college-based nursing Masters program at Duquesne University.
The area of police investigating digital evidence used one company’s proprietary cracking program and staff at the peak of their success. Until the police took the program public and put it on the Internet.
Another story about lazy forensics sending defendants to the death chamber. DNA testing be damned, the police ‘science’ creates a unique match.
Inmate scheduled for execution.
By Jordan Smith
FORENSICS and LAW in FOCUS @ CSIDDS | News and Trends 