The sample size in this study is very small, although the authors have been collecting data for 13 years.
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A court looks at BAC assumptions that aren’t based on scientific investigation
If only bitemarkers could be taken to task by a trial court like this blood alcohol ‘expert.’
On cross-examination, Wetstein [the BAC guy for the DA] acknowledged that he did not know what the defendant had eaten that night, how long she had been drinking, or what type of alcohol she consumed. Wetstein admitted that he did not attempt to determine when the defendant had entered the elimination phase, but rather assumed that she was in the elimination phase at 9:10 p.m. Wetstein explained that if a person had not consumed any alcohol since 7:30 p.m., he would be “quite confident” that the person was in the elimination phase by 9:10 p.m.
The appellate court reversed, finding that the expert’s opinion was improperly admitted. “A retrograde extrapolation calculation based on a single breath test, and when many of the factors necessary to determine whether the defendant was in the elimination phase are unknown, is insufficient to provide a reliable calculation and invites the jury to determine guilt on an improper basis. Based on the specific circumstances presented in this case, we believe that the prejudicial effect of the retrograde extrapolation calculation substantially outweighed its probative value and that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting it.”
- People v. Floyd, 2014 IL App (2d) 120507, 1-2, 11 N.E.3d 335, 336
Federal Public Defenders want autopsy report of ARK execution – State objects
Nothing describes the onerous lack of prosecutorial transparency regarding the death penalty better than this article on the State of Arkansas legal maneuvering to hide what happened at the April 27th execution of Kenneth Williams.
“Witnesses to the execution reported that about three minutes after Williams was injected with the sedative midazolam, he coughed, convulsed and lurched on the execution gurney for about 10 seconds. The witnesses said they could hear Williams making sounds even though a microphone into which he gave his final statement had been turned off.”
Grant money to test DNA from dubious convictions probably will dry up with Trump
The costs of uncovering wrongful convictions are expensive. All innocence projects and criminal defense organizations require substantial donations to pursue the few cases they glean from thousands of requests from the public and inmates. Each case like the one mentioned in this article. dealing with erroneous bitemark evidence, needs alot of money to handle attorney costs, court and police records (not free by any means), and biological expertise. Alfred Swinton spent 15 years of appeals before finally being released last week. He is still on house arrest, since the DA from Connecticut has a time limit remaining before declaring no re-trial will occur.
Once an exoneration is achieved, the taxpayers then get the hook to pay compensation costs on those same cases. The state of California has paid out of millions of dollars according to this study from a few years ago.
How DNA and exonerations dropped a bomb on police crime labs
These exon cases (350) brought forth a 45% presence of flawed, inaccurate or misleading prosecution forensics. Ignore the dude who says in this article that its only a matter of “resources.”
http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/technology/the-shifting-science-of-dna-in-the-courtroom/533124173
Major US science orgs oppose Sessions cancelling of forensic science commission
The AAAS, ACS and two other groups associated with main-stream science put in their two cents about desiring “independent and transparent” review and monitoring of police forensic research and methods.
This will largely prove futile. It is obvious that the WH wants governmental control of US forensics science to preserve its various “war on crime” philosophies. Crime lab scandals, junk forensic methods, and exaggerated police experts accuracy statements be damned.
https://www.aaas.org/news/aaas-reinforces-need-use-proven-science-doj-forensics
Added: What these groups are concerned about.
Loss of oversight results from police control of forensics
An outlier crime labber, ignoring all this, says that what is needed are “more resources.”
Great example of ongoing innocence litigation exposing flawed forensic science developed and used for decades by US law enforcement and prosecutors. Hair comparison put Banarek in prison for 26 years. DNA proves conviction was false.
Cures for crime lab scandals and injustice left foundering in Session’s wake
Conscientious DAs looking to render some essence of justice to bogus crime lab forensic science cases rely on authoritative leadership about remedial measures to protect those innocent of crime. Sessions got rid of that problem a couple months ago by ignoring it.
Here’s a good story about one good DA doing his best.
Police controlled fingerprint evidence puts the wrong man in prison for 10 years
Here is a common equation for wrongful convictions:
- inaccurate eye witness testimony
- fumbled forensic identification controlled by the local police department.
- Little to no public review or police admission on how this happened in the first place.
California new death penalty law gets scorched in preliminary higher court statement
The joy and triumph of the California District Attorney Assn from the 2016 passage of a ‘speed-em up death penalty’ statute Prop 66 just got a less than triumphant preliminary look by the state’s Supreme Court. Guys like San Bernardino’s ambitious DA Michael Ramos and the state Attorney General may have to eat some crow in 60 days when the SC panel posts its final review. Their pro death penalty platform was described as a means to remove ‘unnecessary” appeals. Left unsaid was that this same bunch clearly ignore the presence of rotten prosecutorial misconduct in their sacrosanct midst.
