Medical product liability case lends itself as a framework on Junk Forensics use in US courts

Posted on April 15, 2017 by csidds

If only there was a Rule for judges to take the time to use their own Rules on the subject of expert testimony on forensic subjects.

This brief review of a civil plantiff’s complaint (Jones) against biophosphonase maker Novartis travels through a pre-trial Daubert hearing shows us something about judicial rigor in the face of disjointed experts’s claims of proof to their opinions. It comes with a nifty graphic.

Bitemarks have faced 10 Dauberts’ in Texas. All resulted in judicial approval going to the bitemarkers. The only recent dent in this sorry judicial review is Texas Forensic Science Commission’s stance recommending its courts ban the bitemarkers out of court.

Excerpt:

The Jones court specifically recites the Daubert gatekeeping function as a mandate that the trial court conduct “an exacting analysis of the foundations of expert opinions to ensure they meet the standards for admissibility under Rule 702.” Id. at *2 quoting United States v. Abreu, 406 F.3d 1304, 1306 (11th Cir. 2005). In addition, as we noted in our recent Gorsuch article, the court must also include certain elements, i.e., a specific address to each Daubert objection raised, in the opinion granting a Daubert motion to ensure it will stand up on appeal. That’s a big job.

While the Jones opinion is well-supported and stands as a very helpful example of a thorough Daubert analysis, we’re curious whether courts are often not inclined to engage in this kind of detailed, documented review because it requires so much time, effort, and judicial resources.

Full Story

 

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US Forensics look forward is getting confused – mirroring Trump’s crony Sessions

Posted on April 14, 2017 by csidds

Image result for off the table meme

We should consider the US Department of Justice declining to renew the Natl Commission on Forensic Science just a foretelling of the retrenching push by police and prosecutor to remain outside normal scientific influences.

This agency of public safety via criminal litigation, punishment and incarceration is earning negative credits for false accusations of being ignored by Congress, the Obama administration and being a victim of ‘defense oriented’ bias since the 2009 National Academy of Sci report creating a “Path Forward” hit their radar. Or rather hit their foreheads and immediately bounced off. 

Here is today’s look at the meme-like prosecutors jumping for joy and some of their incorrigible ‘defense’ enemies from an article at ABC News. “Critics worry ‘junk science’ to reign as panel ends.” ABC has included a neat video of a recent “Science March” foretelling the April 22 nation-wide event on Earth Day.

Talking points

  • Prosecutors praise the move.
  • Defense attorneys will step up their challenges to certain forensic practices.
  • Erin Murphy – “Even if defense attorneys jump up and down and complain about it, they won’t have the power of a national commission to back them up,” said Erin Murphy, a professor at New York University School of Law. “The status quo right now is to admit it all. The status quo is where things are likely to stay.”
  • The Justice Department says concerns are premature.
  • USDOJ sub AG Andrew Goldsmith (Sally Yates replacement) – “Nothing off the table.”

Goldsmith failed to attach the time line of his boss Sessions, police crime lab people and Prosecutors’s ballistic (pun intended) responses that should dissuade the public from thinking the table even exists.

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Alchemy, prosecutors, junk science and bitemarks – NY Times

Posted on April 14, 2017 by csidds

This pic has gotten alot of action over the last few years. It originated at the University Buffalo School of Dentistry and shows plaster models of human teeth used at Dr. Mary and Peter Bush research center.

Joining the accelerating conversation about US justice and forensic science is this New York Times editorial from journalist Jim Dwyer. The piece argues that the forensic status quo being assured by the Trump/Sessions versions of criminal justice is a myth.

Science methods and the written record of false forensic testimony looking ‘scientific’ speaks against the current administration’s obstinate avoidance and denial.

These naysayers ignore the fact that the public wants safety from violent crime AND safety from wrongful convictions. The story starts with a bitemark case.

Another Reprieve for Expert Testimony that is Anything But.

Bloomberg News thinks the Forensic Commission was a good idea.

Crime-Solving Isn’t a Science (But it Could Be). I say it “should be” or leave it out in the hallway.

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Congress looks into forensic failures regardless of DOJ Sessions lack of interest

Posted on April 13, 2017 by csidds

Image result for fox in the henhouse

 

 

 

 

On March 28, 2017 the House Judicial Committee heard from 3 “stakeholders’ ” on numerous forensic science issues including the extreme costs of wrongful convictions (Illinois has paid out $253M between 1989 and 2013). One major item are the realities of prosecutors and some judges ignoring or unschooled on scientific principles and instead default to the myth that case law of prior acceptance should still dominant their decision making.

Stakeholder One: The Innocence Project

IP Statement_2017.04.05 Final.

Excerpt on bitemarks:

The PCAST report, however, does dispel the notion that a court’s assessment of legal admissibility of a type of forensic evidence should be viewed as proof of its scientific validity. The use of bitemark analysis as evidence of identification has been discredited by numerous scientific studies and reports. 18 Since 2000, DNA evidence has exonerated 21 people whose convictions and 7 people whose indictments had been secured through the use of bitemark comparison evidence,19 two scientific panels have questioned the reliability of this evidence,20 and the Texas Forensic Science Commission has recommended a moratorium on the use of bitemark evidence in criminal courts until its validity and reliability can be established.21 The fact that bitemark evidence nonetheless continues to be admitted in U.S. criminal courts underscores why legal precedent should not be confused for scientific fitness, nor should a previous history of admission be the principal argument for the use of a class of scientific evidence.

Stakeholder Two: Forensic DNA pioneer Nora Rudin

Norah Rudin comment_final

Excerpt about Police control of forensic standards.

In general, I would like to proffer my view that creating a national Office of Forensic Science (OFS) within a law enforcement agency is a fundamentally bad idea. This would take us – both the forensic and legal communities – backwards, not move us forward. The proverbial cliché of the fox guarding the hen house is not inapplicable to such a situation.

Stakeholder Three: The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

NACDL Statement for the Record_State of Forensic Science Hearing_3-28-17

Excerpt about crime lab transparency and need to make forensic science independent of prosecutor control.

This Congress confronts a critical moment in the evolution of forensic evidence in the United States. After two scathing reports on the lamentable state of science in our criminal courts, progress has slowly begun to be made. The forces of positive change are not welcomed by all, however, and there are strong interests to return to the practices – most importantly, exclusive control of forensic science by law enforcement interests – that led the nation to undertake reform in the first place. Congress should reinforce and continue that forward momentum, not set it back.

 

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Your Daily Crime Lab Scandal – Houston again – DAs scramble

Posted on April 13, 2017 by csidds

Image result for houston crime lab scandal

Here we go with some real forensic news. Not the befuddled repartee from Jeff Sessions loving handwriting analysis and other police ‘forensics’ like bitemarks.

Texas crime-scene errors put 65 cases under review, audit finds:

Dozens of criminal prosecutions could be in jeopardy after errors by a Houston crime-scene investigator raised questions about key evidence in cases that include 26 homicides, five officer-involved shootings and six child deaths since 2015.

The revelations Wednesday in a crime lab audit sent prosecutors with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office scrambling to untangle the possible problems, first with a blanket notification to criminal defense attorneys and then a public statement.

“Any deficiencies in the collection of evidence at a crime scene are extremely disturbing and important,” said David Mitcham, the trial bureau chief of the DA’s office. “It’s not minor. It can create problems of proof later in a court of law.”
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/New-evidence-problems-raise-questions-in-65-11068118.php

Houston Police says this is all a witch hunt against their officers ‘collecting’ for the Houston Crime Lab. A major turf war is going on over who controls the forensic lab. Sounds a bit like AG Sessions vs the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and other forensic reform advocates.

http://abc13.com/news/das-office-investigator-made-errors-in-65-cases/1864444/

Thanks to joe

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Feds reluctant to address their wrongful convictions. 2000 exonerations prove some DAs are not. 

Posted on April 13, 2017 by csidds

https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/opinions/how-jeff-sessions-can-offer-justice-to-the-wrongfully-convicted/2017/04/12/ea3b3a3e-0e42-11e7-ab07-07d9f521f6b5_story.html

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The odds of Innocents getting convicted just increased with Sessions – The Atlantic

Posted on April 12, 2017 by csidds

Image result for pro Trump DA

“The attorney general is standing athwart a long overdue movement to reform forensics yelling stop.”

“Sessions was the first Congressperson to endorse The Donald.”

“Lest you think it is unfair to tar Sessions with Trump’s execrable behavior, here is what our attorney general said on talk radio while campaigning for candidate Trump:”

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/04/jeff-sessions-and-the-odds-of-imprisoning-innocents/522651/

More:

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DOJ takeover of forensic policy making and practice – Comments Deadline Ap 12 11:59 EDT

Posted on April 12, 2017 by csidds

Image result for death knell bell

Making comments to the US DOJ is largely pointless since its boss AG Sessions is determined to control the playing field of US forensic science to the advantage of the prosecutors. All of this is  via their series of lies and misdemeanors in the press about ‘unrepresentative’ science oversight.

Comments page:

https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=DOJ-LA-2017-0005

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Prosecutors as science policy makers are now ABOVE the Science – Summary of Responses

Posted on April 12, 2017 by csidds

Image result for death knell

Here’s a summary of MSM responses to the Republican establishment of a State recognized forensic science industry. Sessions appointment of an ‘advisory panel’ on police forensics will surely be a stunning array of mostly police trained flunkies.

Jeff Session wants to  keep forensics in the Dark Ages – The Watch

Excerpts from Radley Balko

“But for Sessions, even tepid criticism of the tools he and other prosecutors had used for years was a threat.”

“Our adversarial system may be the best system available for assessing evidence, but it’s hostile to good science.”

“……law enforcement officials and prosecutors like Sessions have retreated to the battle lines that defined much of the last century. They’ve attacked the scientists as biased, or made bizarre arguments that forensics should be judged on principles other than scientific principles. (Before we give the Obama administration too much praise, it’s worth pointing out that after PCAST issued its damning report on forensics last year, Obama’s own attorney general Loretta Lynch immediately dismissed it.)”

[Jeff Sessions dismisses DOJ reports on police abuse without bothering to read them]

The Summary of Other Articles From Yesterday about AG Sessions

AG Sessions scraps forensic science panel, suspends FBI testimony review

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Taking Science Out Of Forensics is Wrong: Erin Murphy

Posted on April 11, 2017 by csidds

With prosecutors and police officers in control, expect more wrongful convictions. Read about their sketchy history of mistakes and blatant denial of responsibility  for wrongful convictions. 

Posted in forensic science reform protecting the innocent, junk forensic science, National FOrensic Science Commission, prosecutorial misconduct | 1 Comment