In the Forensic News: Paleoanthropologists and Archeobiologists run amuck

Posted on November 29, 2015 by csidds

A brief look at what exaggerating science in the news media brings to mind. I have noticed some of this trend in commerical-connected forensic news releases and desperate believers in outdated or debunked forensic techniques. I clearly remember a nearly $1,000,000 NIJ research grant that went to a bitemark dentist who later opined that bitemarks are great evidence and non-Causcasian teeth are unique from other racial groups.

BTW, nothing is wrong with either the paleoanthros or archeobios.

The influence of showmanship on science research.

 

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European Body Farm Project faces some naysayers but supporters are seeking answers

Posted on November 29, 2015 by csidds

Image result for body farm decomposition

Nothing divides a community more than an outdoor display of decaying human remains. Academicians are stimulated, but the neighbors not so much. Teaching taphonomy and bug science (think maggots, beetles and flies) can be smelly, but has its place in forensics when unknown and homicide victims’ remains become the center of police investigations. I like the fact that this proposed facility would be co-managed and available throughout the EU for students and research.

Lincolnshire Body Farm

 

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Neuberger: A Scientific rationale lends depth to legal reasoning but vice versa? #Forensics

Posted on November 28, 2015 by csidds

Image result for royal society

This is a striking personal account recently given by an English legal gentleman before the Royal Society in London. His career spans formal scientific education, initial research experience, and a professional transition to the law. As of this writing he is President of the UK Supreme Court. He is Lord Neuberger.

These lecture notes are his verbatim account of the conceptual/philosophical voyage through the years and gives all of us a valuable view regarding scientific “binary thinking” contrasted with legal “logic” suppositions and moral proclamations.

Here is a quote of modest reflection:

” I believe that my scientific training has been valuable in my career in the law.”

And then he drops the bombshell:

“The explanation, I said, was plain: it is far easier to switch from a more rigorous subject to a less rigorous subject than the reverse.”

The “takeaways” will produce some insight.

Lord Neuberger (Long read)

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Australia gets rid of unreliable forensic expert’s convictions – So should Mississippi and other states

Posted on November 26, 2015 by csidds

Image result for junk science

A long time Australian pathologist who retired in 1995, having recently been given an “unreliable” designation by the Aussie courts, is the subject of extensive re-litigation of many of his past trials.

Coincidentally, the Mississippi Supreme Court has ordered another hearing next January in Noxumbee County, MS, in Eddie Lee Howard’s death penalty case, regarding the courtroom promises of accuracy in Dr. Michael West’s brand of “blue light” illuminated bitemark identifications. This dentist has more recently proclaimed that bitemarks are not “scientific evidence” and therefore are unreliable.

It should not be a serious leap of for Mississippi to click the box on “junk science” in their judicial protocols. Australia obviously has.

BTW, its too bad the bitemarker group in the United States, the AAFS sponsored ABFO, have not had that revelation. Their latest presentation before the Texas Forensic Science Commission was a travesty of hollow opinion and desperate grandstanding.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/flawed-forensics-trigger-murder-appeals/story-e6frg6nf-1227621700050?sv=d2a631af276df7187dcfadef271611e1

Posted in AAFS, ABFO, Bitemarks, Crime lab scandal, criminal justice reform, CSI, death penalty | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Forensic Science Reform Saves Lives

Posted on November 25, 2015 by csidds

Changing forensic science practices and protocols to a basis of scientific proofs takes years. This one indelible fact reveals how slowly law enforcement, the courts, and “general  acceptance” of established forensic groups adapt to legitimate change.

Read about how John Lentini has spent decades reworking the old assumptions and “magic” that was so popular in police arson investigations.

ABA Journal Magazine

 

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CSI Gartcosh: Scottish police reveal three forensic breakthroughs

Posted on November 25, 2015 by csidds

POLICE SCOTLAND’S new crime campus at Gartcosh is turning Scotland into a world leader in the area of forensics, and will help solve more sex crimes and kidnaps.

And DNA 24 gives forensic teams more than double the number of individual markers to identify suspects or victims than the previous process, called SGM +. More on NA 24 as it  seems a bit over the top for some folks. 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/csi-gartcosh-scottish-police-reveal-6877969

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DC considering tightening rules to combat junk science in its courts

Posted on November 24, 2015 by csidds

Talk about partisan politics in the judicial system. Washington DC lawyers (plantiffs lawyers of course. They sue people in civil courts mostly on a contingency basis) are whining (lets call it like it is) about the DC judiciary thinking about shifting their rules for expert testimony to the Daubert/Kumho standard in use since the middle 1990’s by the majority of US states.

Their current standard for acceptance is the antique Frye Rule which is almost 100 years old. It allows “general acceptance” by a “community” to pass muster for courtroom acceptance. The definition of “community” seems to be any group greater than 2.

This new discussion is spurred by an awareness and a statement that “false or misleading” expert testimony is the primary reason for wrongful convictions in criminal cases.

Actually, that last is incorrect. False eyewitness testimony is the greatest reason. Experts come second. Read about that here.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/dc-court-considers-how-to-screen-out-bad-science-in-local-trials/2015/11/23/25206b88-91f8-11e5-b5e4-279b4501e8a6_story.html?postshare=2351448368434164&tid=ss_tw-bottom

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Professor Christophe Champod interacts with famed Scottish forensics center

Posted on November 24, 2015 by csidds

Lord Advocate: Scotland’s crime campus makes us world leaders in forensic fight against crime

A refreshing look at political support for forensic science research and crime investigation using a multi-disciplinary scientific approach. Professor Christophe Champod, from Lausanne, Switzerland, is mentioned as an international contributor for crime scene investigation.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/lord-advocate-scotlands-crime-campus-6878875

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The mashup of science and pseudo-science in forensics explained quite well

Posted on November 23, 2015 by csidds

Illustration by Oliver Munday

Im not one to delve deeply into the epistemology of science, but having been given this book review ( quote: “what makes science science?”) article to read from the New Yorker, I think this next quote is interesting as it touches on the progress of science in relation to physics. Just substitute forensics and police science and its a good read.

The article lives in the broader world of Einstein, alchemy, secret knowledge, quantum theory debunking and, in a certain extent, how human “experts” mistreat each other and the public interest for personal gain.

The context:

“They see a muddle of coercion, old magical ideas, occasional experiment, hushed-up failures—all coming together in a social practice that gets results but rarely follows a definable logic.”

The book is by the Scientific American contributing editor George Musser, “Spooky Action at a Distance” (Scientific American/Farrar, Straus & Giroux).

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Forensic Toxicology and death investigation. Ex-Coroner did a shabby job.

Posted on November 23, 2015 by csidds

Image result for coroner costume

Another example of the effects of inconsistent and non-standardized management of questionable deaths  in the US. Most coroners are not trained medical professionals.

“Kane County Coroner changes cause of death from overdose to undetermined.”

Events of note: the prior coroner was indicted for “missing” personal effects.

“In this case, no autopsy was performed to see the possibility of a natural event,” Russell [ newly elected in 2012] said in a press release. “The cause of death was determined at that time to be polypharmacy [multiple drugs], and the manner was accidental. After I reviewed the toxicology report, my forensic pathologist and I agreed the determination was incorrect.”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/news/ct-ecn-kane-russell-death-investigation-st-1123-20151121-story.html

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