Learn how the US law enforcement lobby throws its weight into elections of judges and prosecution harder liners imagining citizen terrorists amongst us all. It insures continuing $$ for policing the “enemy forces” in our society. This is in the face of lowering of crime stats and monumental overpolicing of victimless crimes and profiting from assest forfeiture.
This article is about how forensic experts who sound convincing to juries shape their images as ‘scientific’ by misinformation and resorting to desperate measures to mislead the US judicial system. Since this article was published in early April 2015, the target of the article, the American Board of Forensic Odontology, is investigating its members about who is the “reliable source” mentioned in the article. This is an American Academy of Forensic Sciences sponsored organization. Retribution may follow, but this story is compelling evidence of misconduct and bad faith. I’ve used it in my Elsevier published book “Forensic Testimony: Science, Law and Forensic Evidence” as a framework for a junk science masquerading as being legitimate.
A bite mark matching advocacy Washington Post’s Raley Balko covers the ABFO’s latest failed attempt at legitimacy Highlights added for emphasis.
Hiding witnesses from defense counsel and another recanting leads to release of 3 prisoners. Of course this attempt for permanent freedem is pending recharging by the same DA’s Office that lied to convict 20 years ago.
http://citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-32558-free_at_last_free_fo.html
By Andrew Cohen from The Marshall Project
We know more every day about the ways wrongful convictions happen. An indigent defendant gets an incompetent attorney. Or prosecutors hide exculpatory information from the defense. Perhaps there is a false confession, coerced by sly detectives, or undue reliance on faulty eyewitness testimony or junk forensic science. Maybe a key witness turns out to be an unreliable informant, or the jury or judge is racially biased. Often, it is some combination of these factors that puts an innocent person behind bars, sometimes for life.
What gets far less notice, however, is how wrongful convictions stay that way, even after evidence of injustice appears to bubble to the surface. This is why the already well-chronicled saga of Davontae Sanford, a 14-year-old boy convicted of a 2007 quadruple murder in Michigan, is worth following closely again as it enters its latest and most bizarre phase.
The main perp of these crimes spent less than 4 years in prison. Still gets pension of course.
An Innocence Integrity Project that works.
A journey to fight and educate for criminal justice reform in the US.
Children and friends of deceased couple fight back against local police who obviously had problems refraining from early conclusions during the evidence collecting and testing phases are finished. The chief makes some rather uninformed comments about DNA. In response, the police and state’s pathologist get a poor grade from family’s own pathologist Michael Baden.
Excellent presentation on what true science methods really means in regards to reporting studies that fail to support expectations. Hiding “bad” test results is a component of bias present within forensics for decades. For example: bitemarks, bullet lead, hair comparisons, handwriting, lie detection, foot print, and…. Article from Elsevier Science
Nothing like actual problem-based research to see the disconnect between hard line “crime and justice fighters” with what problems exists in the US criminal justice system. problems.
Another example of an innocent man’s plight in Virginia. Its governor seems mute.
FORENSICS and LAW in FOCUS @ CSIDDS | News and Trends 