[Editor’s note: this piece has been very difficult to write.  I’ve been working on it for months, and have deliberated about publishing it at all; I think because the objective it advocates is so daunting.  But I do think it goes to the heart of so much that is wrong with the justice system. I do not have hard data to support my position, and I doubt such data will ever exist, but I do have decades of study and careful observation.  I only report what I observe. Please read it, and just think about it.]

This article will be both editorial and somewhat philosophical, at least to the extent that it expresses conclusions on my part, so please bear with me. But it does address an issue that I believe is one of the key flaws in the justice system – and one that seems to be universally overlooked…

• In NY, the wrongfully convicted petition for prosecutorial oversight
• Colorado to consider eyewitness lineup reforms
• In Japan, will wrongful convictions be catalyst for criminal justice reform?
• With a judge’s order throwing out his murder conviction in-hand, Tyrone Hood truly became a free man as he was exonerated at a Monday morning hearing after spending more than 20 years in prison for a slaying he’s continued to insist he did not commit.
  “I can’t even describe how I feel right now,” he said.  Nearly a month ago, outgoing Gov. Pat Quinn commuted Hood’s sentence, releasing him from prison.  The decision by Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez to dismiss the convictions against Hood and his co-defendant Wayne Washington, Jr. follows more than two years of investigation by her office’s conviction integrity unit – which began looking into the case in 2012 after the University of Chicago’s Exoneration Project championed Hood’s…

RECOGNITION FOR THE BOOK

Forensic Testimony. Science, Law and Forensic Evidence. I had something to do with it.

BAD FORENSIC NEWS

Caption: Memorial in front of burned out city hall

 Forensics experts slam Mexico’s 43 missing students probe

A team of Argentine forensics experts is questioning Mexico’s probe of the disappearance of 43 students, saying that the evidence does not support the government’s conclusion and that it should be allowed to investigate all theories.

Full article..

Mexican government’s response. Via its Attorney General.

Full article

The 21/7 terror trial cover-up: Government explosives experts say they warned police forensic evidence was wrong but their report was buried.

Full article. 

GOOD FORENSIC NEWS

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology can now profile highly damaged DNA samples that contain 75 percent less base-pair information, compared with previous systems.

Full article. 

SOME PROSECUTORS JUST NEVER LEARN

DA’s misconduct leads to reduced sentence for convicted murderer.