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In The News

2018-08-07 | New Arizona Task Force Works to Right Wrongful Convictions Through Hair Evidence
One area of forensics, in particular, is now under heavy scrutiny: hair microscopy. A groundbreaking review conducted from 2012 to 2015 by the FBI, the Department of Justice, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the nonprofit Innocence Project revealed significant flaws in statements regarding the analysis of crime-scene hair before 2000, when more-precise mitochondrial DNA testing became standard forensic practice. After finding fault with testimony from its own analysts in over 90 percent of the reviewed cases, the FBI sounded a nationwide alarm. The agency notified state governors and crime labs of its concerns, urging a review of all cases that involved such evidence.

2018-08-02 | NIST Publishes Landmark MIX13 DNA Study
John Butler, the special assistant to the director for forensic science in NIST’s Special Programs Office, told Forensic Magazine in an interview in April that “Case Five” and the other mock case histories were not only a way to gauge how labs were doing with their mixtures—they were also to provide a “teaching moment.” “The mixture itself was designed to not show too many alleles,” Butler said. “People would be tricked into thinking there are only two or three people there, instead of the four people that were really there. “The way that it was designed was on purpose, to kind of help people realize that CPI can falsely include people—that was its purpose,” he added. “And it demonstrated that really nicely.”

2018-08-02 | Kansas Police Agencies Oppose Innocence Case Reviews
The letter said the unit is a “clear deviation from the criminal justice system’s handling of manifest injustice claims.” Any cases that are mishandled would put communities at risk and could have adverse economic consequences, the letter said. State lawmakers recently passed legislation that would compensate people who have been wrongfully convicted. Dupree’s office said Tuesday that the unit would follow Kansas law. The pursuit of justice for potentially innocent inmates should outweigh concerns of economic costs, Dupree said. “Ensuring justice for the citizens of Wyandotte County through the (Conviction Integrity Unit) must be paramount,” he wrote.

2018-08-02 | Garrett-authored amicus brief highlights need for improved judicial scrutiny of forensic expertise, evidence
Professor Brandon Garrett, a leading scholar of criminal justice outcomes, evidence, and constitutional rights, has submitted an amicus brief to the North Carolina Supreme Court that argues for stronger examination of the reliable application of fingerprint and other expert evidence.

2018-07-25 | Erasing the Evidence: FBI Points to Massachusetts as the Place to Alter Fingerprints
The number of criminals trying to hide their identities by burning, hacking and mutilating their fingerprints is skyrocketing in the Bay State — and local law enforcement continues to see the number rise even as the FBI has targeted Massachusetts as an altered fingerprint hot spot. Massachusetts State Police officials have identified 867 suspects arrested with deliberately altered fingerprints — most within the past few years. The first three cases were logged in 2002, and by 2010 only 72 arrests were recorded. Year-by-year breakdowns were not available, but since 2010, police have made 795 altered-fingerprint arrests, according to state police spokesman David Procopio. The FBI flagged the Bay State as ground zero for criminal fingerprint erasures after studying records of altered prints across the nation, finding that, “Massachusetts officials had the most encounters with individuals who had altered fingerprints,” according to a 2014 FBI report.

2018-07-25 | NIST Builds Statistical Foundation for Next-Generation Forensic DNA Profiling
STR-based profiling was developed in the 1990s, when genetic sequencing was hugely expensive. Today, NGS makes sequencing cost-effective for biomedical research and other applications. NGS can also be used to create forensic DNA profiles that, unlike traditional STR profiles, include the actual genetic sequence inside the markers. That provides a lot more data.

2018-07-15 | State crime lab backlogs slow investigations
Childress argues that a quicker turnaround keeps the wheels of justice moving for everyone, which also shortens the time defendants spend in the city jail. That saves the city money, which helps offset the cost of running the lab, he said. That’s why Childress argues that focusing on the cost to open a lab is short sighted. The average turnaround time is 21 days for most evidence and up to 60 days for ballistics. Evidence can be processed more quickly when needed. As an example, Childress cited a 2013 fatal shooting that investigators were able to quickly solve because the lab rushed to process evidence.

2018-07-11 | CRIME LAB DIRECTOR SAYS TOO BUSY TO SEARCH FOR FORENSIC SCIENCE ERRORS
Houlihan met that question—pending at least since 2016, when the Weekly revealed the controversy—with palpable silence until February, by briefly emerging to deny wrongdoing. Hoping his word would be enough to sidestep an inquiry, he gave no meaningful explanation for his declaration. That misstep only drew additional scrutiny. So Houlihan decided he’d become tight-lipped again, unless commanded otherwise by court order. Providing irreconcilable inconsistencies in murder cases isn’t the typical bureaucratic snafu. It’s a crisis. Because the overwhelming majority of jurors nationwide have little understanding of forensic-science minutia heard in court, they rely on the credibility of the crime lab officials’ sworn analysis.

2018-07-11 | Innocence Project: DNA Frees Oklahoma Man Convicted of Rape
Smith said the victim identified Lott, but that there could be no DNA match because the attacker wore a condom and gloves. “We don’t believe (DNA) proves anything,” Smith said Tuesday. “On the small slim chance that we could be wrong, and that justice be served, we agreed to his compromise.” Smith said the agreement maintains Lott’s convictions and that he must register as a sex offender. He said it avoids putting the victim through the ordeal of a possible re-trial.

2018-06-25 | We’ve discovered a way to recover DNA from fingerprints without destroying them
Sweat can contain DNA so it’s possible to retrieve it from latent fingermarks, although the success of the technique very much depends on the quantity and quality of the DNA. As crime scenes are not sterile environments, it’s also possible for latent fingermarks to be contaminated with DNA from the same person or from different people. But to find latent fingermarks, investigators often need to brush a surface with powder that may contaminate or damage the DNA. Another way to detect fingermarks is to use light sources, such as ultraviolet light torches, but the process isn’t always reliable and it can also degrade DNA. There is a process for recovering DNA, which involves rubbing a swab over the fingermark or lifting it using special tape, something which can in turn make the fingermark unusable.