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In The News

2016-02-03 | The latest from the world of bite mark evidence
While there was evidence that the Prades had a contentious relationship, the only physical evidence linking Douglas to his wife’s murder scene was testimony from a bite mark analyst, who claimed that marks found on Margo Prade, allegedly made through her lab coat, could only have been made by Douglas’s lower teeth. Another bite mark analyst said the marks were “consistent with” Prade’s teeth. Three jurors later said in interviews that the bite mark evidence was critical to their vote to convict.

2016-02-02 | Court Supports Expert Testimony on Eyewitness IDs, Affirms New Trial for Convicted Killer
A Chicago man convicted of gunning down his neighbor will get a new trial, because he was not allowed to bring an expert on eyewitness testimony to testify during his trial. “We not only have seen that eyewitness identifications are not always as reliable as they appear, but we also have learned, from a scientific standpoint, why this is often the case,” wrote the Supreme Court judges.

2016-02-02 | 1 in a Million? Wrongful Conviction Experts Study DNA Odds
A flawed way of calculating the odds that a defendant left DNA at a crime scene is the next target of prosecutors and criminal justice advocates working together in Texas to weed out wrongful convictions.

2016-02-02 | D.C. Court of Appeals judge faults overstated forensic gun-match claims
Prosecutors with the U.S. attorney’s office for the District called the error “regrettable,” acknowledging in 2011 court filings that forensic practitioners should not state conclusions to an “absolute” or “100% scientific certainty.” Prosecutors also told the Court of Appeals that the policy barring those 100 percent conclusions in firearms examination cases­ had been in place since about 2009, predating the testimony delivered at Williams’s trial.

2016-01-27 | Bad Blood at Johannesburg Forensic Laboratory
The Johannesburg laboratory in Braamfontein is in a serious mess. Tons of blood and specimen (toxicology) samples, representing a 10-year backlog, are piling up to the roof in the lab because of space shortages, incompetence and severe lack of manpower. Others have gone missing.

2016-01-21 | New crime lab will help return cases quicker
The new laboratory also has technological upgrades including a remote firing apparatus to keep forensic scientists safe when testing possibly faulty guns, imaging software to help document fingerprints from electronics and antiques and robots that can process 96 samples of DNA at a time.

2016-01-18 | Forensic scientists blast State Police crime lab THC policy as man fights to get son back
“This could lead to the wrong charge of possession of synthetic THC and the ultimate wrongful conviction of an individual. For the laboratory to contribute to this possible miscarriage of justice would be a huge black eye for the Division and the Department,” said Lansing crime lab Controlled Substances Unit Supervisor Bradley Choate in an email to colleagues.

2016-01-12 | Fingerprints help identify 2014 burglary suspect, but also highlights backlog in Austin
“I was told, and it was true, that the evidence would sit in a drawer. And it really did sit in a drawer, and it’s been 15 months,” Timberger said. “It’s really frustrating having to wait, and wait, and wait, while you know that somebody’s out there. You know somebody’s out there who had probably done this before and may be doing it again. And you got nothing that you can do about it.”

2016-01-08 | New Research on “Touch” DNA
As the sensitivity of DNA analysis increases, scientists are able to develop profiles from ever-smaller samples of DNA. This has lead to testing of a wider array of samples collected from crime scenes, including window panes, bullets, hats and other clothing, cigarette butts, and many other items.

2016-01-06 | Organic Gunshot Residue Analysis for Potential Shooter Determination
Through the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Forensic Technology Center of Excellence (FTCoE), West Virginia University (WVU) evaluated emerging approaches for the detection of gunshot residue (GSR) based on organic materials in the residue. One instrument was evaluated for screening for elemental constituents. This study examined x-ray fluorescence (XRF, a portable instrument), ion mobility spectrometry (IMS), and mass spectrometry. In summary, the study found the following: