North Carolina Office of Indigent Defense Services
// by Sarah Olson
The National Research Council recently released the third edition of the Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence, a manual developed to guide judges when they encounter scientific evidence at trials. The manual contains chapters on the admissibility of expert testimony as well as on particular topics of forensic science, including DNA evidence, toxicology, neuroscience, mental health …
Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence: Third EditionRead More
// by Sarah Olson
On November 22, the Fourth Circuit decided a case involving a Sixth Amendment ineffective assistance of counsel claim based on the failure of counsel to investigate the State’s forensic evidence. In Elmore v. Ozmint, the Court found Elmore was entitled to relief, reversing and remanding the state capital murder conviction and directing the district court …
// by Sarah Olson
The MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Law and Neuroscience is a centralized location where you can find publications, cases, news articles, training information and other resources on the intersection of law and neuroscience. The Network has a listserve that you can sign up for here. There is also a Law and Neuroscience Blog which provides …
// by Sarah Olson
I recently posted on the IDS Forensics website a list of the books that I have available for attorneys to use at the IDS Main Office in Durham. For attorneys who cannot travel to Durham, please call me (919-354-7217) if you need access to these texts. If you are a North Carolina public defender, assistant …
// by Sarah Olson
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court considered the constitutional limits on police use of new forms of technology as it heard oral arguments in United States v. Jones. The Court examined how the Fourth Amendment applies to warrantless tracking of cars using GPS devices. The Justices considered the extent to which the police could use a …
// by Sarah Olson
The National Institute of Justice has awarded a $6 million grant to RTI International and its partners to form a new Forensic Science Technology Center of Excellence in Research Triangle Park. RTI International states that it will work to increase the capabilities of state and local criminal justice agencies to effectively and professionally serve the …
New Forensic Science Technology Center of Excellence to be located in RTPRead More
// by Sarah Olson
In State v. Jones, __ N.C. App. __ (November 1, 2011), the NC Court of Appeals issued an important decision regarding the admissibility of NarTest evidence. NarTest is a private company that produces the NarTest NTX 2000 machine which has been used by local law enforcement in several cities and counties in North Carolina to …
// by Sarah Olson
Paul Gianelli’s Comparative Bullet Lead Analysis: A Retrospective (click on One-Click Download to read the full text article) which was published this month explains how a forensic technique was discredited and describes law enforcement’s insufficient response to the technique’s debunking. Comparative Bullet Lead Analysis (CBLA) was a technique used for over 30 years in thousands …
Article offers perspective on how forensic science sometimes worksRead More
// by Sarah Olson
By Maher Noureddine, Ph.D., President: ForensiGen, LLC Second in the series: Bodily Fluids and Forensics First, the biological facts about semen: Seminal fluid is a complex mixture of secretions from at least four male urogenital glands. The seminal vesicle gland contributes approximately 60% to this mixture, the prostate gland contributes approximately 30%, and the combined …
// by Sarah Olson
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ amicus brief in Bullcoming v. New Mexico is an excellent resource for attorneys who want to understand gas chromatography measurements of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and possible challenges to that technique. Gas Chromatography or Headspace Gas Chromatography is the typical method used in North Carolina when the State …
// by Sarah Olson
DNA is often regarded as the gold standard of forensic science because of its purported objectivity, which makes it immune to subjectivity and bias. The National Academy of Sciences 2009 Report, Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward even concluded that “[w]ith the exception of nuclear DNA analysis, . . . no …
DNA Mixture Analysis – Is It Subjective or Objective?Read More
// by Sarah Olson
A three-judge panel in Asheville ruled today that Kenneth Kagonyera and Robert Wilcoxson are innocent. The men who spent ten years in prison were exonerated by the judges’ ruling. This case which involved DNA testing that pointed to another suspect is the third case that has been heard by the N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission and the …
Update to “Freedom on the line for two North Carolina men”Read More
// by Sarah Olson
By Mark Rabil Have you been given a report from the SBI Lab (now the State Crime Lab) that says the results of DNA testing are “inconclusive”? Well, you should not necessarily believe it. The Tamera Bean noncapital murder case that was tried in Asheboro this month is a case in point. Defense Attorney David …
// by Sarah Olson
By Charlotte Stewart, UNC Law Student This week a three-judge panel, formed as part of the N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission process, is hearing a case which could exonerate two North Carolina men of murder convictions. Kenneth Kagonyera and Robert Wilcoxson were convicted of the murder of Walter Rodney Bowman in 2000 in Buncombe County. Last …
// by Sarah Olson
Any scientific measurement has some error associated with it. The concept of “measurement uncertainty” means that for even the most carefully performed measurement, the value of the thing being measured can never be known exactly – only an estimated value can be given. Measurement uncertainty and error rates can come into play in forensic science …