Suspected Serial Killer ‘Grim Sleeper’ Defense Targets Ballistics EvidenceRead More
Firearms
D.C. Court of Appeals judge faults overstated forensic gun-match claims
PCAST Report
The 2016 PCAST Report found that “firearms analysis currently falls short of the criteria for foundational validity, because there is only a single appropriately designed study to measure validity and estimate reliability. The scientific criteria for foundational validity require more than one such study, to demonstrate reproducibility. Whether firearms analysis should be deemed admissible based on …
State crime lab uses technology to help solve gun crimes
Is NYC’s new gunshot detection system recording private conversations?
Spent shell at crime scene matches McGraw gun, firearms analyst says
Automatic comparison and evaluation of impressions left by a firearm on fired cartridge cases
2014 article by F. Riva and C. Champod in the Journal of Forensic Sciences. Addresses new solutions to decrease the subjective component of firearm/spent cartridge case comparisons.
Evening at the School of Government, Part III: Firearms 101
We are excited to announce “Firearms 101,” the third program in our Evenings at the School of Government series. This series, cosponsored by the UNC School of Government and NC Office of Indigent Defense Services, consists of free presentations on forensic evidence and other criminal law topics that are designed to enhance the knowledge of criminal …
Evening at the School of Government, Part III: Firearms 101Read More
May 6, 2013 DOJ Letter
Letter from the DOJ regarding the results of a US DOJ and FBI review of lab reports and testimony of FBI lab examiners in the Willie Manning case finds that testimony stating that a specific gun fired a specific bullet “to the exclusion of all other guns in the world” is not scientifically supported.
Firearms evidence often short on science
Gun Shoots DNA Bullets to Tag Criminals
SelectaDNA Gun Will Tag Criminals For Weeks
Disruptions: Smart Guns Can’t Kill in the Wrong Hands
Gun Examiner Says Newspaper Defamed Her
Hypothesis Testing of the Critical Underlying Premise of Discernible Uniqueness in Firearms-Toolmarks Forensic Practice
Article by William A. Tobin and Peter J. Blau that argues that existing studies that are typically presented in court as support for firearm/projectile comparisons are fatally flawed and thus are of no value for validation of the techniques used. The authors offer a solution that would allow a scientifically defensible opinion to be proffered …