North Carolina Office of Indigent Defense Services
// by Sarah Olson
NACDL Training and Resource Counsel Clare Garvie has authored a new report titled A Forensic Without the Science: Facial Recognition in U.S. Criminal Investigations. Designed as a resource for defense attorneys, advocates, and the public, it outlines how police face recognition searches are prone to error from under-performing algorithms, the lack of training and cognitive …
A Forensic Without the Science: Face Recognition in U.S. Criminal InvestigationsRead More
// by Sarah Olson
Legislative review and analysis of statutes associated with the collection, tracking, and testing of DNA samples from convicted offenders.
A Review of Legislation Associated with Lawfully-Owed DNA SamplesRead More
// by Sarah Olson
Guidance document published in Aug. 2022.
Considerations for Photographic Documentation in Sexual Assault CasesRead More
// by Sarah Olson
5-page primer from NACDL’s Fourth Amendment Center that prepares attorneys to litigate a motion to suppress a geofence warrant.
// by Sarah Olson
To assist the Texas Forensic Science Commission in a pending review of traditional toolmark-comparison testimony, the Yale Law School Forensic Science Standards Practicum submitted this report on the range of approaches that courts, legal commentators, and scientists have proposed for presenting toolmark-comparison evidence in trial settings. The report addresses four major topics: (1) the case …
Toolmark-Comparison Testimony: A Report to the Texas Forensic Science CommissionRead More
// by Sarah Olson
Organization of Scientific Area Committee (OSAC) ASB Approved Mar. 2025. Defines relevant terms for the discipline.
Medicolegal Death Investigation: Terms and DefinitionsRead More
// by Sarah Olson
Dec. 2021 statement Addressing a USDOJ document that instructs firearms examiners to avoid using terminology such as the weapon “could have fired” the bullets or cartridge cases, “consistent with” or “could not be excluded” as having fired the bullets or cartridge cases.
// by Sarah Olson
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) published a report, DNA Mixture Interpretation: A Scientific Foundation Review, which reviews the methods forensic laboratories use to interpret evidence containing a mixture of DNA from two or more people.
NIST Publishes Review of DNA Mixture Interpretation MethodsRead More
// by Sarah Olson
This resource contains sample subpoena and evidence preservation language for various types of digital evidence.
Digital Forensics Resource Packet for Legal ProfessionalsRead More
// by Sarah Olson
The US DOJ published a statement on the Sept. 2016 President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) Report, Forensic Science in Criminal Courts: Ensuring Scientific Validity of Feature-Comparison Methods. The DOJ explains its disagreements with the 2016 report in the statement. In summary, the DOJ’s position is that: Traditional forensic pattern examination methods—as currently practiced—do not belong …
Jan. 13, 2021 Statement of US Department of Justice on the PCAST ReportRead More
// by Jessica Phipps
Tiny fragments of physical evidence such as hairs, fibers from clothing or carpeting, or pieces of glass are examples of trace evidence, and can be transferred when two objects touch or when small particles are disbursed by an action or movement. This evidence can be used to reconstruct an event or indicate that a person …
// by Jessica Phipps
With funding from the NIJ, Dr. Michael Sigman and Mary Williams from University of Central Florida developed a method for analyzing fire debris samples that are highly contaminated with pyrolysis interferences. This technique provides an alternative objective method for classifying ignitable liquid residues, which is one of the only viable options for helping to progress …
// by Sarah Olson
Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Evidence (OSAC) is developing documentary standards for each forensic discipline. Standards under consideration as well as approved standards are available in the OSAC Registry.
// by Sarah Olson
The AAFS Standards Board develops documentary standards for forensics through a consensus process, involving participation by all directly and materially affected persons. Standards are being developed for each forensic discipline.
American Academy of Forensic Sciences Standards Board DocumentsRead More
// by Alec Rees
State of Michigan Governor’s Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect and DHHS (2024). Forensic Interviewing Protocol (5th ed.)