The 2016 President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology Report concluded that “bitemark analysis does not meet scientific standards for foundational validity, and is far from meeting such standards. To the contrary, available scientific evidence strongly suggests that examiners cannot consistently agree on whether an injury is a human bitemark and cannot identify the …
Reports and Publications
Forensic Science in Criminal Courts: Ensuring Scientific Validity of Feature-Comparison Methods
The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology issued a report (known as the PCAST report) in September 2016. This report assesses the scientific validity and reliability of some important forms of forensic evidence and of testimony. In Jan. 2017, PCAST published an addendum to their report which is available here.
National Protocol for Sexual Abuse Medical Forensic Examinations – Pediatric
April 2016 U.S. Department of Justice protocol for medical forensic examinations of children. See requirements for documentation and photography. For the interview portion of the investigation, attorneys should be aware of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Investigative Interview Protocol.
National Protocol for Sexual Abuse Medical Forensic Examinations – PediatricRead More
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 …
Traumatic shaking: The role of the triad in medical investigations of suspected traumatic shaking
Swedish Agency for Health Technology Assessment 2016 review of the available scientific evidence finding: There is limited scientific evidence that the triad and therefore its components can be associated with traumatic shaking (low quality evidence). There is insufficient scientific evidence on which to assess the diagnostic accuracy of the triad in identifying traumatic shaking (very …
Weak DNA evidence could undermine justice, experts say
Chicago Tribune article uses a case example to demonstrate the dangers of using DNA evidence that has very little probative value. New technology is allowing DNA analysis to be performed on very small amounts of DNA which may generate incomplete genetic profiles that may or may not be meaningful in a case.
Weak DNA evidence could undermine justice, experts sayRead More
The path forward on bite mark matching – and the rearview mirror
4-part Washington Post series on the flawed “science” of bite mark analysis
The path forward on bite mark matching – and the rearview mirrorRead More
Field Documentation of Unusual Post-Mortem Arthropod Activity on Human Remains
NIJ Fingerprint Sourcebook
This National Institute of Justice publication was prepared by SWGFAST in 2011. All 15 chapters are available for free online. This publication sets standards for fingerprint identification and addresses issues such as bias and reliability of the technique
Identifying the Culprit Assessing Eyewitness Identification (2014)
The National Academy of Sciences issued a landmark report evaluating the scientific research on memory and eyewitness identification in October 2014. The report provides recommendations for improving police identification procedures and for how courts should handle eyewitness evidence. The report is available for purchase or free download.
Identifying the Culprit Assessing Eyewitness Identification (2014)Read More
Guidelines on Mobile Device Forensics
NIST has published these guidelines that establishes methods for preserving and processing digital information on mobile devices.
Post Mortem: Death Investigation in America
Investigative series compiled by Pro Publica, in partnership investigation with NPR and Frontline that looks at the nation’s 2,300 coroner and medical examiner offices and reports on problems identified with the system.
Recognizing When a Child’s Injury or Illness Is Caused by Abuse
US DOJ guide to conducting an investigation of child injuries.
Recognizing When a Child’s Injury or Illness Is Caused by AbuseRead More
DOJ Memorandum – Eyewitness Identification: Procedures for Conducting Photo Arrays
2017 memo from the US DOJ which endorses the 2014 NAS Report, Identifying the Culprit: Assessing Eyewitness ldentification, stating: “The heads of the Department’s law enforcement components should review these procedures and, to the extent necessary, update their own internal policies to ensure that they are consistent with the procedures described in this document. In …
DOJ Memorandum – Eyewitness Identification: Procedures for Conducting Photo ArraysRead More
Therapeutic and toxic blood concentrations of nearly 1,000 drugs and other xenobiotics
This 2014 article lists the therapeutic, toxic, and fatal blood drug concentration levels for many controlled and non-controlled substances.
Therapeutic and toxic blood concentrations of nearly 1,000 drugs and other xenobioticsRead More