The Court holds that it will allow ballistics testimony with limitations. The expert testimony can include things such as the methodology and the fact that a match was found, but the expert cannot make claims of certainty that the match excludes all other possible firearms in the world. Id. at 124.
Resources
Recent Research in Eyewitness Evidence Webinar
Presenter: William Crozier, Ph.D. Sponsored by NCIDS, Recording available.
U.S. v. Willock, 696 F. Supp. 2d 536 (D. Md., 2010).
The court ruled that toolmark evidence is relevant, helpful, and reliable if offered by a qualified examiner who followed the AFTE theory. Id. at 569-570. There should be documentation (photographs, notes, etc.) of the conclusions reached to allow confirmation by a second qualified examiner on how an identification was reached. Id. This documentation should also …
U.S. v. Willock, 696 F. Supp. 2d 536 (D. Md., 2010).Read More
State v. McKinnie, 850 S.E.2d 361 (2020) (unpub)
Not error to admit expert testimony from the CMPD fingerprint analyst who testified she did not find any dissimilarities and were similar. The trial court had ruled that under McPhaul since there’s no standard or no recognized methodology to be applied the expert can’t testify that they match. The Court of Appeals found her conclusion …
Tribble v. U.S., 447 A.2d 766 (D.C. 1982).
Santae A. Tribble was convicted of killing a taxi driver in 1978. He spent 28 years in prison for a murder that he did not commit. Key evidence at his trial came from separate FBI experts who testified that their scientific analysis proved with near certainty that Tribble’s hair was at the crime scene. However, …
State v. Bridges, No. 90 CRS23102-04, 2015 WL 12670468 (N.C. Super. Ct. Oct. 1, 2015).
In North Carolina, Timothy Scott Bridges was serving life for the rape of an 83-year old woman in Charlotte, in May of 1990. The evidence used at trial was microscopy hair evidence. He was convicted by a jury in Mecklenburg County for the charges of first-degree rape, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to …
State v. Bridges, No. 90 CRS23102-04, 2015 WL 12670468 (N.C. Super. Ct. Oct. 1, 2015).Read More
Bridges Amicus Brief
Filed by the Innocent Network in support of the defendant.
Bridges Motion for Appropriate Relief Consent Order
Forensic Science Laboratory Manual and Workbook
Relevant Chapters Include: Experiment 8: Crime Scene Investigation: Safeguarding, Searching, Recognition, Documentation, Collection, Packaging, and Preservation of Physical Evidence Experiment 9: Trace Evidence Collection and Sorting Experiment 11: Examination of Human Hair Experiment 14: Examination of Trace Quantities of Synthetic Fibers
STRmix software suite demo
11-minute demonstration of how the STRmix software suite works. This video will provide attorneys with an introduction to the user interface and reports produced by STRmix software.
Forensic DNA Profiling Video Series: Probabilistic Genotyping
55-minute introduction to probabilistic genotyping by Dr. Dan E. Krane of Wright State University.
Forensic DNA Profiling Video Series: Probabilistic GenotypingRead More
Policy and procedure recommendations for the collection and preservation of eyewitness identification evidence
Wells, G. L., Kovera, M. B., Douglass, A. B., Brewer, N., Meissner, C. A., & Wixted, J. T. (2020). Policy and procedure recommendations for the collection and preservation of eyewitness identification evidence. Law and Human Behavior, 44(1), 3–36. The Executive Committee of the American Psychology-Law Society appointed a subcommittee to update the influential 1998 scientific review …
FBI admits flaws in hair analysis over decades
The Justice Department and FBI have formally acknowledged that nearly every examiner in an elite FBI forensic unit gave flawed testimony in almost all trials in which they offered hair comparison evidence against criminal defendants over more than a two-decade period before 2000. Of 28 examiners with the FBI Laboratory’s microscopic hair comparison unit, 26 …
A Simplified Guide to Trace Evidence
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 …
Webinar: Blunt Force Trauma- What Every Attorney/Investigator Needs to Know
Registration is available here. The webinar is free to attend. For those requesting CLE credit, there is a $10 fee. For NAPD members, a recorded version may be available in their webinar archive. Description: This webinar offers definitions, examples, and explanations of various types of injuries, including the dating of bruises. Pressure ulcer prevention, assessment, and …
Webinar: Blunt Force Trauma- What Every Attorney/Investigator Needs to KnowRead More