North Carolina Office of Indigent Defense Services
// by Sarah Olson
The Center for Statistics and Applications in Forensic Evidence (CSAFE) is offering a webinar, Crime Lab Proficiency Testing and Quality Management. This event will be held Tuesday, January 21st from 11am-12pm, CST. In the wake of recent reports documenting the vulnerability of forensic science methodologies to human error (e.g., NAS, 2009; PCAST, 2016), the field has sometimes pointed to proficiency …
Crime Lab Proficiency Testing and Quality Management WebinarRead More
// by Sarah Olson
Garrett, B.L, Scurich, N, & Crozier, W.E. (2020)
Mock Jurors’ Evaluation of Firearm Examiner TestimonyRead More
// by Sarah Olson
The Health In Justice Action Lab of the Northeastern University School of Law has created a toolkit for attorneys defending death by distribution of drugs. The toolkit includes recent favorable caselaw and links to the amicus curiae briefs filed by the Action Lab and its partners that were successful in those cases; an expanded section …
// by Sarah Olson
The Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) for Forensic Science’s Friction Ridge Subcommittee has developed a friction ridge examination process map that describes the conventional process for latent print examination. The process map identifies key decision points in the fingerprint examination process, enables laboratory managers to better understand how their protocols compare with those of other laboratories, …
OSAC’s Friction Ridge Subcommittee Develops Friction Ridge Process MapRead More
// by Sarah Olson
New trial ordered where State Crime Lab forensic scientist was required to testify about DNA sample despite her insistence that the testimony was not scientifically valid. Court of Appeals found that the testimony was expert opinion testimony and did not satisfy prongs 1 or 2 of Rule 702 where the expert was asked to testify …
// by Sarah Olson
The Forensic Center of Excellence will present a free webinar by Jeremy Morris on how bloodstain pattern analysis is communicated through written reports and courtroom testimony. Principles of communication science will be discussed and explained to develop the audience’s ability to transfer meaning through writing and verbal testimony. Communication is the act of sending and …
Communicating Conclusions in Bloodstain Pattern AnalysisRead More
// by Sarah Olson
Friday, January 10, 2020NC Judicial Center, 901 Corporate Center Drive, Raleigh, NCSponsored by NC Indigent Defense Services5.0 hours of General CLE Credit anticipated The NC Office of Indigent Defense Services will offer a continuing education program that is designed to enhance the knowledge of criminal defense attorneys regarding the use of expert testimony to communicate …
// by Sarah Olson
This database can be used to identify which laboratories are accredited.
// by Sarah Olson
Stetson University College of Law National Clearinghouse for Science, Technology and the LawComplimentary Forensic Science Webinar Series Funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Capital Case Litigation Initiative Webinar Presenter: Professor Jules Epstein, Director of Advocacy Programs, Temple University The 16th webinar in the Crime Scene to Courtroom webinar series will cover eyewitness identification evidence …
// by Sarah Olson
Join the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Innocence Project and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in collaboration with the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM), for a one-day conference commemorating the 10th anniversary of the pathbreaking NASEM report “Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path …
An Update on Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Decade of DevelopmentRead More
// by Sarah Olson
Successful Daubert challenge to the admissibility of STRMix genotyping software due to the complexity of the DNA mixture in the case at hand. Defendant’s Daubert motion and the ruling are linked in this article.
United States v. Gissantaner, 417 F. Supp. 3d 857 (W. D. Mich. 2019)Read More
// by Sarah Olson
Blog post by Larry Daniel, Spencer McInvaille, and Eric Grabski addressing the potential for flaws in cell phone location evidence when mapping software is used and other issues with cell tower evidence.
Are There Really Flaws in Cell Phone Location Evidence?Read More
// by Sarah Olson
// by Sarah Olson
This Forensic Technology Center of Excellence webinar will cover alternate light, its characteristics, and its behavior in response to potential bruises. The program will summarize the available research, including a recently completed study, on the effectiveness of alternate light as a tool for improving bruise detection. Participants will learn to recognize considerations for the clinical application of …
Detection and Visibility of Bruises Using Alternate Light: From Science to PracticeRead More
// by Sarah Olson
In August, the North Carolina Supreme Court weighed in on drug identification once again in State v. Osborne, ___ N.C. ___ (August 16, 2019). Defender Educator Phil Dixon discusses admissibility and sufficiency of evidence in drug cases in this blog post.
Sufficiency vs. Admissibility: Drug I.D. after State v. OsborneRead More