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 …
Resources
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.
Urine Drug Screening: Minimizing False-Positives and False-Negatives to Optimize Patient Care
Article from US Pharmacist that addresses potential false-positives and false-negatives in urine screens.
NIST 3D Ballistics Research Database
Information about a new research database and techniques used in firearm-toolmark comparisons.
Evolutions in DNA Forensics
Law and Technology Resources for Legal Professionals compiled this list of books, articles, and other publications that treat different aspects of DNA evidence, including DNA databases, forensic interpretation of DNA evidence, 4th and 5th Amendment concerns, and more.
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
What’s In a (Trade) Name?
Today, the court of appeals reversed a defendant’s drug convictions because the indictments identified the controlled substances in question using terms that are widely used to describe the drugs, but that are neither the chemical names listed in the controlled substance schedules nor – according to the court – “trade names” for the drugs. Because …
The Fourth Amendment in the Digital Age
This one-day NACDL symposium was recorded on April 3, 2015 and is available for free viewing. Topics include how digital searches, government surveillance programs and new technologies are impacting Fourth Amendment protections in criminal cases.
Forensic DNA Mixups
Feb. 2015 Ted Talk video by Dr. Greg Hampikian covers forensic DNA errors including statistical and interpretation errors and contamination issues.
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
The Principles of Forensic DNA Evidence: A Primer for the Law Professional
This virtual CLE is designed to provide a foundation in the principles and evaluation of forensic DNA evidence. It may be viewed for free or for a small fee for CLE credit. Dr. Max Noureddine describes basic concepts of human genetics, key terms related to DNA evidence, laboratory procedures, technologies that aim at increasing the …
The Principles of Forensic DNA Evidence: A Primer for the Law ProfessionalRead More