U.S. Department of Justice, FBI Laboratory Division. Provides guidance and procedures for methods of collecting, preserving, packaging, and shipping evidence and describes the forensic examinations performed by the FBI’s Laboratory Division and Operational Technology Division.
Resources
Crime Scene Investigation: A Guide for Law Enforcement (2013)
Developed by the National Forensic Science Technology Center and is available for free download.
Crime Scene Investigation: A Guide for Law Enforcement (2013)Read More
The Biological Evidence Preservation Handbook: Best Practices for Evidence Handlers
2013 NIST handbook offers guidance for individuals involved in the collection, examination, tracking, packaging, storing and disposition of biological evidence
The Biological Evidence Preservation Handbook: Best Practices for Evidence HandlersRead More
National Protocol for Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Examinations
U.S. Department of Justice protocol focusing on the immediate response of medical and other professionals in reference to medical treatment and evidence gathering from sexual assault or abuse victims. It addresses the role of advocates, law enforcement, prosecutors, and other responders in the medical forensic exam process.
National Protocol for Sexual Assault Medical Forensic ExaminationsRead More
Supreme Court: Alert by a Trained or Certified Drug Dog Normally Provides Probable Cause
UNC School of Government blog post by Jeff Welty that explains the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2013 holding in Florida v. Harris. Harris holds that when a trained and certified drug dog alerts on a vehicle, that normally provides probable cause to search the car, even if there are no records regarding the dog’s performance in the field. …
Supreme Court: Alert by a Trained or Certified Drug Dog Normally Provides Probable CauseRead More
Stephen J. Morse and Adina L. Roskies, Eds., A Primer on Criminal Law and Neuroscience
Experts in Child Sex Cases: Reversible Error in a Recent Case
UNC School of Government blog post by Jessica Smith
Experts in Child Sex Cases: Reversible Error in a Recent CaseRead More
Hypothesis Testing of the Critical Underlying Premise of Discernible Uniqueness in Firearms-Toolmarks Forensic Practice
Article by William A. Tobin and Peter J. Blau that argues that existing studies that are typically presented in court as support for firearm/projectile comparisons are fatally flawed and thus are of no value for validation of the techniques used. The authors offer a solution that would allow a scientifically defensible opinion to be proffered …
State v. Lawson, 352 Ore. 724 (2012)
On Nov. 29, 2012, the Oregon Supreme Court issued an important decision, which places the burden on the state to establish the reliability of the eyewitness identification and recognizes and requires courts to act in a manner consistent with the latest scientific research on eyewitness identification and memory. This opinion may be useful in NC …
Expert Testimony: “The Child Was Sexually Abused”
UNC School of Government blog post by Jessica Smith
Examining Shaken Baby Syndrome Convictions in Light of New Medical Scientific Research
Examines the controversy concerning Shaken Baby Syndrome and how emerging medical research is prompting the legal system to re-examine SBS convictions. Click on the link and then click Download This Paper at the top of the page to read the full article.
Examining Shaken Baby Syndrome Convictions in Light of New Medical Scientific ResearchRead More
Dog Sniffs of People and the Fourth Amendment
UNC School of Government blog post by Shea Denning that examines the status of dog sniffs under the Fourth Amendment as it applies to searches of individuals if a dog alerts to the person.
A placebo-controlled study to assess Standardized Field Sobriety Tests performance during alcohol and cannabis intoxication in heavy cannabis users and accuracy of point of collection testing devices for detecting THC in oral fluid
Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2012 October; 223(4): 439-446. This study finds that Standardized Field Sobriety Tests are only mildly sensitive to impairment from cannabis in heavy users. THC produced impairment on SFST performance in 30-50% of participants.
Session Law 2011-307
Section 6 of this law extends the time for local forensic science labs (other than the North Carolina State Crime Laboratory) to become accredited from October 1, 2012 to July 1, 2013. Section 6.1 clarifies which State Crime Laboratory employees are required to become certified.
Analysis of experiments in forensic firearms/toolmarks practice offered as support for low rates of practice error and claims of inferential certainty
Article by Clifford Spiegelman and William A. Tobin that evaluates experiments used to justify conclusions of “individualization” or specific source attribution to “100% certainty” and “near-zero” rates of error claimed by firearm toolmark examiners in court testimonies and suggests approaches for establishing statistical foundations for this firearm and toolmark comparisons.