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Featured Articles

Arson

Bite Mark

Blood and Bodily Fluids

Child Abuse Allegations

Crime Scene Investigation

  • Accuracy and Reproducibility of Conclusions by Forensic Bloodstain Pattern Analysts, 6/3/2021
    R. Austin Hicklin, Kevin R. Winer, Paul E. Kish, Connie L. Parks, William Chapman, Kensley Dunagan, Nicole Richetelli, Eric G. Epstein, Madeline A. Ausdemore, Thomas A. Busey,. Forensic Science International, 2021. Highlights: Conclusions by bloodstain pattern analysts were often erroneous and often contradicted other analysts On samples with known causes, 11.2% of responses were erroneous …

Death by Distribution

  • Confrontation Clause Flowchart, 3/17/2025, UNC School of Government
    Quick reference for analyzing admissibility of statements under the Confrontation Clause. Created by Phil Dixon in March 2025.
  • Defending Death by Distribution Cases Blog Post, 3/17/2020, UNC School of Government
    UNC School of Government Criminal Law Blog Post discussing actual and proximate causation, intervening causes, multiple drug cases, pre-existing conditions, and joint users by Phil Dixon. Published in Jan. 2020.
  • Defending Death by Distribution Cases Checklist, 3/17/2020
    by Cynthia Hernandez & Taleed El-Sabawi, JD, PhD This checklist has been adapted from the “Drug-Induced Homicide Defense Toolkit” by Beety, et al., and the University of North Carolina School of Government blog post, “Defending Death by Distribution Cases”, by Phil Dixon. This checklist is meant to help criminal defense attorneys identify possible defenses to …
  • Drug-Induced Homicide Defense Toolkit, 12/18/2019
    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 …
  • NACDL 4th Amendment Center Information Sheet, 3/17/2025, NACDL
    Describes assistance that NACDL’s Fourth Amendment Center can provide to defense teams regarding digital evidence
  • What records are available in a death investigation case blog post, 3/17/2021, NCIDS
    Forensic Resources blog post regarding OCME discovery by Sarah Olson and Dr. Christena Roberts. Describes the items provided through a routine discovery request and additional items from the Medical Examiner file that can be obtained through a subpoena or court order. Drafted in Jan. 2020.

Death Investigation

Digital Evidence

DNA

Drug Analysis

  • Defending Death by Distribution Cases, 1/21/2020
    Jan. 21, 2020 NC Criminal Law blog post by Phil Dixon with links to resources for defenders litigating the new crimes of death by distribution and aggravated death by distribution in G.S. 14-18.4 cases.
  • Drug-Induced Homicide Defense Toolkit, 12/18/2019
    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 …
  • Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer (GC/MS): In Scientific Evidence, Even ‘Gold Standard’ Techniques Have Limitations, 9/6/2018
    by Joanna Gin and Edward Imwinkelreid. UC Davis Legal Studies Research Paper, available for free download. Like nuclear DNA testing, GC/MS analysis has important limitations. Courts should not assume it is a nearly infallible technique. When GC/MS is used in drug testing, the court must inquire as to the mode of analysis: full scan, selective …
  • In Glowing Colors: Seeing the Spread of Drug Particles in a Forensic Lab, 4/22/2020, NIST
    Discusses the paper below and shows black-light videos that help illustrate the risk of cross contamination in a forensic drug lab. E. Sisco, M.E. Staymates, A. Burns. An easy to implement approach for laboratories to visualize particle spread during the handling and analysis of drug evidence. Forensic Chemistry. Published online March 11, 2020. DOI: 10.1016/j.forc.2020.100232
  • NIST Study Will Help Labs Distinguish Between Hemp and Marijuana, 1/14/2021, NIST
  • Safe, Efficient, Reliable: New Science in the Fight Against Killer Drugs, 3/24/2021, NIST
    NIST article about testing of drugs that may contain fentanyl or other dangerous synthetic opioids. The article contains video clips showing how powder substances can contaminate various surfaces in laboratories and addresses ways that labs work to eliminate contamination.
  • The Effect of Legal Hemp on Drug Dog Sniffs, 2/6/2023, UNC School of Government
    Jeff Welty posted a 2-part series on the effect of legal hemp on drug dog sniffs on the SOG’s blog, North Carolina Criminal Law. They are linked here: Part 1 Part 2

Drug Recognition Experts

  • Expert Testimony Regarding Impairment, 6/9/2010
    Shea Denning of the UNC School of Government discusses the adoption of Rule 702(a1) and the admissibility of HGN and DRE evidence. For additional information, contact Shea Denning. She is available as a resource on this topic.

Experts

Eyewitness ID

Fingerprints

  • BBC Radio investigative program, 3/10/2011
    Radio program that covers challenges to the reliability of fingerprint evidence, including bias. Includes coverage of the Brandon Mayfield case (from Mar. 10, 2011).
  • Certainty and Uncertainty in Reporting Fingerprint Evidence, 4/8/2019
    Jury study evaluating how potential jurors react to different language used by fingerprint examiners to express their conclusions. Available for free download.
  • Fingerprint Error Rate on Close Non-Matches, 10/3/2020
    Sept. 2020 research by Jonathan J. Koehler and Siquan Liu on the accuracy of distinguishing between two close non-matches. False positive error rates were 15.9% and 28.1% on the two close non-matches on mandatory proficiency tests that were studied. As the size of fingerprint databases grow, the risk of a close non-match being present in …
  • Fingerprints and Miscarriages of Justice: ‘Other’ Types of Error and A Post-Conviction Right to Database Searching, 7/5/2019
    This July 2018 article by Simon Cole and Barry Scheck provides a systematic and comprehensive examination of “other” types of error in friction ridge analysis beyond erroneous identifications, including 40 publicly-exposed cases containing these errors. The article also calls for access to post-conviction database searching of fingerprint and other forensic databases.
  • Forensic Footwear Reliability, 10/19/2020, NIJ
    Three NIJ-funded research articles on the reliability of footwear comparisons were published in 2020. Part I—Participant Demographics and Examiner AgreementPart II—Range of Conclusions, Accuracy, and ConsensusPart III—Positive Predictive Value, Error Rates, and Inter-Rater Reliability
  • More than Zero: Accounting for Error in Latent Fingerprint Identification, 1/1/2005
    by Simon Cole, Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Vol. 95, No. 3, 2005 – Comprehensive review of what is known about the potential error rate of latent print identification. Includes all known cases of fingerprint misattributions. Examines proficiency test data as well as the profession’s and courts’ efforts to minimize or dismiss fingerprint error. …
  • Sworls and Whorls: Litigating Post-Conviction Claims of Fingerprint Misidentification after the NAS Report, 1/1/2010
    by Jacqueline McMurtrie, , Utah Law Review, Vol 2010, No. 2. – addresses uniqueness, individualization and infallibility claims of fingerprint examination, the history of latent print individualization, recent legal challenges to latent print individualization, and the NAS report and its use in post-conviction claims based upon new developments in forensic science.

Firearms

Forensic/Sexual Assault Exams

Foundations of Forensics

Mental Health

Toxicology

Trace Evidence

  • Cosmetic Trace Evidence, 9/12/2020
    A tissue containing a faint stain was submitted to determine if evidence of a make-up stain was present.  Although the tissue had been previously analyzed by another laboratory (to no avail) and only a single, barely stained area of the tissue remained, Microtrace, LLC was able to use light and electron microscopy to characterize the …
  • FBI admits flaws in hair analysis over decades, 10/18/2020
    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 …
  • Gunshot residue contamination of the hands of police offices following start-of-shift handling of their firearm, 11/1/2016
    Forensic Science International published a research article by Michael Cook in Nov. 2016. The study found that 85 percent of officers had 3-component GSR particles on their hands immediately following the start-of-shift handling of their firearms.
  • Improving a Database to Help Identify a Vehicle by Using Paint Fragments, 10/6/2020, NIJ
    For years, investigators have relied on the Paint Data Query database to identify the make of a vehicle by matching the physical attributes, chemical composition, and infrared spectrum of the paint, primers, and clear coating layers. However, there are concerns with the database, generic coding being one of them.
  • Linking Suspects to Crime Scenes with Particle Populations, 10/6/2020, NIJ
    Two scientists with a long record of research into the forensic value of very small particle populations examined cell phones, handguns, drug packaging, and ski masks from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office examine whether such particles are valuable as physical evidence.
  • Microbial Communities on Skin Leave Unique Traces at Crime Scenes, 10/3/2020, NIJ
    Two related NIJ-supported studies evaluated the possibility of using an individual’s skin microbiome — a community of microorganisms that inhabit a specific environment — as a form of trace evidence from evidence found at a crime scene. The first study, led by Dr. Rob Knight of the University of California, San Diego, examined whether the …
  • Portable NIST Kit Can Recover Traces of Chemical Evidence, 10/7/2020, NIST
    A chemist at NIST has developed a portable version of his method for recovering trace chemicals such as environmental pollutants and forensic evidence including secret graves and arson fire debris. The briefcase-sized kit could enable detectives, field inspectors and others to carry with them a convenient version of NIST’s “headspace analysis” technique, which identifies solid or …
  • Summary of the FBI Laboratory’s Gunshot Residue Symposium, May 31-June 3, 2005, 6/3/2005
    Article that summarizes the findings of a group of scientists and practitioners who met to address issues with gunshot residue analysis and attempt to create guidelines for this type of analysis. This document references several studies that have been published regarding contamination of subjects and proper collection, testing, and reporting procedures.
  • The Controversy Concerning Gunshot Residues Examinations, 8/1/2008
    by Dennis L. McGuire, M.S., Forensic Magazine – discusses the lack of a uniform standard for GSR analyses based upon validated studies. States that until those studies are completed, “positive determinations of GSR should be seriously scrutinized.”
  • Toner Particles as Forensic Evidence, 10/3/2020
    The Journal of Forensic Sciences is now offering an early viewing of a new article by Microtrace scientists. This article is co-authored by Katie White and Christopher Palenik. This article explores the potential usefulness of subvisible toner cartridge particles as evidence in forensic investigations. Modern printing toners represent a prime example of subvisible particles that can be …