Forensic News: September 2009
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Texas: Governor Removes Three Members from Texas Forensic Science Commission (09/30/2009)
Two days before the Texas Forensic Science Commission was to meet to hear the report of Dr. Craig Beyler, the investigator hired by the Commission to review forensic evidence in the Cameron Todd Willingham case, Gov. Rick Perry removed three members of the Commission, including its Chairman. The scheduled public meeting was cancelled.
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UK: Scientists Decry "Flawed" and "Horrifying" Nationality Tests (09/29/2009)
In mid-September, the UK Border Agency quietly launched the “Human Provenance Pilot Project” in which asylum seekers must submit to DNA and isotope analysis of their tissues to provide information to evaluate their nationality and determine if they can enter the United Kingdom. Scientists say the Border Agency is confusing ancestry or ethnicity with nationality in its use of DNA. The purpose of testing for ratios of isotopes in tissue is to match the isotopes present in hair and nail samples of a person with the place of their birth. However, there is no scientifically accepted evidence that these isotope signatures at birth or childhood are present in adult tissue, especially tissue with fast turnover such as hair and nails.
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Florida: Testimony Focuses on DNA, Cell Phone Calls (09/27/2009)
In a quadruple murder case in against Wesley Jonathan Williams, the state has not been able to link the defendant to the crime through DNA evidence or latent prints. However, the prosecution is using cell phone records, specifically cell phone towers used by a call the defendant made, to place his location at the time of the crime.
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Texas: With Little Oversight in Texas, Autopsies Often Careless (09/26/2009)
Texas medical examiners have made errors in a number of cases and critics say that the lack of performance standards, poor documentation, and lack of oversight are allowing these issues to continue. "The state does not keep track of MEs in any shape, form or fashion," Bexar County Chief Medical Examiner Randall Frost said. The state doesn’t even know how many certified forensic pathologists work in government offices, he added.
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National: Sweat Becomes The New Snitch (09/25/2009)
The biometric ankle monitor is a new corrections technology gaining popularity as state and local governments look for ways to save money. In addition to global positioning systems, these anklets can also include a Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor (SCRAM) that detects alcohol in the wearer’s perspiration. Approximately 15,000 SCRAM anklets are in use in 46 states.
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Arizona: Crime Scene Specialists Strive to Maintain Credibility, Standards (09/24/2009)
After a public complaint regarding mismanaged evidence, Phoenix police leaders sought accreditation of police departments to ensure employees accurately collect and analyze evidence. Soon after, Phoenix became the only municipal police department in the country to accredit its mobile crime-scene specialists. This practice is recommended in the National Academy of Sciences report on forensic evidence.
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International: Using Forensics to Investigate Human Rights Violations (09/24/2009)
Mercedes Doretti of the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF), spoke at Swarthmore College about the work of her organization. By using forensic exhumation techniques, her organization works to identify the bodies of Argentina’s “disappeared” people.
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Texas: Man Cleared of Charges in Bank Robbery (09/23/2009)
Jamal Miller was facing 25 years in prison for armed robbery when the charges against him were dropped. Among the forensic evidence in the case was a dog scent lineup and video surveillance of a suspect that did not share Miller’s physical appearance.
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Illinois: City Seeks to Speed Up Fingerprint Analysis (09/21/2009)
Most police departments rely on state and federal databases to match prints from crime scenes. Depending on where the crime takes place and which laboratory has jurisdiction over the crime lab evidence, getting a match on those prints can take up to nine months, based on the laboratory’s backlog.
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Texas: Texas Group Derides Scent IDs as Junk Science (09/21/2009)
The Innocence Project of Texas released a report this week on the use of scent identification through scent lineups. Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Deputy Keith Pikett, who has conducted more than 2,000 of these tests, is currently facing two federal lawsuits from men implicated by this forensic technique.
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Tennessee: Jury Selection Begins in Knoxville Case (09/21/2009)
The judge in the murder trial against Lemaricus Davidson has denied motions by the defense to throw out fingerprint and ballistics evidence. Davidson’s attorneys filed motions to bar the evidence citing shortcomings and limitations with the technology.
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California: Making Forensic Science Scientific (09/21/2009)
In an editorial, the Los Angeles Times calls on Congress to create a national institute of forensic science as an independent agency, not part of the Justice Department, and charged with conducting research, setting national standards for forensic disciplines and enforcing those standards.
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National: A Shake to the System (09/21/2009)
The consensus of Shaken Baby Syndrome has shifted. It was once thought that the triad of symptoms (bleeding at the back of the eye, bleeding in the protective area of the brain, and brain swelling) could only result from shaking with the force equivalent of a fall from a three-story to four-story window or a car moving at 25 mph to 40 mph. Research shows that human beings simply cannot shake a baby to death without an accompanying impact to the head and additional work has shown babies to be lucid up to 72 hours before the symptoms appear. Britain, Canada, and Australia are reviewing shaken baby prosecutions in response to the new research.
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Texas: Texas Group Asks DAs to Stop Using Scent IDs (09/21/2009)
The Innocence Project of Texas asked Texas prosecutors and the Texas Forensic Science Commission to investigate forensic misconduct allegations related to and to ban the use of scent identification lineups, reporting that the technique has led to several false arrests.
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Texas: Governor Rick Perry Defends Execution of Cameron Todd Willingham (09/20/2009)
Governor Rick Perry defended his decision not to stay the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham, despite evidence that his conviction had been based on faulty arson science.
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Louisiana: Virtual Testimony to Save Time, Taxpayer Money (09/16/2009)
Louisiana lawmakers approved legislation earlier this year that allows forensic scientists to testify by video. In light of the recent Melendez-Diaz decision by the United States Supreme Court, this time-efficient use of technology facilitates testimony and cross-examination and is being rolled out in Bossier Parish courtrooms.
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New York: New Study Suggests Bitemark Evidence and Analysis Should Be Approached with Caution (09/16/2009)
Scientists at the University at Buffalo's Laboratory for Forensic Odontology Research in the School of Dental Medicine published a landmark paper this week on the controversial topic of bitemark analysis. The new UB study published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences investigated whether or not is it possible to determine biter identity among people with similarly aligned teeth; if it is possible to determine how many individuals from a larger sample might also be considered as the biter; and, if there is bite pattern distortion, is it enough to rule out a specific biter while still including a non-biter? The results indicated that it was difficult to distinguish which set of teeth made the bites when dental alignments were similar and that skin distortion allowed matches even from different alignment groups. Researchers concluded that bitemarks should be very carefully evaluated in criminal investigations when the identity of the perpetrator is unknown.
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Tennessee: Defendant Challenges Fingerprint and Ballistic Evidence (09/15/2009)
Forensic evidence allegedly ties Lemaricus Davidson to a Knoxville carjacking and double murder, but his attorneys are challenging the fingerprint identification and ballistic evidence. The judge said he doesn’t believe fingerprint identification is an exact science, but told the court he would not rule on the admissability of the fingerprint evidence.
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National: Forensic Science on Trial: Part I – John Lentini (09/14/2009)
ScienceInsider interviewed John Lentini, a nationally known fire investigator, on the National Academy of Sciences and on his outside review of the controversial case of Todd Willingham, who was executed in 2004 despite evidence of his innocence.
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National: Forensic Science on Trial: Part II – Jay Siegel (09/15/2009)
ScienceInsider continues to ask questions regarding the Natioanl Academy of Sciences report with an interview with Dr. Jay Siegel, a member of the committee that produced the report and Director of the Forensic and Investigative Sciences Program at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
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National: Times are Changing: Electronic Evidence is Different (09/11/2009)
Electronically stored information (ESI) is becoming an emerging forensic discipline. Rule changes, such as the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and other state-level changes are just beginning to help the legal system catch up with the explosion of digital forensic evidence.
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Maryland: Fingerprint Evidence Allowed in Controversial Case (9/10/2009)
A federal judge has allowed fingerprint evidence to be admitted in a death penalty case, effectively overturning a controversial ruling by a Baltimore County judge who did not admit fingerprint evidence in this case last year.
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National: Congress Probes Science Behind Convictions (09/09/2009)
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee convened a hearing on the National Academy of Sciences report on the forensic science community. None of the members opposed further research into forensic techniques and there appeared to be consensus that federal forensic standards are needed. Read more:
NPR.
Texas: State panel to Hear Willingham Arson Report (09/08/2009)
The Texas Forensic Science Commission will hold its next quarterly hearing to discuss the Beyler report on the Cameron Todd Willingham case. Willingham was executed in 2004 for the deaths of his three daughters through arson. Beyler’s report is critical of the forensic science used in the original arson investigation.
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Texas: An Uncomfortable Spotlight (09/09/2009)
The Senate Judiciary Committee reviewed an 18-year-old arson case that is described by Texas State Senator Rodney Ellis (D) of Houston as "the case where it can clearly be documented that an innocent person had been executed."
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National: The American Academy of Forensic Sciences Approves Position Statement in Response to the National Academy of Sciences' "Forensic Needs" Report (09/02/2009)
The American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) approved a formal Position Statement in response to the National Academy of Sciences report on the forensics community. The AAFS board voted unanimously to support the recommendations made in the NAS Report and adopted seven principles to guide forensic science and three specific actions to guide the organization in strengthening forensic science in the United States.
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