Justice Dept., FBI to review use of forensic evidence in thousands of cases

[ohiogirl]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local...nds-of-cases/2012/07/10/gJQAT6DlbW_story.html

The Justice Department and the FBI have launched a review of thousands of criminal cases to determine whether any defendants were wrongly convicted or deserve a new trial because of flawed forensic evidence, officials said Tuesday.

 

[kgeaux]

Very interesting article.....gotta love the little quote, "How much science is in forensic science?"

I totally agree with removing crime labs from police and prosecutors control.

 

[Cappuccino]

Me too. I see alot of people making the automatic assumption that any defense expert is suspect and merely testifying to whatever the defense wants in return for money. Fewer people realise how many of the prosecution's experts are doing the same.

 

[Footwarrior]

The National Academy of Sciences report mentioned in the article, Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward can be downloaded for free. It's rather scary how little actual science is behind many forensic techniques in common use.

Frontline: The Real CSI goes over some of the same issues.

 

[txsvicki]

If the fbi knowingly had a filthy lab and did shoddy work then how can they be trusted to go over thousands of cases correctly. One poor man spent 22 years in prison and it seemed to have been due to hair evidence before there were any dna tests. How awful it took over 15 years since dna testing to prove his innocence. I don't trust fiber evidence unless it's a certain one fiber linked to multiple cases sith other evidence no matter what the paid and pressured experts have to say.