Forensic Science Reform : Protecting the Innocent /
edited by Wendy J. Koen , and C. Michael C. Bowers.
- 1 online resource (394 pages)
Includes bibliographical references.
Front Cover -- Forensic Science Reform -- Forensic Science Reform: Protecting the Innocent -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- List of Contributors -- Foreword -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- 1 - Compositional Bullet Lead Analysis -- Case Study: James Otto Earhart -- COMPOSITIONAL BULLET LEAD ANALYSIS CHALLENGE -- SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE -- REFERENCES -- Exquisite Measurements, Erroneous Inferences: Compositional Bullet Lead Analysis -- INTRODUCTION -- THE FBI'S ORIGINAL PREMISES -- WHAT IS A SUPPLY CHAIN? -- MELTING AND SPECIFICATIONS -- EXTRUSION AND WIRES -- SALES AND DISTRIBUTION -- THE EASY PART: ANALYSIS -- "MATCHING" AND CHAINING -- PROBLEMS WITH TESTIMONY-COMPOUNDED PROBLEMS WITH INTERPRETATION -- WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE BULLET LEAD ANALYSIS? -- SUMMARY -- REFERENCES -- 2 - Microscopic Hair Comparison -- Case Studies: Colin Campbell Ross and James Driskell -- COLIN CAMPBELL ROSS -- JAMES DRISKELL -- POOL OF UNKNOWN SIZE -- REFERENCES -- Is Microscopic Hair Comparison a Legitimate Science? -- WHAT IS THE PROBLEM WITH FORENSIC HAIR EVIDENCE? -- WHERE DOES HAIR EXAMINATION COME FROM? -- WHAT IS SOURCE ATTRIBUTION? -- WHAT ARE HAIRS AND HOW DO THEY "FUNCTION"? -- WHAT DO HAIRS LOOK LIKE UNDER A MICROSCOPE? -- HOW CAN YOU TELL IF A HAIR IS HUMAN OR NOT? -- CAN YOU DETERMINE WHERE ON A BODY THE HAIR ORIGINATED? -- CAN A PERSON'S RACE BE DETERMINED BY HAIRS? -- WHAT CAN THE GROWTH PHASE OF A HAIR DETERMINE? -- WHAT ABOUT DISEASED, DAMAGED, OR TREATED HAIRS? -- WHAT IS INVOLVED IN A HAIR COMPARISON BY MICROSCOPY? -- HOW ACCURATE ARE HAIR EXAMINATIONS? -- TESTIMONY -- DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE HAIR TESTIMONY REVIEW -- WHAT COMES NEXT FOR HAIRS? -- REFERENCES -- 3 - Arson -- Case Study: Cameron Todd Willingham -- INTRODUCTION -- THE FIRE -- THE FIRE INVESTIGATION -- THE TRIAL -- POSTCONVICTION -- FIRE AND ARSON INVESTIGATION. TRAINING: EXPERIENCE-BASED EXPERTISE -- TOOLKIT: OUTDATED ARSON INDICATORS AND THIRD-PARTY EVIDENCE -- THE IMPACT OF EXTRA-LEGAL FACTORS -- CONFIRMATION BIAS -- THE ULTIMATE ISSUE -- CONCLUSION -- REFERENCES -- Confronting Inaccuracy in Fire Cause Determinations -- LACK OF QUALIFICATIONS -- INVALID METHODOLOGY -- THE QUESTIONABLE VALIDITY OF FIRE ORIGIN DETERMINATION -- COMMON MISINTERPRETATIONS OF FIRE ARTIFACTS -- CONCLUSION -- REFERENCES -- 4 - Shaken Baby Syndrome -- Case Study: Ken Marsh -- POSTCONVICTION APPEALS -- LITIGATION-DRIVEN SCIENCE -- PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE -- CONCLUSION -- REFERENCES -- Shaken Baby Syndrome and Abusive Head Trauma -- INTRODUCTION -- CHILD ABUSE BEFORE SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME -- DEVELOPMENT OF THE SHAKING HYPOTHESIS SINCE 1972 -- CHALLENGES TO THE SHAKING HYPOTHESIS -- BIOMECHANICAL STUDIES -- ANATOMICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL STUDIES -- GEDDES AND THE COURT OF APPEAL 2005 -- SUPPORT FOR THE SHAKING HYPOTHESIS -- THE RISE AND FALL OF "THE TRIAD" -- THE METAANALYSES -- WHERE ARE WE NOW? -- CONCLUSION -- REFERENCES -- 5 - Bite Mark Evidence -- Case Study: Ray Krone in His Own Words -- THE MURDER -- MY INTERROGATIONS -- MY ARREST -- THE FIRST TRIAL -- A CAST OF RAY KRONE'S TEETH OVER THE BITE MARK -- THE APPEAL -- THE SECOND TRIAL -- NEW DNA TESTING -- CONCLUSION -- THE EVOLUTION AND DECLINE OF BITE MARK EVIDENCE -- WILLIAM RICHARDS -- AUTOPSY PHOTOGRAPH OF THE BITE MARK INJURY ON PAMELA'S HAND -- CRITICAL REVIEW OF BITE MARK IDENTIFICATION -- BITE MARK ANALYSIS HAS NEVER BEEN VALIDATED OR PROVEN RELIABLE -- The Dentition Has Never Been Scientifically Demonstrated to Be Unique -- Even If the Dentition Were Unique, Human Skin Is Not Capable of Accurately Recording Those Unique Features -- Forensic Dentists Cannot Reliably Associate a Dentition With a Bite Mark. Even If Bite Marks Could Be "Matched," There Is No Evidence of the Probative Value of That Association -- BITE MARKS ARE PRONE TO SERIOUS ERROR -- BITE MARKS HAVE LED TO MANY MISCARRIAGES OF JUSTICE -- Steven Mark Chaney -- Bite Mark Evidence Has Led to Many Wrongful Convictions -- Wrongful Convictions in Texas: Calvin Washington and Joe Sidney Williams -- THE NEED FOR THIS COMMISSION'S INTERVENTION -- REFERENCES -- ENDNOTES -- 6 - Firearms Identification -- Case Study: Anthony Hinton -- THE TRIAL -- POSTCONVICTION PROCEEDINGS -- REFERENCES -- Firearms Identification Evidence: Emerging Themes From Recent Criticism, Research, and Case Law -- INTRODUCTION -- PART I: THE PROCESS OF FIREARMS IDENTIFICATION -- PART II: RECENT CRITICISM AND RESEARCH ABOUT FIREARMS IDENTIFICATION -- RECENT CRITICISM -- RECENT RESEARCH EFFORTS -- PART III: JUDICIAL RESPONSES TO CHALLENGES TO FIREARMS IDENTIFICATION EVIDENCE 2005-2015: EMERGING THEMES AND PROBLEMS -- TYPES OF LEGAL CLAIMS -- JUDICIAL RESPONSES TO PETITIONERS' LEGAL CLAIMS -- Cases Showing a Judicial Demand for Restrictions on Expert Terminology by Firearms Examiners -- Emerging Problems -- Cases Showing How the Courts Have Sidelined Strengthening in the Context of Firearms Identification Evidence -- Admissibility Challenges and Strengthening -- Newly Discovered Evidence Claims and Strengthening -- Emerging Problems -- Cases That Promote the Adversarial System's Function to Weed Out Frailties in Firearms Identification Evidence -- Emerging Problems -- PART IV: CONCLUSIONS -- 7 - DNA Evidence -- Case Study: Amanda Knox -- THE KNIFE -- THE BRA CLASP -- THE PERPETRATOR -- REFERENCES -- Essential Elements of a Critical Review of DNA Evidence -- INTRODUCTION -- UNDERSTANDING LAB REPORTS -- LOOKING BEHIND THE LAB REPORT: ARE THE LABORATORY'S CONCLUSIONS FULLY SUPPORTED BY THE TEST RESULTS?. SOURCES OF AMBIGUITY IN SHORT TANDEM REPEAT INTERPRETATION -- MIXTURES -- SPURIOUS PEAKS -- SPIKES, BLOBS, AND OTHER FALSE PEAKS -- DEGRADATION -- ALLELIC DROPOUT -- THRESHOLD ISSUES: SHORT PEAKS, "WEAK" ALLELES -- THE COMPOUNDING EFFECTS OF MULTIPLE SOURCES OF AMBIGUITY -- KNIFE FROM THE KERCHER MURDER INVESTIGATION -- BREAKING OPEN THE BLACK BOX: HOW TO REVIEW THE ELECTRONIC DATA -- ARE THERE INNOCENT EXPLANATIONS FOR THE LAB'S FINDINGS? -- SAMPLE HANDLING ERRORS -- STOCHASTIC EFFECTS AND TRANSFER OF DNA -- LIKELIHOOD RATIOS AND PROBABILISTIC GENOTYPING -- FINDING EXPERTS -- CONCLUSIONS -- APPENDIX: MODEL DISCOVERY REQUEST LANGUAGE FOR BIOLOGICAL TESTING (INCLUDING DNA) -- REFERENCES -- 8 - Presumptive and Confirmatory Blood Testing -- Case Study: Lindy Chamberlain -- ORTHO-TOLIDINE TEST: IS IT BLOOD? -- FETAL HEMOGLOBIN: IS IT FETAL BLOOD? -- REFERENCES -- Presumptive and Confirmatory Blood Testing -- INTRODUCTION: WHY THERE ARE BOTH PRESUMPTIVE AND CONFIRMATORY BLOOD TESTS -- PART I: THE SCIENCE OF TESTING FOR BLOOD -- PHYSIOLOGY OF BLOOD AND PROTEINS -- THE CHEMISTRY OF PRESUMPTIVE TESTS -- FALSE POSITIVES FROM OXIDANTS -- FALSE POSITIVES FROM CATALYSTS -- PRESUMPTIVE TESTING WITH A LUMINESCENT CHEMICAL AND A COLOR-PRODUCING CHEMICAL -- CAN FALSE VERSUS TRUE POSITIVES BE DISTINGUISHED IN LUMINESCENT OR COLORIMETRIC TESTS? -- CONFIRMATORY BLOOD TESTS -- SENSITIVITY AND LIMIT OF DETECTION -- RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN BLOOD TESTING AND FORENSIC DNA ANALYSIS -- LABORATORY PRACTICE WITH RESPECT TO CONFIRMATORY TESTING -- PART II: PRESUMPTIVE TESTS AND THE LAW -- PART III: THE LINDY CHAMBERLAIN CASE -- SUMMARY -- WEB-BASED RESOURCES -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- REFERENCES -- 9 - Bloodstain Pattern Analysis -- Case Study: David Camm -- TRIAL 1 -- THE GRAY SWEATSHIRT -- CAMM'S CHARACTER -- THE APPEAL -- TRIAL 2 -- TRIAL 3 -- BLOOD PATTERN EVIDENCE -- REFERENCES. Bloodstain Pattern Analysis -- HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF BLOODSTAIN PATTERN ANALYSIS -- THE ROLE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT INSTRUCTORS -- THE NEED FOR TRUE SCIENTISTS -- MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS -- BASIC TENETS OF BLOODSTAIN PATTERN ANALYSIS -- THE DAVID CAMM CASE -- BLOODSTAINS ON CAMM'S SHIRT -- BLOODSTAIN ON THE DOOR -- BLOODSTAIN ON CAMM'S SHOE -- REFERENCES -- 10 - Crime Scene Reconstruction -- Faulty Crime Scene Reconstruction: Glenn Ford -- THE CORONER -- THE HANDEDNESS OF THE SHOOTER -- TIME OF DEATH -- GUNSHOT RESIDUE -- FORD'S APPEALS AND EXONERATION -- THE VICTIMS -- REFERENCES -- Crime Scene Reconstruction -- HOW IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE DONE -- DEDUCTIVE REASONING -- PHYSICAL EVIDENCE -- THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD -- OBSERVATION OF PHENOMENA: SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATION -- FORMULATION OF A HYPOTHESIS -- EXPERIMENTATION TO DEMONSTRATE THE TRUTH OR FALSENESS OF THE HYPOTHESIS -- A CONCLUSION THAT VALIDATES OR MODIFIES THE HYPOTHESIS -- THE PROCESS -- TYPICAL MATERIALS TO BE REVIEWED BY THE CRIME SCENE RECONSTRUCTIONIST -- AUTOPSY REPORT AND PHOTOS -- MEDICAL RECORDS -- THE CRIME SCENE -- PHYSICAL EVIDENCE -- PROPERTY SHEETS -- "BAD WRONG" PICKING AND CHOOSING -- LABORATORY EXAMINATIONS -- EXAMINATION OF PHYSICAL EVIDENCE BY REVIEWER -- LAW ENFORCEMENT FILES -- WITNESSES AND SUSPECTS -- 911 TRANSCRIPTS -- PHYSICAL VISIT TO THE SCENE -- THE REALITY OF CRIME SCENE RECONSTRUCTION -- PREMATURELY DECIDING GUILT -- FAILURE TO CONDUCT EXPERIMENTS -- WHO SHOULD BE A CRIME SCENE RECONSTRUCTIONIST -- CONCLUSION -- REFERENCES -- 11 - Fingerprints -- Case Study: Brandon Mayfield -- REFERENCES -- The Fingerprint Expert: Do You Really Have One? -- LANA CANEN -- ANALYSIS, COMPARISON, EVALUATION, AND VERIFICATION METHODOLOGY -- ABSOLUTE CONCLUSIONS AND ERROR RATES -- THE ONE UNEXPLAINABLE DISSIMILARITY RULE -- AUTOMATED FINGERPRINT IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM MATCHES -- TRAINING TRENDS. OUR PAST AND POSSIBLE FUTURE.
Forensic Science Reform: Protecting the Innocent is written for the nonscientist to help make complicated scientific information clear and concise enough for attorneys and judges to master. This volume covers physical forensic science, namely arson, shaken baby syndrome, non-accidental trauma, bite marks, DNA, ballistics, comparative bullet lead analysis, fingerprint analysis, and hair and fiber analysis, and contains valuable contributions from leading experts in the field of forensic science. Offers training for prosecuting attorneys on the present state of the forensic sciences in order to avoid reliance on legal precedent that lags decades behind the science Provides defense attorneys the knowledge to defend their clients against flawed science Arms innocence projects and appellate attorneys with the latest information to challenge convictions that were obtained using faulty science Uses science-specific case studies to simplify issues in forensic science for the legal professional Offers a detailed overview of both the failures and progress made in the forensic sciences, making the volume ideal for law school courses covering wrongful convictions, or for undergraduate courses on law, legal ethics, or forensics.