Month September 2015

Joseph Buffey is a West Virginia man that was arrested in 2001 for the robbery and rape of an 83-year-old woman. He was interrogated by police for nine hours without food, when he finally confessed to the break-in in a… Continue Reading →

“In regions experiencing armed conflict, it is well documented that sexual violence is used strategically by armed groups against communities, families, and individuals. Although the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war is prohibited by international criminal law,… Continue Reading →

In California, Proposition 47 was passed in 2014 to reduce many low level, nonviolent felonies to misdemeanors; the law also applies retroactively. Proposition 47 did not address what should happen to DNA samples in these cases, but the 4th Circuit… Continue Reading →

Through CSI, jurors have been introduced to forensic sciences and testing techniques that are often innovative and on the cutting edge. However, many of the techniques displayed on the television show are unfeasible for local law enforcement agencies that are strapped… Continue Reading →

The latest from ABC Chicago on questions concerning the methods used to validate testing of blood and urine at the Illinois State Police Lab: “Unreliability in science is like a bull in a china shop: it can wreck everything. The Illinois… Continue Reading →

A man known as “the Creeper” is suspected of breaking into over 40 homes in the Greater Miami region. He is known for standing over his victims and watching them sleep, and has become more emboldened to sexually assault some… Continue Reading →

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management now admits hackers didn’t take only personal information of 5.6 million present and previous federal employees – they took the fingerprints.  What implications will this have?  Read more here.

A criminal complaint alleges that Henry Houston Mann used tape to conceal his fingerprints while attempting to rob a bank in Warren, MI. He was shot and injured at the scene by a customer carrying a concealed weapon. http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/macomb-county/2015/09/22/warren-bank-robber-used-tape-hide-fingerprints/72620292/

Learn about the process that goes into creating a forensic portrait from morgue photographs.

In 1985, fifteen year-old Kristina Wesselman was raped and murdered. In 2000, investigators submitted DNA from the crime scene to the national database hoping that a hit would come up. In 2015, Michael Jones submitted DNA for a domestic violence… Continue Reading →