Month September 2015

In Indianapolis, reporting on a CODIS hit to an unsolved rape and murder.

Forensic labs will often receives bundles of bones or samples wrapped in cloth or packets with incomplete or no history of the case. Experts highlight the need for better training of police personnel in collecting forensic samples and the distinctions… Continue Reading →

Radley Balko continues his excellent coverage of forensic odontology, or bite-mark evidence, this time examining a Seventh Circuit decision granting qualified immunity to bite-mark experts whose testimony led to a wrongful conviction.  Not just any wrongful conviction, but that of… Continue Reading →

Jody Alan Howland is currently serving time on drug charges. A DNA sample was taken from him under a Michigan law requiring DNA samples to be taken at the time of arrest from those charged with felonies. Another man, Jeffrey… Continue Reading →

Forensic biomedical scientists from KU Leuven, Belgium developed a test to predict an individual’s age based on blood and teeth samples. Scientists hope this test can be used to help police who are looking for criminals who may have left blood… Continue Reading →

Police have collected DNA at the crime scene that belongs to an “unknown donor.” Police are working with the local crime lab to establish an identification.

Dr. Itiel Dror is a leader in identifying cognitive bias in forensic analysis. Now, through his research, cognitive bias is becoming more apparent in DNA testing as well. Without blind testing, partial DNA profiles may become a “match” to a suspect even when… Continue Reading →

DNA has often been referred to as the gold standard of forensic evidence. And when comparing a single sample to a suspect, that’s true. When DNA evidence includes mixtures of DNA from multiple sources, however, the scientific community is still… Continue Reading →

Do “DNA exonerations make jurors nervous” about the death penalty?  This story describes a capital trial ongoing in Kansas – a state which is “among 30 states” that has not had an execution in the last five years (Kansas had not had… Continue Reading →

There are over 6,000 rape kits that have been backlogged in the metro area, some as far back as 1985. The Metro Police will be looking to secure funding for this project from outside agencies, expected to total $4 million…. Continue Reading →