Month December 2015

Governor Terry McAuliffe pardoned Davey Reedy last week. Reedy was convicted for the 1987 arson of his home that resulted in the death of his two children. Reedy was released from prison in 2009. Since his conviction, defense attorneys were able to… Continue Reading →

Since the program began on December 14, 2005, the program has led to the exoneration of five wrongfully convicted defendants, as well as identifying suspects in many of those cases. Approximately 534,000 cases have been searched to determine if there… Continue Reading →

Michigan defense attorneys are asking the National Institute of Justice and the institute’s Office of Investigative and Forensic Sciences to investigate whether the Michigan State Police (MSP) has compromised testing in marijuana cases. The defense attorneys allege that the Prosecuting Attorneys… Continue Reading →

A new report released by Transparency Market Research projects that the digital forensic market will continue to rise by 12.5% annually for the next six years. This rise would make the digital forensic market a $4.97 billion industry by 2021. The… Continue Reading →

Zied Mhirsi, in an opinion article published in Tunisia Live, writes on the use of forensic medicine to convict individuals for moral crimes. These crimes include sodomy, sexual activity outside of marriage, and cannabis use. Specifically, vaginal exams and DNA testing… Continue Reading →

Prosecutors say that Edward Bowen committed three robberies last year. In the second robbery, prosecutors say that Bowen drank a beverage from a straw and cup near the crime scene, and DNA from that straw and fingerprints on that cup… Continue Reading →

This past Wednesday, Radley Balko questioned whether forensic science reform is heading in the right direction. Among his concerns lies the lingering problems of a judge in a criminal proceeding being the gatekeeper of expert testimony and cognitive bias that is a product… Continue Reading →

A Brooklyn judge granted motions filed by Adele Bernhard, the director of the Post-Conviction Innocence Clinic at the New York Law School, to reverse convictions of two men who spent over 30 years in prison, and a third who died… Continue Reading →

The New York Times reports today on the Texas Forensic Science Commission’s inquiry into the use of bite mark evidence in criminal cases – including review of old cases – and development of “guidelines on whether bite-mark comparisons should have… Continue Reading →

Prosecutors in Georgia are pushing lawmakers to pass an initiative that would allow for the collection of DNA at individuals’ arrests, as opposed to after convictions. The prosecutors believe that this practice would be in line with Supreme Court decisions… Continue Reading →