Author AThornton

A forensic expert, Marina Stajic, was laid off from the Forensic Toxicology Laboratory at the Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) last year. Stajic claims in her lawsuit that she was fired because she serves on the state’s Commission on Forensic… Continue Reading →

A Virginia Beach judge ruled yesterday to allow forensic testing on evidence collected in conjunction with a 1990 rape. The defendant, Darnell Phillips, was originally convicted in 1991 with the help of microscopic hair comparison analysis. Recently, it was found… Continue Reading →

Peter Neufeld, who co-founded the Innocence Project, spoke this Friday on the radio show Here & Now. Neufeld discussed the dangers associated with assigning reliability to forensic procedures not scientifically supported including hair matching and bite mark evidence. Listen to the interview and… Continue Reading →

The National Institute of Justice wrote in its most recent journal about research and developmental projects used to improve forensic science disciplines. These efforts include: studying drugs at electronic music festivals and using this information to understand how people are modifying… Continue Reading →

Todd M. Richardson of Lebanon, Indiana was arrested in October in connection a suspicion of stalking. His DNA was collected upon arrest and the Indiana State Police Laboratory matched it to a 1990 rape case. He was arrested yesterday in connection… Continue Reading →

State Sen. Bob Hilkemann introduced Legislative Bill 1054 that would allow for collection of a suspect’s DNA upon arrest for specific felonies. The bill lists out 17 violent felonies, as well as burglary and robbery. State Sen. Ernie Chambers expressed… Continue Reading →

The Washington Post reported on the recent opinion issued by the D.C. Court of Appeals, in which in the concurring opinion Judge Catharine Easterly wrote about the dangers of overstating claims that “forensic experts can match a bullet or shell… Continue Reading →

In Miami,  nine of the past twelve exonerations of a convicted person relied heavily on witness identification. This has led legislators and defense attorneys to agree that most DNA exonerations involve faulty suspect identifications. As a result, Miami legislators have introduced the Eyewitness… Continue Reading →

An independent investigation found that the Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children forensic lab did not meet forensic-testing standards for hair-strand drug and alcohol testing. As a result, ten years’ worth of results are being questioned as valid. These labs results were used in… Continue Reading →