Author seb4yq

After the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology condemned the use of ballistics evidence in courtrooms, Aaron Hernandez’s defense attorneys filed a motion to exclude expert testimony related to ballistics, citing PCAST’s report. The report calls for judges to… Continue Reading →

Authorities have used DNA databases to search for partial matches in order to solve cold cases. The idea is that these partial matches are likely relatives of the suspect and authorities can focus on investigating relatives of any partial matches…. Continue Reading →

A judge in New York ruled to exclude DNA evidence from the trial of Oral Nicholas Hillary for allegedly strangling his ex-girlfriend’s 12-year-old son. The DNA evidence consisted of a mixed DNA sample collected from underneath the victim’s fingernails, and the… Continue Reading →

Researchers are developing methods to analyze proteins in strands of hair as a new method of identification in forensic sciences. The process aims to be more objective than hair microscopy, a technique that has been found to be highly unreliable… Continue Reading →

In its report, the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology urging judges to reconsider admitting certain types of forensic science in the courtroom. In particular, the court criticized “feature-comparison” techniques like bite-mark comparison and tire tread mark comparison… Continue Reading →

Members of Parliament have criticized the Forensic Science Strategy that was created by the Home Office because the strategy fails to provide a clear, coherent vision and a clear for how to implement this vision.  Other criticisms from parliament include:… Continue Reading →

New research shows that individuals have unique hair proteins that could provide an alternate method of identification for forensic scientists. One benefit to using hair protein identification rather than DNA testing is that DNA can degrade over time more quickly… Continue Reading →

In an April deposition for a Mississippi death penalty case involving defendant Eddie Lee Howard, Michael West was asked to testify about his expert opinion provided in a trial more than two decades ago. West frequently refused to answer questions and… Continue Reading →

“It has become increasingly clear in recent years that lack of rigor in the assessment of the scientific validity of forensic evidence is not just a hypothetical problem but a real and significant weakness in the judicial system,” said the… Continue Reading →

“The results produced in this case are unreliable based upon Dr. Buckleton’s testimony that it cannot adequately account for the absence of defendant’s alleles in the composite profile,” Judge Catena wrote. “As Dr. Buckleton stated, ‘the exact difficulty that we’ve… Continue Reading →