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The backlog has left some suspects waiting in prison for over a year without a trial, and further delays could lead suspected criminals to walk out of jail if speedy trials right are violated. In Colbert County, Micheal Logan has… Continue Reading →

NPR reports on the finding by the Texas Forensic Science Commission that procedures used by Texas labs are outdated. NPR reports that a solution, probabilistic genotyping, may be the solution for Texas crime labs that had been using cutting-edge ‘testing kits’… Continue Reading →

Forensic psychiatrists are trained to use objective measures to evaluate whether individuals were sane at the time that they committed a crime. Read more about the role of forensic psychiatrists in criminal and civl suits, as well as about their extensive… Continue Reading →

Analysts at an Arizona state crime laboratory noticed a strange occurrence when two individuals in their database of 65,493-person database had the same two markers at nine of the 13 places on their listed DNA profile. If picking a random non-Hispanic person… Continue Reading →

Cleveland’s Special Investigations Chief discusses the use of a “cell phone dumb” and “touch DNA” to catch a serial rapist in 2014.

The state police in Massachusetts have brought in an employee who will exclusively revisit cases between 1980 and 2000, in which forensic hair analyses were conducted.

Warner’s autopsy report revealed that potassium acetate, rather than the potassium chloride which Oklahoma’s protocol calls for, was used in his execution. Warner’s execution had previously been stayed when another inmate’s execution was botched on the day Warner had been… Continue Reading →

A just-released NAS report, here, on “improving the scientific role of the National Institute of Justice.” A brief description: The National Academy of Sciences has published the report Support for Forensic Science Research: Improving the Scientific Role of the National Institute… Continue Reading →

You can buy this wonderful new book here.  For a peek inside, discussing DNA and Chimeras, see the Daily Beast.  Or read a nice NYU profile of the book.

The Texas Forensic Science Commission is implementing more conservative standards in DNA testing where there is “mixed DNA.” Some pieces of evidence, such as doorknobs, might have multiple subjects’ DNA on them.  The new standards will use new statistical data released… Continue Reading →