The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) recently released a report calling attention to serious problems in the area of forensic science currently used in courtrooms. Jessica Cino, a law professor at Georgia State University in the… Continue Reading →

Other than DNA testing, almost all of the currently used forensic sciences have not been rigorously tested and supported by scientific principles. In spite of this, prosecutors and judges continue to allow forensic experts to testify based on sciences that… Continue Reading →

A man whose conviction was thrown out amidst the Dookhan drug lab scandal was not able to recover court costs and probation fees. Because the case was sent for retrial and  dismissed, rather than being overturned on appeal, he cannot… Continue Reading →

In Austin, the fallout continues from the Austin PD crime lab’s DNA lab, which  was shuttered this summer after a damning state audit found that analysts were using outdated techniques.  The closure has meant that people are sitting in jail… Continue Reading →

The Supreme Judicial Court in Massachusetts is grappling whether a blanket dismissal its warranted for all of the approximately 24,000 convictions in which former drug chemist Annie Dookhan was involved. Defense attorneys, joined by attorneys from the ACLU of Massachusetts,… Continue Reading →

Greg Mitchell and I just posted on SSRN, here, an essay titled “Forensics and Fallibility: Comparing the Views of Lawyers and Judges,” forthcoming in West Virginia Law Review, Vol. 119, 2016. Here is the abstract: Forensic evidence plays an increasingly prominent… Continue Reading →

Featuring Keynote Jules Epstein, Professor of Law and Director of Advocacy Programs Temple Beasley School of Law, Philadelphia. Professor Epstein is a member of the National Commission on Forensic Science, has worked on two DNA workgroups and in capital case… Continue Reading →

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 →