Yesterday we featured Valena Beety’s review of Sandra Guerra Thompson’s new book.  Below are some of my reactions to a central narrative in the book. “Houston, we’ve had a problem here.”  The actual line was in past tense, says NASA… Continue Reading →

Professor Sandra Guerra Thompson has written a timely book addressing forensic reform in our legal system, Cops in Lab Coats: Curbing Wrongful Convictions Through Independent Forensic Laboratories. The Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law is publishing my book review of… Continue Reading →

Adacia Chambers has been charged with four counts of second-degree murder in conjunction with driving into a crowd of people at the Oklahoma State University Homecoming parade. A forensic psychologist evaluated Chambers in prison and found that she exhibited signs… Continue Reading →

A long forensic investigation has resulted in the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force Commander believing that Lt. Joe Gliniewicz’s death was a suicide. Investigators believe that his suicide was prompted by increased stress of stealing money from the department. Read… Continue Reading →

Last week, the city of Tulsa agreed to compensate Sedrick Courtney $8 million for the 15 years he spent in prison after a wrongful conviction for robbery. He was convicted based upon a mistaken eyewitness identification and the testimony of… Continue Reading →

The UK Forensic Science Regulator recently published a guidance document entitled “Cognitive Bias Effects Relevant to Forensic Science Examinations”.  You can read the document — which discusses different categories of bias, general conditions impacting the risk of biasing effects, bias… Continue Reading →

Recently, a Montana Forensic Pathologist, Thomas Bennett, came under fire for conducting flawed autopsies on children. While all of Bennett’s cases are not being reviewed at this time, the controversy in Montana has led to revamping the office and discussing the… Continue Reading →

Prosecutors in Japan have a 99% conviction rate, chiefly due to the ubiquity of confessions in criminal cases. Recently, Japan has embraced various forensic science procedures, modeled after those practiced in the United States, to evaluate evidence in criminal cases…. Continue Reading →

Maryland’s DNA Admissibility Statute set forth discovery and notice requirements for admitting DNA evidence, as well as setting out standards for the DNA testing. Any DNA testing had to be conducted in accordance with the standards of the Technical Working… Continue Reading →

The Ohio legislature is currently considering a bill that would expand the list of crimes in which offenders are required to hand over DNA to the state. These crimes include voyeurism, public indecency, soliciting a prostitute and prostitution. Some legislators, who… Continue Reading →