The New York Times reports that two techniques used by the office of the NYC Chief Medical Examiner to analyze DNA mixtures have been discontinued. The lab had a national reputation for using techniques surpassing those used by the FBI,… Continue Reading →

The Washington Post reports that Robert O’Block, who founded the American College of Forensic Examiners Institute (“ACFEI”), committed suicide in late July after apparently murdering his girlfriend. The ACFEI, which is one of the largest forensics certification bodies in the… Continue Reading →

A June 27th Dallas News article recently sparked public outcry when it revealed that over eight hundred moldy rape kits were found decaying in the Austin Police Department[1]. Rape kits have had a long history as crucial components of the… Continue Reading →

The Supreme Court’s ruling this past week in McWilliams v. Dunn, on its face is about the ability of a defendant facing the death penalty to put on a meaningful defense case concerning mental health evidence.  Thirty-one years ago, the… Continue Reading →

Last week the Hartford CT judge ordered Alfred Swinton, who had been imprisoned since 1991 freed.  For coverage of Mr. Swinton walking free, see this article in the Harford Courant.  He said: “Freedom, freedom. It feels so good.”  New DNA tests on… Continue Reading →

Listen or read here as NPR’s Science Friday discusses the state of forensics.  Suzanne Bell, describes: that there is a “big disconnect that has led people to believe that forensic science is fine—it’s in good shape, it’s funded, it’s supported—when in… Continue Reading →

A new paper by Bradford T. Ulery, R. Austin Hicklin, Maria Antonia Roberts, and JoAnn Buscaglia, titled “Factors associated with latent fingerprint exclusion determinations,” was recently published in FSI.  Until July 7, it can be downloaded for free here.  The… Continue Reading →

Officials at the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab have elected to employ familial searching as a means to identify close relatives of potential suspects in cold cases. Familial searching, in contrast to conventional DNA identification, uses partial matches or commonalities to… Continue Reading →

The Boston Globe reports that tampering charges levied against Annie Dookhan, a former Massachusettes state chemist, will result in thousands of drug-related convictions to be vacated. Overall, Dookhan was involved in 24,000 convictions and over 40,000 cases. Only a few… Continue Reading →

A story in the NYT, here, about research published Monday by researchers at New York University and Michigan State University suggesting that fake fingerprints prints that include common features.  The researchers did not use a phone maker’s software, though, and apparently companies… Continue Reading →