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In The News

2018-03-01 | Audit Shows N Carolina Has 15K Untested Sexual Assault Kits
North Carolina has more than 15,000 untested sexual assault kits, a backlog that national advocacy group described as “significant.” Attorney General Josh Stein released that number Wednesday at a news conference where he also proposed steps that would prevent a backlog from occurring again. “Testing sexual assault evidence collection kits is important for promoting public safety,” Stein said. “It brings offenders to justice. It secures justice for victims. It closes cases. And it prevents future crime.”

2018-03-01 | DOJ’s Fingerprint Uniform Language is Part of ‘Constant Evolution,’ Says IAI
There is no “individualization,” but there is “identification”—albeit with limits. And while an ink fingerprint on a check being cashed at an FDIC-insured bank is a relatively simple comparison, a bloody palmprint on concrete poses many more complex challenges to expert forensic examiners. The Department of Justice rolled out “uniform language” last week in how federal fingerprints experts should tell juries about what they found in the minutest details of ridge patterns, whorls, scars and even pores. The experts should explain their work, without expressing “scientific certainty” or trying to calculate the incalculable—and that includes avoiding “individualization.”

2018-02-28 | AAFS 2018: Hair Proteins Under the Microscope
Hair is made of proteins that are constructed using the blueprints from the DNA of individuals. Forensic science has been looking at the hardy structure of the hair shafts everyone sheds as being a potential game-changer at crime scenes and archaeological sites, where more-fragile DNA is not available. The forensic value of putting those proteins under the microscope could prove to help investigators of the future, according to the latest scientific findings, a poster presented at last week’s American Academy of Forensic Sciences conference showed. The University of California, Davis scientists found there were more differences between hairs of different people than the hairs of the same person from different parts of their body. But the technique needs improvement to increase its discriminatory power, they add.

2018-02-26 | DOJ Approved Uniform Language for Latent Fingerprint Comparisons
On February 21, the DOJ released this document, setting out uniform language for latent print comparisons. It sets out definitions for source identification, inconclusive and exclusion conclusions and sets out certain qualifications and limitations. Below are excerpts.

2018-02-20 | Medical Examiner Taps DNA Science to Find Missing Persons
For families who have searched years for missing loved ones, donating a sample of their DNA is often a last, desperate act to confirm their worst fears. New York City's medical examiner is leading a nationwide effort to collect genetic material and match it with unidentified human remains. It's a way to finally give family members some answers and maybe some solace. "People will not rest without answers, at least some answers," said Dr. Barbara Sampson, the city's chief medical examiner.

2018-02-13 | Photos Can Be Traced to Individual Smartphones, Opening Up New Ways to Prevent Cybercrime
"Like snowflakes, no two smartphones are the same. Each device, regardless of the manufacturer or make, can be identified through a pattern of microscopic imaging flaws that are present in every picture they take," says Kui Ren, the study's lead author. "It's kind of like matching bullets to a gun, only we're matching photos to a smartphone camera."

2018-02-13 | The Importance of Expert Witness Consult Work
One of the most common questions I face from attorneys when I testify in criminal cases is whether I get hired more often by the prosecution or by the defense. In civil cases, I get asked whether I testify disproportionately for plaintiffs or for defense attorneys. Why do lawyers across the spectrum ask this of doctors on the stand? Because it’s a quick way to assess—and attack—an expert’s bias. A forensic scientist needs to have no bias. One way to demonstrate this ethic is for the expert to maintain a relatively even split of cases where he or she testifies for either the prosecution or the defense.

2018-02-13 | Virginia bill would aid people like Keith Harward, wrongfully convicted by 'junk' forensic science
The experts’ testimony was so persuasive that in upholding Harward’s convictions in 1988, the Virginia Court of Appeals ruled that the dental evidence — now known to be completely erroneous — was strong enough to alone support his convictions. Dozens of wrongful convictions or arrests in the U.S. have since been found to be due at least in part to faulty, inherently subjective bite mark analysis. Even the American Board of Forensic Odontology no longer sanctions specific biter identifications. In the end, Harward was cleared by DNA and the real assailant was identified. But if there had been no DNA evidence, he would be out of luck.

2018-02-08 | Medical Examiners Use Rapid DNA to Identify Victims
In late November 2017, the Massachusetts Office of Chief Medical Examiner (MAOCME) issued their first official identification of a deceased person based on the accredited use of Rapid DNA in their lab. This represents the successful transition of Rapid DNA to a state agency as well as a successful modification and use of the AABB (formerly American Association of Blood Banks) Standards for accreditation of Rapid DNA for relationship testing.

2018-01-28 | Brianna's Law has matched more than 1,000 DNA samples to crimes
Since enacted in July 2014, Brianna's Law has put names to more than 1,000 crimes, including matching more than 100 sexual assaults to perpetrators, according to state DNA database manager and Washoe County Sheriff criminalist Steve Gresko. More than 61,000 felony arrests in Nevada have resulted in a data collection that is entered into a national database.