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In The News

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.

2018-01-26 | Developing a Roadside Test for Marijuana Intoxication Isn't as Easy as It Sounds
As the movement to legalize marijuana in the United States gains momentum, researchers worry about keeping the public safe, particularly on the roads. Recent studies in which marijuana users took controlled doses of cannabis in the lab have identified new biomarkers that can be used to estimate a person's recent cannabinoid intake. But, using those markers to judge cognitive and behavioral impairment is complex, say toxicologists in a commentary published on January 25 in a special issue of the journal Trends in Molecular Medicine on biomarkers of substance abuse.

2018-01-26 | DA review identified 254 cases that could be re-examined because of DNA issue
The letters are not an acknowledgment that the convictions are invalid, or that prosecutors even suspect there are problems with them, and don’t precisely spell out how a case will be handled. Stephan wrote that in “appropriate circumstances” some of the DNA matching conclusions could be re-calculated, or some evidence — if it still exists — may be retested.

2018-01-10 | Convicted Triple Murderer Alleges Bogus Snow Imprint Forensic Analysis in Federal Suit
Those two pieces of forensic analysis were provided by the first named defendant in the new lawsuit, G. Michele Yezzo, a former forensic scientist at the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation—whose work on multiple criminal cases has been questioned. Five years before the triple murder, an internal BCI memo had stated Yezzo’s “findings and conclusions regarding evidence may be suspect. She will stretch the truth to satisfy a department.”

2017-12-01 | New Findings: Burglars Have One of Four Personalities—and They’re Finally Getting Caught
“I think an even more important, but very unexpected, finding was what happened to the number of burglaries occurring in the treatment departments’ jurisdictions after they started implementing the burglary profiles,” said Fox. “Specifically, results show that they had 40.9 percent fewer burglaries occurring in their jurisdictions, likely because they were doing a better job of putting so many more bad guys away!”

2017-11-29 | Forensic Technology Developed in UK Will Make It “Impossible” for Criminals to Destroy Fingerprint Evidence
New forensic technology created by scientists at Loughborough University will make it “impossible” for criminals to erase their fingerprints from crime scenes. The advanced detection technique, which allows investigators to take prints from problematic exhibits, such as spent ammunition casings, was carried out in partnership with the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) - an executive agency of the Ministry of Defence. Those involved in the innovation said it will make it far easier for police to recover impressions from previously problematic crime scenes involving materials subjected to high temperatures, or immersed in water or prints left on deformed surfaces.