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In The News

2016-09-06 | Inside the White House Report Blasting Some Forensic Disciplines
“Casework is not scientifically valid research, and experience alone cannot establish scientific validity,” the report states. “In particular, one cannot reliably estimate error rates from casework because one typically does not have independent knowledge of the ‘ground truth’ or ‘right answer.’” The group included nine federal judges, a former U.S. Solicitor General, a state supreme court justice, law school deans, and statisticians. Overall, they concluded that forensic science results be “repeatable, reproducible, and accurate.”

2016-09-06 | DNA Phenotyping Recreates the Face of an Alleged Serial Killer
The Aurora Police Department has investigated the case since the bodies were discovered the morning of Jan. 16, 1984. The last in a series of attacks over a two-week period, the killer has never been found. Some hope in solving the cold case was mustered when a DNA profile from the Bennett crime scene was developed in 2002. But no match was made in any database. The case stayed cold. Now the police have turned to DNA phenotyping, using some of the clues in the genetic profile, to estimate the look of the killer, they announced last week. Parabon NanoLabs, a Virginia-based company which specializes in phenotyping, put together a “Snapshot” predictive sketch of what the murderer would look like at age 25 and age 55 – an estimation of what he would look like today, if still alive.

2016-09-02 | Forensic Disciplines Questioned by White House Panel
Forensic analysis of firearms, DNA, and bite marks should be scientifically questioned, according to a draft report of recommendations from a White House panel of experts. The draft document by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, reported on by The Wall Street Journal and The Los Angeles Times, is just the latest document to question the forensic science that has been in use in U.S. courtrooms for decades.

2016-09-01 | Aurora, counties creating joint crime lab to speed evidence processing
For almost a year Aurora Police Department, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office and the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office have been discussing building a joint crime lab officials say could help ease an evidence-testing backlog that law enforcement often faces. Now, with a lengthy feasibility study of the project complete, officials say they could hammer out an agreement on the new $14 million facility by the end of 2016.

2016-09-01 | Presidential Advisory Council Questions Validity of Forensics in Criminal Trials
The report, a copy of which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, raises questions about the use of bite mark, hair, footwear, firearm and tool mark analysis routinely used as evidence in thousands of trials annually in state and federal courts. “It has become increasingly clear in recent years that lack of rigor in the assessment of the scientific validity of forensic evidence is not just a hypothetical problem but a real and significant weakness in the judicial system,” said the draft review by the advisory council of scientists and engineers. It is expected to be made final in September.

2016-08-31 | Nearly 1,400 DNA Cases May Have Been Improperly Analyzed by APD Lab
It has been more than two months since the Austin Police Department’s DNA lab was shut down after concerns of improperly trained staff and evidence verification. The Travis County District Attorney has sent hundreds of letters to defense attorneys to let them know about the problem. The Travis County Commissioners Tuesday approved a $150,000 grant that could be used to help defendants retest DNA samples related to their case.

2016-08-23 | Forensic Scientists Commended for Long Hours in Sexual Assault Investigation
A serial rapist was on the loose in Texas’s largest city, breaking into homes and sexually assaulting women in their beds at the point of a knife, or end of a gun. But there was evidence, and several suspects. A group of forensic scientists worked overtime, turned around crucial evidence in a crunch of just a few crucial hours – clearing one suspect, confirming another, and pulling the alleged attacker off the streets earlier this year. Coupled with a round-the-clock investigation by a Houston police detective, the suspect is now awaiting trial behind bars, without bail. "So much work was put into this - that's why it was a huge help from the lab to move so quickly," said Kim Miller, a Houston detective in the robbery division. The group of 13 analysts at the Houston Forensic Science Center will now be officially commended today for their role in the arrest of Reginald Dwayne Bond, currently awaiting trial.

2016-08-23 | DNA samples in Travis County cases will undergo extra scrutiny
The abrupt closure of the Austin Police Department’s DNA lab will impact cases that are moving through the Travis County court system. On Monday, the Travis County District Attorney’s Office said they have hired a leading expert in forensic DNA to review all casework by the APD DNA lab before the plea or trial of pending cases. Last week, APD suspended operations at its DNA lab after an audit conducted by the Texas Forensic Science Commission determined the lab did not have enough properly trained staff. The report also indicated the lab was not up to date on standard protocols.

2016-08-20 | Under the Gun: Forensic Scientists as Stressed as Cops and Jail Guards
“The fact that forensic scientists appear to have as much stress as police and corrections officers was somewhat surprising,” said Thomas J. Holt, the lead author, a criminal justice professor at Michigan State University. Surveys of 670 scientists in 25 states produced the data about career happiness and pressures on the job. Females made up 62 percent of the respondents. About 78 percent of the participants reported mid- to high- levels of stress. The women were about two times likelier to report high stress levels, they found.

2016-08-16 | Guilty Plea for Crime-Lab Analyst Accused of Stealing Prescription Pills
A disgraced former crime lab analyst plead guilty, today, to stealing some 700 pills from 50 separate evidence items, according to reports. Nika Larsen, now 36 of Bend, Ore., was accused of stealing prescription pills including Morphine and Methadone from state-run crime labs in, at least, two counties, according to federal court documents filed in July. Larsen plead guilty to two counts of stealing controlled substances, today, in federal court.