Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Flawed forensics: 'How bad science is undermining America's justice system' - an insightful, comprehensive story by Crime and Justice reporter Jon Schuppe, with a somewhat discouraging ending..."Karen Kafadar, a co-director of the Center for Statistics and Applications in Forensic Evidence, said the reform effort isn’t meant to undermine solid cases. “But when evidence is presented with shockingly little probability, I think it would be wise for people to be very cautious,” Kafadar said. There have been scattered attempts to improve forensic science, and some examiners have started changing the way they testify, describing the limits of how certain they can be that evidence points to a suspect, researchers say. However, Kafadar said, “for the most part, things haven’t changed much.”...Alternative heading: 'We are going backward': How the justice system ignores science in the pursuit of convictions: Forensic techniques including bite-mark comparisons and blood-spatter analysis have sent dozens of innocent people to prison."


PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Over the past decade, dozens of studies have warned of the inaccuracy of commonly used methods of forensic science. Some of the methods, including bite-mark comparisons and blood-spatter analysis, are now considered by many researchers to be scientifically dubious, responsible for dozens of wrongful convictions and deserving no place in the criminal justice system. Others, such as shoe prints, fingerprints and ballistics comparisons, can still be useful, the researchers say, but only with the caveat that they do not provide definitive answers. However, law enforcement authorities continue to rely on these methods, saying forensic examiners’ experience and intuition should not be discounted. Judges, meanwhile, are wary of bucking prior rulings, choosing to accept the methods as they always have rather than risk failed prosecutions."

https://www.wxxv25.com/2019/01/23/how-bad-science-is-undermining-americas-justice-system/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.