REMINDER: Al Jazeera America presents another episode in its excellent series on the American criminal justice system "The System" tomorrow - Sunday June 1 at 9.00 PM Eastern Time; 6.00 PM Pacific Time.
STORY: "DNA exoneration: Redeeming the wrongfully convicted," by Associated Press reporter Julio Cortez, published by Al Jazeera on May 27, 2014;
SUB-HEADING: "Across U.S., 316 jailed criminals have successfully proved their innocence and found justice through forensic science."
GIST: "Lawrence Kobilinsky, chair of the sciences department at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said that the public, as well as judges and juries, considers DNA testing to be “the gold standard” for proof that, if produced, can trump other types of evidence. In addition to its potential to free the innocent, DNA testing can help identify a crime’s true culprit. Nearly half of DNA exoneration cases lead to someone other than the falsely convicted individual. Kobilinsky cautioned that DNA testing is not 100 percent foolproof, though. Because humans must collect and test DNA samples, the process is susceptible to human error. “People can pipe material into the wrong well, or they can mislabel samples. You cannot have an expert go on the stand and say, ‘We never make mistakes,’ because that’s not real life,” he says. Still, Kobilinsky said efforts by advocacy groups have “revealed to convicts, felons and criminals that there is a way out of prison.” The professor added: “But you can get a D.A. [district attorney] who doesn’t want to have a case opened up. They have a conviction under their belt. Why would they want the case overturned? [Yet] a D.A. should be cognizant of their mission, which is justice — not just winning a case.”.........Flawed forensics: This type of scientific mistake occurred in the process of convicting around half of those ultimately exonerated through DNA testing. Botched forensic techniques include hair microscopy, firearm analysis and shoe print comparison. Some cases are led astray due to misconduct by forensic scientists."
STORY: "DNA exoneration: Redeeming the wrongfully convicted," by Associated Press reporter Julio Cortez, published by Al Jazeera on May 27, 2014;
SUB-HEADING: "Across U.S., 316 jailed criminals have successfully proved their innocence and found justice through forensic science."
GIST: "Lawrence Kobilinsky, chair of the sciences department at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said that the public, as well as judges and juries, considers DNA testing to be “the gold standard” for proof that, if produced, can trump other types of evidence. In addition to its potential to free the innocent, DNA testing can help identify a crime’s true culprit. Nearly half of DNA exoneration cases lead to someone other than the falsely convicted individual. Kobilinsky cautioned that DNA testing is not 100 percent foolproof, though. Because humans must collect and test DNA samples, the process is susceptible to human error. “People can pipe material into the wrong well, or they can mislabel samples. You cannot have an expert go on the stand and say, ‘We never make mistakes,’ because that’s not real life,” he says. Still, Kobilinsky said efforts by advocacy groups have “revealed to convicts, felons and criminals that there is a way out of prison.” The professor added: “But you can get a D.A. [district attorney] who doesn’t want to have a case opened up. They have a conviction under their belt. Why would they want the case overturned? [Yet] a D.A. should be cognizant of their mission, which is justice — not just winning a case.”.........Flawed forensics: This type of scientific mistake occurred in the process of convicting around half of those ultimately exonerated through DNA testing. Botched forensic techniques include hair microscopy, firearm analysis and shoe print comparison. Some cases are led astray due to misconduct by forensic scientists."
The entire story can be found at:
http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/ajam-presents-thesystem/articles/2014/5/8/dna-exoneration-wrongfullyconvicted.html
Al Jazeera "The System" web page: Flawed forensics: "Nearly 20 years later, the fates of two men are still entangled in the FBI’s faulty hair analysis from all those years ago. Both men were found guilty of multiple murders and now one is on the outside, recently released and waiting for a retrial, while the other is still on death row, hoping the State will allow him the DNA test he needs to keep him alive."
http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/al-jazeera-america-presents.html
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.
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/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
I look forward to hearing from readers at:
hlevy15@gmail.com.
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;
