Donald Gates: Flawed FBI hair or fiber evidence; Review of 2,000 files involving FBI analysis of hair or fiber evidence conducted after the exoneration of Donald Gates prods U.S. Attorney's Office to set up first federal unit in the USA to identify and investigate cases that ended in wrongful convictions. Reuters.

STORY: "Washington U.S. attorney sets up first unit to ID wrongful convictions," published by Reuters on

 GIST: "The U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington has set up the first federal unit in the nation to identify and investigate cases that ended in wrongful convictions, the office said on Friday. The establishment of the Conviction Integrity Unit follows the vacating of five convictions from the 1980s after federal prosecutors in Washington reviewed evidence in the cases, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement. The unit will review cases in which defendants convicted of violent felonies can offer new evidence, such as DNA testing, that may establish innocence.........The new Washington unit follows a four-year review of more than 2,000 files involving FBI analysis of hair or fiber evidence, the statement said. The review was done after the exoneration of Donald Gates, a Washington, D.C., man who was convicted in 1982 of a rape and murder in part on hair evidence. DNA testing, which was not available at the time of Gates’s trial, proved in 2009 that he was innocent."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.businessinsider.com/r-washington-us-attorney-sets-up-first-unit-to-id-wrongful-convictions-2014-9

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/charlessmith

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;