Bulletin: Junk bite-mark 'science': Radley Balko points to more overturned convictions and more scrutiny for bite mark analysis - as he makes a cogent point: "I suppose it’s great that these “expert” witnesses are recanting their testimony. But as I’ve written here before, we’ve entrusted judges to be the gatekeepers of scientific evidence. That evidence this transparently ridiculous was even admitted in these cases — not to mention hundreds of others, and not to mention the thousands of other cases tainted by bogus or overstated forensic analysis — is a pretty good indication that putting judges in charge of sorting good science from bad has been disastrous."

 

"There have been a number of new developments since we last visited the issue of bite mark analysis..........(He outlines these developments); I suppose it’s great that these “expert” witnesses are recanting their testimony. But as I’ve written here before, we’ve entrusted judges to be the gatekeepers of scientific evidence. That evidence this transparently ridiculous was even admitted in these cases — not to mention hundreds of others, and not to mention the thousands of other cases tainted by bogus or overstated forensic analysis — is a pretty good indication that putting judges in charge of sorting good science from bad has been disastrous. The other major development takes us back to Texas, where the state’s Forensic Science Commission has now turned its sights on bite mark evidence. The commission was formed in the wake of the growing evidence that the state executed an innocent man, Cameron Todd Willingham, after convicting him with arson science now widely recognized as fraudulent. I’d suggest that the commission take a hard look at the case of David Wayne Spence, who was executed in 1997 for his alleged role in the 1982 Lake Waco murders. "Radley Balko blogs about criminal justice, the drug war and civil liberties for The Washington Post. He is the author of the book "Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2015/10/22/more-overturned-convictions-more-scrutiny-for-bite-mark-analysis/