Lonnie Strawhacker; Eugene Pitts; Arkansas; (Microscopic hair analysis): Court says their cases need review because of flawed forensics (testimony from FBI agent Michael Malone)..."The Arkansas cases are two of more than 250 identified nationwide by the Justice Department, which stressed that the flawed forensic testimony did not necessarily establish the defendants' innocence. Lonnie Strawhacker was convicted of rape in Washington County in 1990 based partly on testimony from an FBI hair-comparison expert during his trial. Eugene Pitts was convicted of capital murder in the 1979 kidnapping and slaying of a North Little Rock veterinarian also based partly on testimony from the same FBI expert, identified as Michael Malone."..."As for future issues with forensic testimony, the Justice Department issued a memo in September saying it was developing a new code of professional responsibility for its forensic science laboratories, including asking forensic examiners and prosecutors to no longer use the phrase "reasonable scientific certainty" in their reports or testimony." The Daily Progress; Reporter Claudia Lauer; The Associated Press; October 20, 2016;

 

"Arkansas' high court issued opinions Thursday sending two cases back to lower courts to consider whether flawed testimony from FBI forensics experts is enough to overturn the convictions of two men. The justices said there was enough evidence to ask the lower courts to consider the arguments made by attorneys in both cases for writs of error coram nobis, a legal move that allows a court to reopen a case when a substantial error is found that did not appear in the original judgment. In the cases Thursday, the error at issue is the testimony of an FBI expert on microscopic hair analysis. The Justice Department announced last year that several experts had overstated the strength of similar forensic evidence dating back decades. The Arkansas cases are two of more than 250 identified nationwide by the Justice Department, which stressed that the flawed forensic testimony did not necessarily establish the defendants' innocence. Lonnie Strawhacker was convicted of rape in Washington County in 1990 based partly on testimony from an FBI hair-comparison expert during his trial. Eugene Pitts was convicted of capital murder in the 1979 kidnapping and slaying of a North Little Rock veterinarian also based partly on testimony from the same FBI expert, identified as Michael Malone. John Wesley Hall, a lawyer for Pitts, said the rulings Thursday are far from the last word in the appeals. "This is not a retrying. It's to establish whether (Pitts) is entitled to a new trial.........As for future issues with forensic testimony, the Justice Department issued a memo in September saying it was developing a new code of professional responsibility for its forensic science laboratories, including asking forensic examiners and prosecutors to no longer use the phrase "reasonable scientific certainty" in their reports or testimony."

http://www.dailyprogress.com/arkansas-court-says-cases-need-review-after-flawed-forensics/article_18403dc1-a027-5f94-9382-dbd3783db13a.html