GIST: "The United States has seen more than 2,000 exonerations of people wrongfully convicted of a crime. Of these, approximately 25 percent – more than 500 people – were erroneously convicted because of the misapplication of forensic evidence. To help prevent these errors, Michigan needs a forensic science commission. In Michigan, 17 people have been wrongly convicted due to misapplied forensic evidence in recent years. In 2008 the Detroit Crime Lab was shut down after an audit revealed serious errors in cases. The human impact can be seen in some of the cases that have been successfully litigated by the Michigan Innocence Clinic (MIC) at the University of Michigan Law School...These include: Desmond Ricks: Served 25 years for murder after a police crime lab expert testified that the bullets pulled from the victim’s body were definitively fired from Ricks’ mother’s gun. A quarter-century later, MIC found the bullets and the Michigan State Police concluded that the bullets were fired from an entirely different type of gun than the one Ricks’ mother owned. Julie Baumer: Served 4 years for child abuse after prosecution experts concluded her infant nephew sustained brain injuries from being shaken and/or slammed into an object. Baumer was exonerated after six new experts, all acting pro bono, examined the CT scans and discovered that the baby had actually suffered a stroke.  Lamarr Monson: Served 21 years for murder based on a confession extracted by a discredited officer even though the murder weapon, a blood-soaked toilet tank lid, had a fingerprint on it that did not match Monson. Sixteen years later, a woman came forward to reveal that her ex-boyfriend committed the murder...While many Americans may believe our forensic science system is just like CSI, where matches occur 100 percent of the time and lab analysts are never wrong, unfortunately that is not the case. Human error, contamination and in some instances, misconduct are some of the factors that can lead to a miscarriage of justice. Too often, these problems are litigated in court rather than evaluated through the scientific process, where experts can make a determination as to what happened and how. To respond to this, several states – from liberal bastions like California to conservative Texas – have created a forensic science commission comprised primarily of scientists to craft new standards for labs and to investigate when issues related to forensic evidence arise. Having a system that allows for wrongful convictions because of faulty science is not only a liberty issue, it’s also a public safety issue for Michigan citizens, and especially crime victims. While innocent people are incarcerated, real perpetrators are free to commit additional crimes and create additional victims. The statistics speak for themselves: in roughly half of cases involving a DNA based exoneration, the person who actually committed the crime was then identified. In the years they were undetected, these individuals went on to commit 150 additional violent crimes, including 80 rapes and 35 murders. We must do better than this. A strong rule of law is the foundation of our criminal justice system. Focusing on the right crimes and prosecuting them transparently and accurately is key to public safety and justice. Establishing a science based forensic commission   to ensure reliable evidence and up-to-date standards is another step towards achieving that in Michigan."

The entire commentary can be found at: