Friday, April 27, 2018

The 'un-reliability' revolution: Brandon Garrett and Chris Fabricant explain unreliable forensic expert evidence still abounds - inspite of the U.S. Supreme Court's modern test for admissibility of evidence..."The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and subsequent revisions to Federal Rule of Evidence 702, was supposed to usher a reliability revolution. This modern test for admissibility of expert evidence is sometimes described as a reliability test. Critics, however, have pointed out that judges continue to routinely admit unreliable evidence, particularly in criminal cases, including flawed forensic techniques that have contributed to convictions of innocent people later exonerated by DNA testing."..."We assembled a collection of 229 state criminal cases that quote and in some minimal fashion discuss the reliability requirement. This archive will hopefully be of use to litigators and evidence scholars. We find, however, that in the unusual cases in which state courts discuss reliability under Rule 702 they invariably admit the evidence, largely by citing to precedent and qualifications of the expert or by acknowledging but not acting upon the reliability concern. In short, the supposed reliability test adopted in Rule 702 is rarely applied to assess reliability."

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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Surveying hundreds of state court cases, we find that courts have largely neglected the critical language conce...
Thursday, April 26, 2018

Scott Austic: Western Australia: White elephant case: A very troubling more than decade-old Australian case: Calls for his release focus on key evidence used to convict him: A blood-stained cigarette packet and a knife identified as the murder weapon: There are elements of a magic show in the prosecution's case: The cigarette packet stained with Ms. Thorne's blood was visible in later crime scene photos - but not in the originals, Hmmmm! ABC News reports that West Australia's Attorney-General has refered the conviction to the Court of Appeal, as per the story below. An extraordinary investigative 3-part video called 'Framed' was televised by "Sunday Night." The series can be accessed at the link below. It' s a 'must see.' We will be following developments closely. Harold Levy. Publisher. The Charles Smith Blog.

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In the years since I started publishing this Blog I have become increasingly disturbed by the 'white elephant' in the room:...
Wednesday, April 25, 2018

World DNA Day: (April 25, 2018): Florenico Dominguez; A modern day clash: Defendant’s fair-trial rights, including the right to confront and challenge evidence used against him pitted against a private company’s business secrets — secrets that were integral to producing key evidence in the case....San Diego Union Tribune: "DA fights judge's order to hand over info on how new DNA test works." (Reporter Greg Moran)..."The program uses a powerful algorithm to interpret complex DNA evidence that contains genetic material from multiple people. The software runs millions of calculations on the statistical likelihood of whether or not a specific individual’s DNA is present in the mixture, and does it quicker and with greater accuracy than humans can. The San Diego police crime lab is one of a growing number of labs in the country using this method, known as “probabilistic genotyping.” The city purchased STRmix from the New Zealand company that developed it in 2015, and so far has spent $189,000 on licensing and training, city records show. The FBI and U.S. Army labs started using STRmix, and last year the crime lab for the city of New York did, too. Other companies have developed similar computer software programs for sale to labs. The tool is especially useful for DNA evidence that has two or more contributors to it — known as mixture samples. Analyzing these samples has been a controversy among scientists for years, leading to concerns that interpretations by scientists can be error-prone or rely too much on subjective determinations."

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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "At a hearing on March 28, San Diego Superior Court Judge Charles G. Rogers ruled that Speredelozzi should get...
Tuesday, April 24, 2018

World DNA Day: (April 25, 2018); Major Development: Innocence Project launches a special feature exploring the history of DNA and its unique role in proving innocence..."Through an interactive timeline and riveting stories of some of the first beneficiaries of DNA testing including, Gary Dotson, Kirk Bloodsworth and Paula Gray, you'll see how DNA technology has evolved in the last few decades to help restore the freedom of 356 people in the United States."

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POST: "The history of DNA and its unique role in proving innocence," published by The Innocence Project on April 22, 2018. GIST...
Monday, April 23, 2018

Bill Cosby: Norristown, Pensylvania. On-going retrial. Cosby trial jurors prepped about "rape myths" by forensic psychiatrist who led off the prosecution's case, The Washington Post. Will Barbara Ziv's prove to be one of the most important witnesses if prosecutors prevail in the sprawling case?..."Ziv testified about “rape myths” — widely believed misconceptions about the behavior of victims of rape and sexual assault, such as expecting women to immediately file police reports and to cut off contact with the men who attack them. “Most common knowledge about sexual assault is wrong,” Ziv said. In a sense, the Cosby retrial, now nearing the two-week mark, is shaping up as a referendum on rape myths, a test both of its grip on the mind-set of the public and of the notion there may be exceptions to its tenets. Prosecutors, who rested their case Thursday, are betting on jurors absorbing the concept and applying it to Constand’s testimony, particularly her behavior after she says Cosby assaulted her in 2004. The core of the defence case is a portrayal of Constand as a liar and extortionist. But Cosby’s attorneys are also angling to raise doubts that she is a true victim by pounding her with arched-eyebrow questions about the same sorts of behaviors that Ziv described as utterly commonplace for women who have been sexually assaulted. While being cross-examined, Ziv testified that no more than 7 per cent of sexual assault allegations are false, and she thinks the number could actually be as low as 2 per cent."

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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Of all the lines of attack on Constand’s credibility, one of the most persistent has been the defence suggestio...

The late Dr. John Plunkett: Minnesota; Sue Luttner's tribute to 'a champion of justice' on her outstanding Blog 'On SBS'.

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: In her current post, Sue Luttner  includes several illuminating appreciations - all of which are worth reading. One t...
Sunday, April 22, 2018

John Plunkett: Minnesota: Star Tribune obituary: An appreciation of the great forensic pathologist who battled shaken baby syndrome and helped reverse convictions based on the flawed doctrine..."Plunkett, a forensic pathologist, spent nearly 20 years challenging shaken baby syndrome diagnoses. He was a leading critic of the theory he once accepted, and his work helped reverse hundreds of convictions based on bad forensics. Plunkett died from cancer April 4, surrounded by his family at his farm in Welch, Minn. He was 70. Plunkett provided expert testimony in 50 convictions that were overturned and personally consulted in hundreds of other cases in his "voracious quest for truth," (Meryl) Goldsmith said. He won a lifetime achievement award from the Wisconsin Innocence Project in 2016 and was the central character in Goldsmith's "The Syndrome," an award-winning 2014 documentary. "He was radiating with warmth and friendliness. You could sense his knowledge and brilliance was extraordinary," Goldsmith said. "Combined with his deep empathy and need to help people who were suffering, he emerged from that as a leader of this movement of forensic integrity."

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STORY: "John Plunkett, pathologist who battled shaken baby syndrome, dies at 70," by reporter Trevor Squire, published by The Sta...