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Stuff.CO.
NZ and North & South Channel News were sources for this article. Note: Both
sources are in New Zealand. The comversation(dot)com, a news source in the
United States was also a source for this piece.
The 2016 President's Council of Advisors on
Science and Technology (PCAST) [in the United States] report investigated the scientific validity of seven
forensic methods, such as fingerprint and shoeprint analysis, that rely
on matching patterns. They rejected bite marks and concluded microscopic
hair analysis, shoeprints and firearms analysis all lacked robust studies
proving their scientific reliability.
Behind those
doubts are ruined lives. Santae Tribble spent 20 years in prison
after an FBI expert found 13 crime scene hairs matched his "in all
microscopic characteristics.” DNA analysis later revealed none belonged to
Tribble and one came from a dog.
There have been
concerns, too, about just how expert forensic experts really are. A New York Times investigation found
you could give blood pattern evidence in court in
the United States after taking a 40-hour course.
And even well-established
techniques may lead to mistakes. Take Europe's phantom serial killer, whose DNA
turned up at six murders. It turned out the DNA belonged to a woman
manufacturing cotton swabs used in crime scene examination kits.
For bloodstain
pattern analysis, if the initial examiner attends the crime scene, you can't
avoid the risk that what they see could influence how they interpret the blood
pattern.
According to some
critics one of the biggest challenges is that judges, not scientists,
decide whether forensic evidence should be admitted in court. Judges
can act only on the information presented to them. And judges rely on
precedent, so even discredited science like bite marks continues to be
admitted, because it's been admitted before. The state of Texas is now debating
whether of not to stop the use of bite marks in court proceeding. Forensic evidence
can be challenged by defense counsels. However, what has been accepted in the
past may later be found in additional research to lack validity.
In a 2016 speech,
Justice Glazebrook laid the blame for much of the forensics controversy on
unrealistic expectations of science.
"The more the
myth that science deals in certainties is dispelled, the less the risk of
science being misunderstood or misapplied by fact finders."
For example, the
key to one man's conviction in New Zealand was a stain on a polo shirt
found in his car. Texan pathologist Rodney Miller, who had no forensic
pathology experience, used a technique called immunohistochemistry to
identify the stain as brain matter.
The method,
usually used to diagnose cancer, had never before been used in
court. Nonetheless, Miller told North & South Channel News: "I can say with 100 per cent certainty that the
tissue on Mr. Lundy's shirt was central nervous system tissue. Not
99.999-per cent certainty – 100 per cent."
However, In June,
University of California forensic neuropathologist and world-leading
concussion expert Bennet Omalu said the test was bull***t and should never have been admitted as evidence. He said a
judge in the United States would not have allowed the results to be admitted
into evidence.
Another man was
found guilty of abducting and raping an 11-year-old girl. DNA evidence was
deemed inconclusive. Further testing in 1993 identified traces of another
man's semen, but ESR scientist Peta Stringer said other DNA traces could
not exclude the accused. After three years in prison, he was eventually
exonerated by later, more sensitive DNA testing.
When traces of a
man's sperm were found in the underpants of his 10-year-old niece it
seemed like a slam-dunk for the prosecution, who alleged she died from sodomy
and suffocation. But defense experts showed the traces of DNA were so
small they could have been transferred from other clothes in a
previous wash, and the girl’s injuries were consistent with her
overwhelming HIV infection and systemic shock following massive diarrhea-related
fluid loss.
Matching crime scene fingerprints against
possible suspects has been around for more than a century. While studies show
the science is valid, it is not infallible and the error rate is higher than
jurors might expect – an FBI study suggested a match could be incorrectly
declared in 1 in 306 cases. Partial and blurred prints are more subject to
interpretation.
Studies have also
shown the method is vulnerable to contextual bias. University College London
psychologist Itiel Dror gave five fingerprint examiners print pairs to
compare and told them that the FBI had mistakenly identified them as coming
from the same person. The samples were, in fact, pairs the experts had
themselves judged as matching five years earlier, but only one expert reached
the same conclusion as their earlier self. Even experts are influence by
their expectations.
According to the Innocence Project, in at least half of the
overturned cases questionable forensic evidence plays a significant role.
On the other hand, the National District Attorneys
Association (NDAA) however was critical of the PCAST report,
countering that there actually is scientific data validating these forensic
fields, but members of PCAST did not adequately consult subject-matter experts.
The NDAA expressed concern that if courts required stronger scientific validity
before allowing evidence into court, it would hamstring the entire
investigative process.
Forensic experts
are human. As we all know, and as various Innocence Projects have shown. To err is
human.
fascinating, Warren.
ReplyDeleteAnother area where accuracy is often lacking is eyewitness testimony.
ReplyDeleteNot only is eyewitness identification unreliable, especially across racial lines, but often several witnesses to the same occasion will have wildly differing versions.
Have you ever been present at a situation, only to read a newspaper account of it later, and realized you don't even recognize what the article is describing?
Interesting article, Warren, but also one that is frightening. I recently took a tour of one of the Virginia crime labs and learned a lot about forensic studies used in prosecuting crimes. One of the most interesting things was that the specialists spent more time going to appear at trials than they did in the lab. After a court hearing, the person who analyzed the evidence has to be in court.
ReplyDeleteI just read a fascinating article in Reader's Digest, March issue, demonstrating how even DNA can prove misleading. Forensics is most complex.
ReplyDeleteFascinating. And DISTURBING!
ReplyDeleteExcellent article, Warren, and very necessary. We need more of this kind of information in the general news media.
ReplyDelete