Expert Trigger Pull Uncertainty
By Jeff Salyards, Dana Sevigny
ISO 17025 requires laboratories to document how uncertainty was calculated. Find out ways to become more comfortable with your uncertainty calculations.
Putting a Nail in the Coffin of the Hilti Defense
By Blake Kinder, Eugene Provost
In a 2007 shooting, primer residue was found on the prime suspect. In his defense he claimed that the residue came not from firing a gun, but from using a Hilti nail gun, a powder-actuated tool, at his construction job. This study addresses the fallacy of the “Hilti Defense.”
Innovations in Scanning Electron Microscopy Preserve Sample Integrity and Validity in Forensic Analysis
By Hans Kruesemann
Scanning electron microscopes (SEM) provide forensic investigators with critical imaging and analytical capabilities that are not available from other techniques. In particular, they can resolve features as small as a nanometer, allowing useful magnifications of 100,000 times or more.
The Controversy Concerning Gunshot Residues Examinations
By Dennis L. McGuire, M.S.
Lawyers, judges, and juries can be seriously misled by crime laboratory findings of the presence of gunshot residues (GSR).
Making New Sense of Evidence
By Richard Leary, Pete Gagliardi
The proactive use and comprehensive analysis of ballistics evidence, once overlooked as unlikely to produce the highest probably value, benefits from new technology in sharing and comparing data.
