High Cost, Low Value of Terrorism 'Fusion Centers'
October 04, 2012
The nation’s vast network of anti-terrorism “fusion centers” for law enforcement have produced shoddy, untimely and often useless intelligence reports that have done little to keep the U.S. safer, a scathing U.S. Senate report concludes.
Afghan Confidential: Detectives Train at CSI Kabul
October 03, 2012
Detectives are being taught how to solve a crime by using physical evidence and witness statements, rather than by extracting a confession, perhaps with excessive force, as rights groups often complain.
Forensics Laboratory Opens in DC
October 03, 2012
Years of the District outsourcing forensics work, including drug and DNA analysis, came to an end with the opening of Washington, D.C.'s $210 million Consolidated Forensics Laboratory.
DNA Rape Sample Procedures 'Not Adequate'
October 03, 2012
Forensic procedures carried out by a private firm which wrongly linked the DNA of a man to a rape were "not adequate," a report says.
Jury Deliberations Begin in SFPD Crime Lab Cocaine Theft Trial
October 03, 2012
A federal jury has begun deliberation in the case of a former San Francisco police crime laboratory technician whose pilfering of cocaine led to the dismissal of hundreds of drug cases.
Brain-damaged Man Wins New Trial in Two-decades-old Killing
October 03, 2012
Richard Lapointe confessed in 1989 that he stabbed, raped and killed his wife's 88-year-old grandmother two years earlier. But in the 23 years since, experts in criminal justice have come to better understand how sometimes people make false confessions — especially someone with brain damage, like Lapointe.
Symposium Focuses on Forensics at NIST
October 03, 2012
To showcase how NIST currently serves the forensics community, the agency is hosting “Forensics@NIST 2012” at NIST headquarters in Gaithersburg, Md.
QuantAssure Cassette Development Research
October 02, 2012
This project sought to produce the "QuantAssure Cassette," as a lateral flow immunochromatographic cassette assay for detecting sperm and semen proteins in sexual assault evidence samples.
Louisiana Death Row Inmate, 300th Prisoner Freed by DNA Evidence
October 02, 2012
A Louisiana man was released from death row after serving 15 years for a crime that DNA evidence shows he did not commit.
Pinpointing Accuracy: Research Helps Solidify Evidence in Court
October 02, 2012
In courts throughout the world for the past hundred years, fingerprint experts have been deciding whether or not a print collected at a crime scene matches that of the person suspected of the crime. But in the U.S. adversarial court system, the opinion of fingerprint examiners has often been challenged over the past two decades by the lawyer for the accused person.
Crime Lab Scandal is Symptom of Underfunded Courts
October 02, 2012
State politicians — legislators and the governor — gave short shrift to the court system, systematically ignoring problems and cutting budgets so deeply as to create the crisis Massachusetts now faces.
How Durable is a Fingerprint?
October 01, 2012
Hans Galassi lost several fingers in a wakeboarding accident several months ago. Now one of them has been found in a trout — and identified as Galassi's from its fingerprints. So how long do fingerprints last?
Sorenson Launches Cloud-based Database
October 01, 2012
Sorenson Forensics has announced the launch of its new LEAD (Local Entry Accessible DNA) Database, a secure, cloud-based service designed for local law enforcement agencies to simplify the archival, search and reference of DNA profiles from crime scene samples.
High Throughput Mass Spectrometry to Exploit Genetic Differences in Same-length STR Alleles
October 01, 2012
This project focused on design, validation and utilization of a next generation STR and Y-STR typing platform based on automated electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS).
Burn Victim Identified by Maggots on Body
October 01, 2012
When Mexican police found a body in the woods it was burned beyond recognition, it's DNA too damaged to be used for identification. Luckily, investigators were able to extract DNA from elsewhere — the digestive systems of maggots that had been feeding on the body.
No Sign of Hoffa Remains in New Search
October 01, 2012
Authorities drilled through concrete and removed two samples of wet soil and clay in a modest Detroit-area neighborhood in the latest effort to find the remains of Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa, who disappeared in 1975.
Mass. Lab Chemist Contacted Directly by Procecutors
October 01, 2012
Massachusetts State Police reports of interviews with former chemist Annie Dookhan and her associates at the now-shuttered state drug lab are triggering new questions and darker assessments in the widening scandal of falsification and fraudulence in the handling of drug evidence used to convict criminal defendants.
ISP Crime Labs Get Nationally Recognized Accreditation
September 28, 2012
The Indiana State Police Laboratory Division has achieved a historic milestone by completing an internationally renowned accreditation process which assesses the quality of laboratory operations and scientific procedures.
Mass. Gov Says He Expects Charges in Lab Scandal
September 28, 2012
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said he expects criminal charges will be brought in an investigation of misconduct by a state lab chemist who admitted faking drug sample results, forging signatures and skipping proper procedures.
China Gov't Forensic Expert Questions Poisoning
September 28, 2012
A prominent Chinese government forensic scientist has questioned the cause of death of a murdered British businessman, casting doubt on the official version of a scandal that reached into the upper levels of the Communist Party.
Development of an Automated Holographic Optical Trapping Method for Sexual Assault Evidence Kit Analysis
September 28, 2012
This report describes a technology development effort directed towards creating an automated system for isolating human sperm from sexual assault evidence swabs.
After 15 Days, FBI Still Investigating Benghazi Crime Scene from Afar
September 28, 2012
More than two weeks after four Americans — including the U.S. ambassador to Libya — were killed in an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, FBI agents have not yet been granted access to investigate in the eastern Libyan city, and the crime scene has not been secured, sources said.
Highway of Tears Investigator Awed by DNA Science
September 28, 2012
Retired Mountie Fred Bodnaruk, who was a staff-sergeant when he headed the investigations into the murders of MacMillen and Pamela Darlington in the early 1970s, knew his lab was “fairly immature” at the time, but he hoped they would be able to match evidence to one of the many suspects.
DNA Fingerprinting Pioneer to Retire after 35 Years
September 27, 2012
Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys, one of Britain’s leading scientists known as the "Father of Genetic Fingerprinting," has announced he is to continue his association with the Univ. of Leicester, as an Emeritus Professor, following his retirement this month after 35 years’ service at the University.
Geographic Software Maps Distinctive Features inside Bones
September 27, 2012
A common type of geographic mapping software offers a new way to study human remains.
