Hot off the presses is the Report about the Investigation of the Drug Laboratory at The William A. Hinton State Laboratory Institute (2002–2012). Read it yourself here.
Should Toxicologists Be Part of the “Prosecution Team”?
Should Toxicologists Be Part of the “Prosecution Team”? At this year’s AAFS meeting, Chuck Hayes of the International Association of the Chiefs of Police gave a thought provoking presentation about the DRE program in the Toxicology Section. I was there in person. It was entitled “Re-examining the ‘Three Legged Stool’ Approach to Deterring Drugged Driving.” […]
Want more vacation days? Go work in a crime laboratory in Ohio
I used to call it the Crime Laboratory Retirement plan. You work at a salaried state job with great benefits. You screw up, you skip steps in a protocol, you get caught and rather than being charged with a criminal offense, you are allowed to retire. You even get to go work somewhere else. Well, […]
Joseph Graves Allegations
Human integrity. All forensic science boils down to human integrity. Here is a story of allegations of a failure of both human integrity and also of a quality assurance as well as evidence integrity policies, protocols, and procedures. (Remember, all people even Joseph Graves is presumed innocent.) Where is the indictment of the laboratory? Were […]
Further evidence that breath testing in Pennsylvania is not scientific
Further evidence that breath testing in Pennsylvania is not scientific. “Just shut up and pay your taxes!” The Pennsylvania Department of Education and the Institute for Law Enforcement Education seemingly hate science and don’t appreciate taxpayers. It’s that darn whole science is open thing that neither PDE nor ILEE seem to understand. They just continue […]
But they’re fixing forensic science, right?
Why can’t ASCLD or other accrediting agencies or the new DOJ/NIST National Forensic Science Commission be trusted to fix forensic science? I posted a harsh but true opinion piece about the newly appointed and announced National Forensic Science Commission (NFSC) here: Let the great whitewash begin: The National Forensic Science Commission This opinion piece provoked […]
“I Googled it” said the crime lab
We have posted here before stories about drug seizures and identifications that are wrong. Basically, the old: “I know it is a drug just by looking at it” police work. It is a modern malicious marvel that creeps into the courtroom. Roadside screening tests such as the NIK Public Safety Reagent Based Tests Can Provide […]
Kudos to Texas State Fire Marshal Chris Connealy
From Grits for Breakfast (which is a wonderful blog): Kudos to Texas State Fire Marshal Chris Connealy for doing the right thing. Pecos DA challenges state fire marshal review of junk science in arson cases A West Texas DA has sought an Attorney General’s opinion seeking to stop the State Fire Marshal from reviewing […]
The top 2 problems seen with Gas Chromatography BAC results
The top 2 problems seen with Gas Chromatography BAC results The testing method used most frequently in blood based Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) analysis in the United States is called headspace gas chromatography (GC) with flame ionization detector, using wall coated open tubular capillary columns. The process analyzes chemicals without decomposing them. The GC […]
Crime Laboratory Fees: A Form of Bias
New Paper Shows How Crime Laboratory Fees Are A Form of Bias In a new paper, Koppl and Sacks point to the ugly and hidden side of laboratory science that those of us that defend citizens accused of crimes know well. The money-making scheme that are court assessed criminal laboratory user fees. In that paper, […]
Stating the Obvious: There is Prosecution Bias in Most Crime Labs-the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Laboratory case study
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Laboratory crisis that concerns blood ethanol content by HS-GC-FID teaches us yet again the critical role that bias education plays in a crime laboratory. Everyone has bias. Bias is unavoidable. In fact, in certain contexts it is a good thing. Bias against strangers is what keeps kids from […]
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