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 […]
The American Chemical Society Driving Under the Influence of Drugs Course
Dear attorney friends and colleagues, What have you done to future-proof your DUI practice? The times are changing. Drug-related DUI enforcement is the way of the future. In a short time, Driving Under the Influence of Drugs (DUID) cases will start to outnumber DUI ethanol cases. If your knowledge isn’t greater and your experience is […]
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 […]
Let the great whitewash begin: The National Forensic Science Commission
Here is an update to an earlier post: National Forensic Science Commission The publication for applications was made in the Code of Federal Regulations. The noble idea was to appoint people to a commission to look at the state of affairs in the modern practice of forensic science in the courtroom. It was supposed to […]
“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 […]
Conviction Integrity Unit- A good idea
Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins has done something unusual with his tenure as being District Attorney. In 2007, he established a Conviction Integrity Unit. He has set aside a portion of his budget and human resources to look over old cases and determine through the use of DNA whether or not the convictions are […]
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 […]
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