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 […]
Ethical Competence versus Technical Competence: Why trying your best doesn’t cut it
Technical Competence versus Ethical Competence: Why trying your best doesn’t cut it Don’t simply be technically competent. Have ethical competence. This blog has featured acts of complete ethical failure in various crime laboratories. It is time that this blog also begin to feature another crucial part of the justice system: the criminal defense trial […]
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, […]
The Continued Need For An Independent Judiciary
The Continued Need For An Independent Judiciary Justin J. McShane, JD, F-AIC[i] and Katherine Kennedy, JD[ii] At the 2012 NCDD summer session, our great friend and liberty’s champion Gary Trichter of Texas asked a simple, but profound question: “Would they ask you to be number 57?” There were 56 delegates to the Continental […]
The ACS Hands-on Forensic Chromatography Class
The ACS Hands-on Forensic Chromatography Class There was a dream and the dream could best be stated thusly: Develop an expertise in that which interests you. learn, lean, learn, then do something totally counter-intuitive…. give away your knowledge for free to everyone and anyone who will listen. Become the proverbial Johnny Appleseed. People will love […]
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 […]
How impossible courtroom testimony comes to be: 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 education plays in the training of analysts. People in the laboratory are just taught to press buttons and preform tasks. They are not experts. Anyone who has been in a courtroom […]
Quality Assurance failures at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Laboratory
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 quality assurance (QA) is supposed to play in forensic laboratories. It is part of any quality management system. In all laboratories, the QA officer should be someone who is wholly independent […]
Training in Forensic Science: The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
If you have ever seen me lecture before, you know that one of my themes is the need fro greater education and training in the laboratory for analysts. For years, I have been talking about the “oral tradition” method of training that goes on at forensic laboratories wherein the last person to push the button […]
A “Redo” Book! Are you serious?!?!?! More on the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Laboratory
Forensic scientists make mistakes. At the end of the day, they are human. But in criminal law and forensic science or just plain old science in general, you have to report out and document your errors. Apparently, this major legal lesson and scientific precept was lost on the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment […]
Breaking News: Crisis at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
On June 7, 2013, the Attorney General of Colorado in an unprecedented move released the findings of a report into the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and blood ethanol testing. It paints a very grim picture of undereducated, undertrained and unsupervised work. You can read the full report here. Later this week, we […]
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