Imagine it’s Easter Sunday, you grab the kids, get in the car, and head over to grandma’s house. You are a responsible gun owner who has a valid and lawful concealed carry license. You believe in America and in lawfully exercising your civil liberties and rights. You carry your gun every day. There are a […]
An Update: The Burning Bed- Has an Innocent Man Been Locked up for 35 Years for an Arson that Never Happened?
An Update: The Burning Bed- Has an Innocent Man Been Locked up for 35 Years for an Arson that Never Happened? As regular readers will recall, we wrote about a case that we are pursuing an Innocence Claim. The details can be read here: The Burning Bed- Has an Innocent Man Been Locked up for […]
The New Neo-Prohibitionist Hysteria: Palcohol
The New Neo-Prohibitionist Hysteria: Palcohol If you are involved in the science of ethanol or DUI or enforcement of either, it is hard to escape the sensational stories on a “new” product called Palcohol. You know it has reached new levels of hysteria when it reaches The Today Show chatter box show. Let’s look at […]
Forensic Science and Standards Act of 2014 advances
Forensic Science reform is a hot topic. With the NIST OSAC efforts and many AAFS talks over the subject, it seems everyone has a solution. Last Congress, Senator John “Jay” Rockefeller IV, the Senior Senator from West Virginia a Democrat introduced his vision. It has been amended over the year as all bills are. […]
Attention Lawyers, Judges, and Forensic Scientists: NIST OSAC sign ups are here!
“This is a broad call across the entire forensic science community. The forensic science community includes practitioners, research scientists, measurement scientists, accreditation and certification specialists, statisticians, human factors specialists, prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges.” -Mark Stolorow, Director of NIST OSAC (April 14, 2014 phone conversation with Justin McShane) In the past I […]
Crime Scenes are Never Contaminated, Right?
I recently had a prosecutor in an arson case state out loud in court, “Your Honor, crime scenes are never ever contaminated by investigators. Not accidentally, and certainly not on purpose.” Where do you start with that sort of statement? Perhaps you start with Fred Zane, Joyce Gilchrist, and others. But most recently is this […]
The Burning Bed- Has an Innocent Man Been Locked up for 35 Years for an Arson that Never Happened?
The Burning Bed- Has an Innocent Man Been Locked up for 35 Years for an Arson that Never Happened? In 1978, a 36-year old businessman who owned his own used car lot, and who had no meaningful prior record, was accused of setting fire to his house on purpose with his teenage son inside of […]
Public Comment Period for NFPA 921, Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations Begins
As I have stated before when it comes to fire science: There is a lot that one can read at this blog about what is wrong with forensic science, but there are also great efforts to reform and make forensic science better and scientific. As I stated a long time ago when I started this […]
Restek standards contamination
Restek standards contamination For the record, I think Restek is a good company. I have taken a tour of their facilities. It appears as if they want to do good and valid science. They are standards makers. In fact, they make ISO compliant standards. That is the top of the line. Here is a fine […]
Superfluous Sensitivity
I was at the 247th American Chemical Society meeting in Dallas where this research was first presented. Analytical instruments are destined to become more sensitive, it is the march of progress. But is this a good thing? Just because we can detect something, is it relevant? Is examining toxicological samples at 1000 times more sensitivity […]
“They are merely technicians”-the myth of Gas Chromatography analysis
“They are merely technicians”-the myth of Gas Chromatography analysis Language is important in science and in law. If you are a prosecutor, you would want to call those who preform the GC-FID analysis for EtOH “techs” because “techs” don’t think, they just do. It must be emphasized that the simple fact is these people are […]
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