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The Supreme Court’s Bruen decision will have a major impact across the United States. Jurisdictions will make changes to gun regulations already on the books, and lawyers will bring legal challenges to existing gun laws. Defense attorneys Zachary Newland and Catherine Turner review and explain the new standard set forth in Bruen, and they discuss how lawyers are using the new standard to challenge the constitutionality of firearm laws.
It is crucial for a defense attorney to know the background and training of the forensic nurse examiner involved in the client’s case. A forensic nurse’s initial education does not include training on how to give an expert opinion related to his or her objective findings. Through continuing education and board certification, however, it is possible for a forensic nurse to be considered an expert.
The results of the first phase of a project to review FBI microscopic hair analysis testimony and lab reports produced the staggering revelation that FBI examiner testimony in at least 90 percent of the trial transcripts analyzed contained erroneous statements. This development likely will serve as a milestone in the quest for forensic science reform.
The aftermath of an accidental fire can often look the same as the aftermath of an intentionally set fire. This confounding fact has led to many false accusations. John Lentini writes that an arson determination should be viewed with great skepticism if it is based on (1) “low burning,” (2) a fire that burned “hotter than normal” or “faster than normal,” or (3) the appearance of “pour patterns” on a floor without a positive finding of an ignitable liquid in a laboratory test.
This month Gil Sapir reviews Junk Science and the American Criminal Justice System by M. Chris Fabricant.
Expert evidence is frequently exploited by prosecutors keen on securing a conviction regardless of the reliability of the expert or the expert’s methodology. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in forensic science. To combat this pervasive problem, defense lawyers need to have a thorough understanding of Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and companion rules. Rene L. Valladares and Hannah Nelson discuss the rules, summarize cases favorable to the defense, and provide useful checklists.
Wholesale destruction of communications evidence on agents’ cellphones and elsewhere is something that criminal defendants and their lawyers face with shocking regularity.
“Surreptitious DNA sample” refers to the collection and analysis of DNA from a person without the person’s knowledge and without coercion. For example, the police may swab a suspect’s DNA from a discarded cigarette. Oded Oren outlines an argument for suppressing the DNA information extracted from the analysis of surreptitiously obtained DNA rather than suppression of the DNA itself or the physical object from which it was obtained.
What are the problems with fingerprint analysis? Justin Fahringer describes a recent Daubert hearing that included testimony by latent fingerprint examiners from two law enforcement agencies. The testimony revealed that many law enforcement agencies that employ latent print examiners have struggled to evolve and have continued to utilize stale and unreliable methods.
Attorneys and courts should not simply trust that computer programs are reliable. Why should litigants have faith in evidence that purports to be accurate when the inner workings of the computer program that produced the evidence are shrouded in mystery? Source code review is necessary for a complete assessment of a program’s reliability. Tamar Lerer discusses pretrial strategies to help obtain source code when a program has not been demonstrated to be reliable.
Implicit racial bias in forensic testimony cannot be ignored as a primary driver of injustice. Janis Puracal discusses how implicit racial bias can impact forensic testimony, and she shares her family’s story.
Most types of forensics lack the statistical backing that nuclear DNA tests have. Nonetheless, the general public believes that fingerprinting, for example, is as reliable or even more reliable than DNA testing. What should be the response in the courtroom?
Richard Miletic discusses the types of data that can be extracted from a cellphone (including call history and accessed Wi-Fi networks) and from cloud accounts (including texts, emails, and location history). In addition, he lists the data stored by phone companies (location of serving cell tower and estimation of target phone location).
Law enforcement has started to use genetic genealogy websites to try to identify suspects in cold cases. How does genetic genealogy work? What should defense attorneys look for if forensic genetic genealogy is used in their cases?
