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Monday, October 18, 2004

Law - Another Chicago Tribune series on criminal law issues

The Chicago Tribune had a three-part series last year on "The legacy of wrongful convictions." And a long-term series beginnng in 1999 dealt with criminal justice and the death penalty in Illinois. (Access all these stories from this Tribune index page.)

Many of these stories involved forensic evidence. Yesterday the Tribune began a new series, placing "Forensics Under the Microscope." Here is the link to Sunday's article.

Upcoming stories: Monday - Arson Myths; Tuesday - Bite Marks Doubted; Wednesday - Illinois Lab Troubles; Thursday - Scandals Nationwide.

A related story Sunday involved finger-print evidence. Titled "Critics tell experts: Show us the science," the article reports:

In exonerating scores of prisoners in recent years, new DNA testing has turned an unflattering light on a whole array of forensic evidence. Two of the oldest disciplines have responded to the challenge in dramatically different ways.

The pressure persuaded researchers to test the validity of bullet-matching methods for the first time. But fingerprint examiners, who use perhaps the most common forensic tool, have resisted.

Few doubt that fingerprints are unique, but that agreement has obscured a troubling reality: No research has been done to answer such questions as how much of the partial fingerprints found at crime scenes is needed to reliably declare a match.

"The scientific basis may be there for the whole print, but is it there for that fragment found on the handle of the attache case or on the counter in the kitchen?" said American Academy of Forensic Sciences president Ronald Singer.

"Those are the questions that need to be answered with objective scientific research, not subjective experience or anecdotal evidence."

But the fingerprint community has balked. "Most of the fingerprint people are against that," Singer said, "because they're reluctant to open up themselves to the criticism that what they've been doing is somehow unscientific."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 18, 2004 07:23 AM
Posted to General Law Related