Innocence Project Praises DOJ for Undertaking Unprecedented Review of FBI Forensic Testimony

(New York, NY – February 24, 2016)  After preliminary results of an ongoing review revealed that FBI agents gave erroneous testimony regarding microscopic hair analysis in 90 percent of the cases, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates today announced that the department intends to undertake similar reviews for other forensic disciplines performed by the FBI.  In response to this news, Peter Neufeld, Co-Director of the Innocence Project, which is affiliated with Cardozo School of Law, issued the following statement:

We are enthusiastic with Deputy AG Yates’s decision to review testimony given by FBI examiners in other forensic disciplines.  We also applaud her decision to get guidance from the National Commission on Forensic Science, which includes many independent scientist and other criminal justice stakeholders.  One essential element of this review will be to recruit independent and external experts in the fields of statistics and probability who are perhaps best prepared to evaluate whether certain statements made by FBI examiners at trials exceeded the limits of science as they did in most of the hair cases.  We look forward to continuing our collaborative efforts with the Department of Justice.