Friday Roundup: Fixing Forensics to Fight Injustice
05.15.09
Innocence Project Co-Director Peter Neufeld testified before Congress this week on the need for federal research, support and oversight to ensure that forensics are based on solid science.
Watch a video of the committee hearing or download Neufeld’s testimony here
.
Your voice can help bring about forensic reform in the U.S. –
sign the new petition
calling for the creation of a National Institute of Forensic Science and explore the new
Just Science Coalition website
.
A new story from Reason Magazine examines the role of unreliable bite mark evidence in the wrongful conviction of Ray Krone in Arizona and reports on
a failed “proficiency test”
by Mississippi bite mark examiner Michael West.
An op-ed in the Dallas Morning News this week gave us a glimpse into the thoughts of former prosecutor James Fry as he considers
his role in the wrongful conviction of Charles Chatman
. The experience of seeing Chatman freed, Fry writes, has left him with a resolve to see the system fixed before more innocent people are wrongfully convicted.
A TV news report in Pittsburgh investigated the reliability of eyewitness identification evidence by joining a Duquesne University class for
an unusual experiment
.
And a British production company announced this week that it is beginning work on
a documentary film
about the wrongful conviction and exoneration of
Nick Yarris
, who served 21.5 years on Pennsylvania's death row before DNA proved him innocent.
Leave a Reply
Thank you for visiting us. You can learn more about how we consider cases here. Please avoid sharing any personal information in the comments below and join us in making this a hate-speech free and safe space for everyone.