Science Thursday: A Mug Shot Database
10.20.11
The FBI plans to implement a number of new forensic technologies, evidence is questioned in New York, Michigan, and Oregon, and scientists use pig cadavers to study decomposition. Here’s a roundup of this week’s forensics news:
The FBI is implementing the Next Generation Identification system
that allows law enforcement to search a photo of a suspect against mug shots in a database
. Michigan, Washington, Florida and North Carolina will be the first states to access this system, and it will be used nationwide by 2014. The database raises concerns about the reliability of the technology and privacy issues.
DNA scientists are critical of the FBI’s plans
to expand the number of genetic markers used to identify people in the national DNA database.
A New York judge threw out a drunk driving conviction
based on concerns about inaccurate testing
by the Nassau Police Crime Laboratory, which is now shuttered.
Lawyers in a Michigan
argued to block a firearms expert’s testimony
on evaluation of bullet trajectories. The composite bullet lead evidence in a murder case for which an Oregon man was convicted was found
two years after the case against him was dismissed
.
A study in the American Journal of Human Genetics claims that
scientists have discovered a gene associated with adermatoglyphia
, a condition that results in the absence of fingerprints in people.
Scientists at the University of Windsor are
using pig cadavers to study decomposition
and are building a database of insects found in graves.
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