Science Thursday – August 23, 2012

An Indiana woman convicted of murder based on arson evidence receives a new trial, a panel of exonerees speak about forensic flaws at a conference in Philadelphia, and laboratory issues in North Carolina and Minnesota affect criminal cases. Here’s this week’s round up of forensic news:

 

Kristine Bunch, of Indiana, was

released from prison

and has been granted a new trial after serving 16 years. Her conviction for the murder of her three-year-old son was reversed because the arson evidence critical to her conviction has been discredited.

 

Innocence Project Co-Director Peter Neufeld called on the American Chemical Society to

help prevent wrongful convictions

based on faulty forensics at a recent conference in Philadelphia. He was joined by three exonerees who spent years in prison for crimes they didn’t commit.

 

North Carolina prosecutors

dropped a DWI case

because a former state crime lab analyst refused to accept a subpoena to testify.

 

Senior officials at the St. Paul Police Department

are demanding answers

for the drug unit’s failure.