Science Thursday: Blood Alcohol Evidence Deemed Unscientific

Blood alcohol values without an error budget are considered unscientific, controversies surrounding shaken baby syndrome on trial in Ohio, and in three years, only about 9% of Detroit firearms cases have been fully reviewed. Here’s a roundup of forensics news.

A judge in Michigan issued an order to

exclude blood alcohol evidence in a DUI case

because results were not issued with uncertainty measurements,

a basic tenant of scientific principles

.

Reliability of properly diagnosing shaken baby syndrome

will be debated in an Ohio child murder trial.

Three years after the Detroit Crime Lab was closed,

only 270 of the 31,000 cases to be re-tested and reviewed have been closed

. So far, the process has led to the retrial of four inmates, one of whom was exonerated.

The Conservation Genetics Lab at the University of Arizona is

using forensic genetics to identify world wildlife species

threatened by loss of genetic diversity through inbreeding.

To prevent bias in forensic analysis,

Radley Balko advocates for the use of private crime labs

.