Science Thursdays

Neuroimaging lie detection was excluded from a Maryland case, an Ohio man whose conviction involved bite mark evidence will receive a new trial, and a Minnesota drug trial continues to raise concerns regarding laboratory standards. Here’s this week’s round up of forensic news:

 

A Maryland judge has d

ecided to keep functional MRI evidence that was used as a lie detector

out of the courtroom in a murder case.

New evidence of innocence in the case of a former Ohio police captain, who has spent 14 years in prison for the murder of his ex-wife,

may lead to a retrial of the case. DNA testing of a bite mark that allegedly matched his dentition has now definitively excluded him as the source.

A North Carolina

law requiring forensic examiners to be certified in two specialties

has resulted in an exodus of laboratory staff.

In a

pre-trial hearing on drug evidence in a Minnesota court

, doubts lingered about the St. Paul Police Department Crime Laboratory’s quality management system and the possibility of contamination.

A Colorado County Coroner

timed her resignation so that her successor would not be chosen by voters, but rather by the county commissioners

. She wanted to ensure that a qualified person was appointed to the job, rather than a person seeking elected office without forensic experience.