Science Thursday – A Blood-Based Age Test?

11.25.10

This is the first installment of a new weekly feature on the Innocence Blog where we’ll feature stories each Thursday on the role of science in criminal justice systems around the world. For more on forensic science reform in the U.S., visit

the Just Science Coalition website

.

Researchers in the Netherlands report that they

have developed a test

that can estimate a person’s age (within 9 years) from a drop of blood.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder

created a new Science Advisory Board

for the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) that will focus on evidence-based approaches to prevent and reduce crime.

A U.K. Judge

is concerned

juries are “improperly influenced” by unreliable evidence. Police in Taos, NM

used voice analysis

to charge a man for calling in bomb threats to local schools.   

Two Texas men

were convicted of infecting women with HIV

based on a genetic test created by Texas university researchers.

Investigative reporters question the work of the Ramsey and Washington County Chief Medical Examiner, who also contracts with 13 counties in Minnesota, in

two possible cases of wrongful conviction

.

Radley Balko

advocates for bifurcated trials

as a solution to prevent more wrongful convictions.

The National Football League is using digital forensics to

investigate inappropriate text exchanges

by its players.

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