forensic evidence

NACDL provided 2 expert faculty to educate defense lawyers, post-conviction lawyers and the innocence effort litigators on DNA. This instruction is essential for lawyers who evaluate and litigate potential innocence claims.

The Just Science Audio Podcast, sponsored by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence (FTCoE), has concluded its most recent podcast season with a series on DNA and forensic investigation—addressing topics such as investigative genetic geology, use of labs, the Golden State Killer case, and more. FTCoE also features various reports and resources about forensic technology.

Digital evidence is pervasive in today’s criminal trials, making it imperative that prosecutors understand the intricacies of computer forensics in order to try and win cases. This presentation covers the fundamentals of computer forensics and discusses the many forensic artifacts that are useful to prove up a variety of criminal charges.

In Washington DC from 2009-2012, three men were exonerated in cases where three different FBI agents provided erroneous testimony regarding the hair comparison evidence that served as the primary physical evidence in those cases. Subsequently, the FBI and DOJ agreed to conduct a review of testimony in microscopic hair comparison analysis in collaboration with NACDL and the Innocence Project.

A recorded training video that provide analysis of the scientific limits of the discipline of microscopic hair comparison analysis including discussion of the scientific standards applied in the FBI's Microscopic Hair Comparison Analysis Review and application of those standards to identify cases with invalid scientific evidence.

In March 2017, NACDL provided a faculty member for the Federal Defender Services capital habeas training: “7th National Seminar on Forensic Evidence & the Criminal Law.” NACDL Senior Resource Counsel trained federal habeas corpus lawyers on the results and lessons from the FBI Microscopic Hair Comparison Analysis Review, problems with the scientific validity of hair comparison evidence, relevance to other feature comparison disciplines and litigating innocence cases. (grant travel funds were NOT needed for this)

NACDL Senior Resource Counsel Vanessa Antoun and Post-Conviction Counsel provided instruction at the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Annual Conference in Knoxville Tennessee on August 5th. Our presentation, Under the Microscope: Focusing on the FBI Hair Review and Beyond covered information for post-conviction lawyers about the microscopic hair comparison review, and training for lawyers who handle those cases, or other post-conviction innocence claims involving flawed or unreliable forensic evidence.

On July 20, 2016, NACDL presented a webinar on conducting state and local laboratory level reviews of microscopic hair comparison evidence for the purpose of determining whether the statements provided in criminal cases are scientifically valid. Under the Microscope: Examining Strategies for Implementing State & Local Microscopic Hair Comparison Reviews, a 1.5 hour program, provided an overview of the FBI MHCA Review, best practices for state and local reviews, an update on review efforts around the country, and specific examples from Iowa and Massachusetts.