The Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law is excited to announce a nearly $500,000 gift from Twitter and Square co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey’s #StartSmall philanthropic initiative, to support a new project aimed at rethinking policy regarding how forensic evidence is used in criminal cases. “Unfortunately, the need for forensics reform has […]
Tag: forensics
Amicus: NC Court Should Not Have Admitted Dentist as Expert on Bite Mark Evidence
By Belle Allmendinger A trial court in North Carolina should not have admitted as an expert a dentist who testified about bite mark evidence in State v. Jonathan Richardson, given the “unanimous scientific consensus that this type of evidence is inherently unreliable.” An amicus brief setting out the reliability concerns inherent in bite mark analysis, […]
Firearms Testimony: Should it be the Smoking Gun?
By Alexi DeLara In recent decades, researchers, judges, and journalists have raised questions regarding the reliability of a range of widely utilized forensic techniques. This includes, but is not limited to, forensic comparison methods, such as latent fingerprint and firearm comparisons. The article, “Mock Jurors’ Evaluation of Firearm Examiner Testimony Notes,” written by Brandon L. […]