In 2009, a committee of the prestigious National Research Council (NRC) published a report for Congress that shocked the entire criminal justice system. Congress had asked the NRC to evaluate the scientific underpinnings of commonly used forensic evidence and suggest...
bite mark evidence
Do jurors fall for the ‘CSI effect’?
Forensic science isn’t nearly as straightforward and foolproof as it seems on television crime shows like “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.” Unfortunately, many jurors may not know that. Are they expecting results like those produced on the show? Can they disregard...
How could $145 million improve forensic science?
"I think we can safely say that bite mark evidence is just junk," says Michael Semanchik of the California Innocence Project. He speaks with some authority, as he has worked for many years on the exoneration of Bill Richards, who was falsely convicted of his wife's...