By Mani Dabiri | Published October 5, 2016 | Posted in Federal and State Criminal Defense, Government Subpoenas and Investigations, Post-Conviction Defense and Appeals, White-Collar and Regulatory Defense | Tagged Tags: administrativehearings, crimelabs, DUIs, forensics, licensingandregistration, technology, witnesses |
If At First You Don’t Succeed
Here’s that DUI case we alluded to last week. It’s based on a driver’s challenge to his license suspension after his arrest. His post-arrest blood test showed a blood-alcohol concentration (or BAC) of 0.23 percent. He challenged this finding at the DMV’s administrative hearing and lost. He then petitioned the superior court to overturn that finding and lost Read More
Read MoreThe Surprisingly Imperfect Science of DNA Testing
That’s the title of this in-depth look at DNA testing through the lens of one cold murder case. Although DNA evidence is widely regarded as the gold standard of forensic science, we should be careful about checking our brains at the courtroom door just because the government exclaims, DNA! The science works well when we can test an ample, Read More
Read MoreFBI Acknowledges Rampant Errors in Microscopic Hair Analysis
On Monday, the FBI and the Justice Department announced the first results of a large-scale project called the Microscopic Hair Comparison Analysis Review, and they weren’t good. Here’s how the Washington Post broke the story: “The Justice Department and FBI have formally acknowledged that nearly every examiner in an elite FBI forensic unit gave flawed testimony in Read More
Read MoreTrombetta-Youngblood and the Problem of Bad Faith
As we noted last week, a court may dismiss your criminal case if the government destroyed or failed to preserve evidence that was potentially favorable to your defense. If you make that argument, however, the court will engage in a two-step analysis, the first step of which will ask how favorable or exculpatory the lost evidence was (or could have been). If the evidence had exculpatory Read More
Read MoreThe Future of Facial Composites and the Forensic Sketch Artist
This short, two-and-a-half minute video offers an interesting glimpse into the enduring use of sketch artists in modern-day criminal justice. The role of the forensic sketch artist is waning, giving way to computer software programs and the proliferation of surveillance cameras everywhere we go. For many, however, the sketch artist continues to supply a valuable investigative tool. Surveillance videos, after Read More
Read MoreCrime Labs Can Be Good, Bad, Or Downright Ugly
When we think of crime labs, we often think of shows like CSI or NCIS in which flawless technicians rigorously employ scientific methods in pristine labs. We don’t usually think of people faking test results, contaminating samples, or forging signatures. Nor do we think of dirty equipment, faulty techniques, or a lack of standardized procedures. But Read More
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