From the 1950s and during several decades onwards, investigators used hair microscopy to connect hair samples found during the course of a criminal investigation to hairs taken from suspects. The analysis involves an examiner using a high powered microscope and their own visual judgment to compare the unknown hair found during the investigation to several…
Read MoreBloodstain Pattern Analysis: Another Subjective “Science” Convicting Innocent People
On October 13, 1997, serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells stabbed 10-year old Joel Kirkpatrick to death in his bedroom. Joel’s mother, Julie Rea, awoke to his screams and rushed to his bedroom where Sells attacked her. She chased him, breaking two glass doors on their way out of the house, where Sells attacked her again…
Read MoreForensic Odontology: A Dangerous, Debunked “Science”
When Kennedy Brewer walked out of prison in 2007, exonerated with DNA from killing his girlfriend’s three-year-old daughter, he had spent over a third of his life in prison based wholly on two opinions. The medical examiner believed he found bite marks on the child’s body, and a forensic odontologist stated the marks, without a…
Read MoreCan fiber and hair analysis really solve crime?
Among the list of “scientific” techniques often put forward as reliable in solving a crime is fiber and hair analysis. According to scientists and experts, however, this process is not one that can conclusively point to a crime’s perpetrator, and its use has resulted in previous wrongful convictions. Fibers are small units of textile material…
Read MoreDoes race matter in eyewitness identification?
Eyewitness testimony and identification can be some of the most persuasive pieces of evidence presented in court. They are used to help recreate events from the past for a jury and identify a possible suspect. It is understandably difficult for a jury to go against what someone close to a crime said they witnessed, especially…
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