FBI overstated forensic hair matches in nearly all trials before 2000

[williep]

FBI overstated forensic hair matches in nearly all trials before 2000
Spencer S. Hsu | Washington Post
April 18, 2015


The Justice Department and FBI have formally acknowledged that nearly every examiner in an elite FBI forensic unit gave flawed testimony in almost all trials in which they offered evidence against criminal defendants over more than a two-decade period before 2000.

Of 28 examiners with the FBI Laboratory’s microscopic hair comparison unit, 26 overstated forensic matches in ways that favored prosecutors in more than 95 percent of the 268 trials reviewed so far, according to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and the Innocence Project, which are assisting the government with the country’s largest post-conviction review of questioned forensic evidence.

The cases include those of 32 defendants sentenced to death. Of those, 14 have been executed or died in prison .....


Full story of this travesty:

FBI overstated forensic hair matches in nearly all trials before 2000 - The Washington Post


My god, what have we done to our citizens? Who will be held accountable? Will anyone? Or have those that have fallen to fedgov's corruption simply ...... expendable?

 

[depotoo]

Were they getting extra bonuses for convictions? With the way the bonus system in the fed govt works, I wouldn't be surprised. And the unions ability to make it next to impossible to just fire anyone, what do they have to lose?

The bonus system and public sector unions have written their own death notice, in my opinion.

 

[buddhallah_the_christ]

Why is there no punishment for those who imprison others, based on false evidence? It seems to me just a form of kidnapping. The "ransom" in this case is the advancement of career enjoyed by a DA with a high conviction rate, which we have seen many times.

 

[Sonny Clark]

FBI overstated forensic hair matches in nearly all trials before 2000
Spencer S. Hsu | Washington Post
April 18, 2015


The Justice Department and FBI have formally acknowledged that nearly every examiner in an elite FBI forensic unit gave flawed testimony in almost all trials in which they offered evidence against criminal defendants over more than a two-decade period before 2000.

Of 28 examiners with the FBI Laboratory’s microscopic hair comparison unit, 26 overstated forensic matches in ways that favored prosecutors in more than 95 percent of the 268 trials reviewed so far, according to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and the Innocence Project, which are assisting the government with the country’s largest post-conviction review of questioned forensic evidence.

The cases include those of 32 defendants sentenced to death. Of those, 14 have been executed or died in prison .....


Full story of this travesty:

FBI overstated forensic hair matches in nearly all trials before 2000 - The Washington Post


My god, what have we done to our citizens? Who will be held accountable? Will anyone? Or have those that have fallen to fedgov's corruption simply ...... expendable?

Yes, this has been going on for a long time, and will continue. Many of us have reported via the internet, for years, that we have a corrupt judicial system in this country. We have many innocent citizens in our jails and prisons. We still have courts in this country that allow circumstantial evidence cases, and prosecutors use jailhouse snitches, tainted evidence, false testimony, lying cops, and biased so-called experts. In America, your freedom is your luck, plain and simple. The Innocence Project, and others, have gained the release of many that were wrongfully convicted, and sentenced to prison. Yet, I do not believe that any of the D.A.'s, nor judges, have ever been convicted for allowing innocent citizens to be placed behind bars. They ruin lives, families, and destroy people, yet walk free once it's determined that an innocent person was wrongfully convicted. Justice?

And, the funny part of it is ( yes, funny ), we send our young men and women of the armed forces to fight and die in wars, and claim it's for FREEDOM, go figure. We are always hearing our presidents and other politicians speaking about freedom in America, yet they allow the judicial system to place innocent citizens behind bars for many years, and some are put to death. Also, we have many that commit murder, and other crimes, and our courts give them a free pass. The truth is, there is no justice in our judicial system, rather it's corrupt the same as our government which allows it. Think about it the next time you hear someone say "Freedom" and "America" in the same breathe. Remind them of the innocent citizens still sitting in our prisons and jails, and the corrupt system that put them there.

 

[Mr. H.]

Evidently, they missed the one in Anita Hill's Coke.

 

[whitehall]

"Overstated testimony in ways that favored prosecutors"??? What does that mean? If expert witnesses obviously lied about evidence there would be outrage instead of a "post conviction review". What does "overstated" mean in a legal sense. The State's witnesses are subject to cross examination by the defense attorney and if the witness "overstates" evidence the defense attorney should object. Was there other evidence that the NACDL conveniently ignores in it's "investigation" into the conviction of these people? I'm no fan of the FBI's tactics but I smell a rat in this alleged investigation but you can bet your ass that every liberal on the forum will probably rush to judgement.

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

Unless the defendant was obviously guilty, all those cases should be summarily overturned, since they never got any where close to a fair trial and probably never can.

 

[starviego]

Is this different than the huge scandal the FBI had with their forensics lab back in the early '90s, where they once again got caught making up stuff to convict people in hundreds of cases?

 

[williep]

Evidently, they missed the one in Anita Hill's Coke.

Missed one ..... what? There are a number of replies previous to yours. What, exactly, are you referring to?

 

[williep]

"Overstated testimony in ways that favored prosecutors"??? What does that mean?

It may come down to "human bias" that influenced the results to favor "authorities".

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Forensic techniques are subject to human bias, lack standards, panel found
By Spencer S. Hsu | Washington Post
April 17, 2012


In Hollywood, the moment the good guys trace a hair, a bullet fragment or a fingerprint, it’s game over. The bad guy is locked up.

But the glamorized portrait is not so simple in real life.

Far from infallible, expert comparisons of hair, handwriting, marks made by firearms on bullets, and patterns such as bite marks and shoe and tire prints are in some ways unscientific and subject to human bias, a National Academy of Sciences panel chartered by Congress found. Other techniques, such as in bullet-lead analysis and arson investigation, survived for decades despite poorly regulated practices and a lack of scientific method.

Even fingerprint identification is partly a subjective exercise that lacks research into the role of unconscious bias or even its error rate, the panel’s 328-page report said.

“The forensic science system, encompassing both research and practice, has serious problems that can only be addressed by a national commitment to overhaul the current structure,” the panel concluded in 2009.

Forensic techniques are subject to human bias lack standards panel found - The Washington Post


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If expert witnesses obviously lied about evidence there would be outrage instead of a "post conviction review". What does "overstated" mean in a legal sense. The State's witnesses are subject to cross examination by the defense attorney and if the witness "overstates" evidence the defense attorney should object. Was there other evidence that the NACDL conveniently ignores in it's "investigation" into the conviction of these people? I'm no fan of the FBI's tactics but I smell a rat in this alleged investigation but you can bet your ass that every liberal on the forum will probably rush to judgement.

Judging by Hsu's story on forensic techniques, TPTB have known about these problems since 2009, at minimum.

Maybe today's "review" is just a meandering response by the government to correct the system --- well .... somewhat correct the system .... eventually. After all, we are talking about the lowest rungs of society ....... people that feed the profit-based prison-industrial complex.

The FBI's conduct on many, many cases leads me they are no better, no worse ..... than the CIA. In other-words, they are largely a waste of human DNA. Actually, that's putting it rather mildly. This organization aids and abets criminal activity and treason.