sign of the times

In the past year the professional forensic science associations have called for strengthening of forensic practices in an effort to thwart junk science or shoddy practioners so that scientifically reliable, replicable and tested forensic methods are used in investigations and the courtroom. I have been puzzled at how this could happen in what might be a reasonable time frame given the nature and structure of the organizations and their memberships, practical application of standards at a local level aside. Could it be a trend that would quickly place objective, validated and contemporary forensic methods into the hands of local investigators and the legal community come from creation of and greater access to 3rd party facilities?

In June of this year, Bode Technology Group, the lab that continues to be invaluable with 911 victim DNA analysis and performed the touch DNA process on JonBenet Ramsey's clothing, opened the first independent forensic lab in the US. Today, Dr. Henry Lee, who assisted with the investigation of JonBenet's murder, is celebrating a groundbreaking ceremony for the new home of the forensic science institute that bears his name--

School has red-letter day

Published in the New Haven Register

by Abbe Smith

"WEST HAVEN — It was a big day at the University of New Haven Friday with the dedication of the new $43 million “green” dormitory and the groundbreaking for the much-anticipated Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science...

The $9.4 million facility, expected to be completed in fall 2010, will house a forensic crisis management command center, an interactive forensics museum, a crime scene learning center, laboratories and classrooms. The institute will have on hand state-of-the-art forensic equipment including ground-penetrating radar for locating buried bodies, a high-intensity laser for bullet-trajectory reconstruction and portable instruments for chemical and biological analysis...

Speakers at the ceremony stressed that the institute’s greatest asset is Lee, himself, an internationally renowned forensic scientist who has assisted in the investigation of thousands of crimes, including the O.J. Simpson case, the John F. Kennedy assassination, the murder of JonBenet Ramsey in Boulder, Colo., and the Chandra Levy murder investigation...[read more]

About the Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science

The Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science links scholars, forensic scientists, the legal community, and professional practitioners of many fields in addressing the scientific and social issues confronting forensic science and the criminal justice system throughout the world.

expert opinions

One can't replicate and prove DNA testing in their kitchen. If you too can "see" or even "do" what some forensic expert claims, chances are extremely high it is probably not a forensic science anyone would want to base their freedom or life upon. Now sometimes these folks can be right - but a 50/50 percent chance of being wrong is not only unreliable but irresponsible - this does not support a cause or justice no matter which side of an issue you may find yourself.

When looking for an expert witness or subject matter expert here is a quick and brief check list of qualifications that support a particular forensic science method that won't waste your time or money:

1. Method is subject to traditional higher education learning and degrees

2. Theories and hypotheses are based in science

3. Quantitative and statistical in 3rd party verifiable conditions (not a subjective opinion)

4. Extensive scientific based published peer review research

5. Documentation of a method's validation and testing

6. Statement and documented litigation independent error rates

7. Published history of admissions, restrictions and rebuttals in the courtroom under Daubert/Frye