Autopsy of a Crime Lab: Exposing the Flaws in Forensics

Description

This on-demand webinar is a companion to Professor Brandon Garrett’s 2021 publication “Autopsy of a Crime Lab.” The content begins by covering the methods used in latent fingerprint comparisons and explaining how errors can occur. Next, the presenter summarizes the 2009 National Academy of Sciences report and the 2016 PCAST report in a companion video. Part three of the series describes different types of error rates, including false positive, negative, and inconclusive errors. Part four addresses courtroom testimony, including the problem of scientific overstatement and how to counter it.

Students will also learn to describe the problem of expert qualification and proficiency and address it in criminal investigations and trials in part five of the series. Part six discusses the problem of cognitive bias and the role it plays in forensic error. A discussion of quality control at labs and crime scenes will follow in part seven. The final video of the series will discuss judicial gatekeeping and conclude the series.

All virtual CLE for a given month is reported on the first business day of the following month. If you are unable to view the program in its entirety before the end of the month, please contact Monica Yelverton at myelverton@sog.unc.edu. 

Public defender offices may receive a copy of the publication at no charge. Contact Marlyn Dail at marlyn.dail@law.duke.edu for details. Limited copies are available. 

Please note that video content is slightly longer than the permitted CLE credit. 

Presenter

• Introduction, Part 1-Presented by Brandon L. Garrett

• Autopsy of a Crime Law, Chapters 1,3 (optional)

• National Research Council, Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward, (Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press, 2009), https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/228091.pdf

• Error Rates and Fingerprint Methods, Part 2-Presented by Brandon L. Garrett

• The NAS and PCAST Reports, Part 2.5

• Autopsy of a Crime Lab, Chapter 4 (optional)

• U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, “A Review of the FBI’s Handling of the Brandon Mayfield Case,” March 2006, 99, 111, https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/legacy/special/s0601/final.pdf.

• President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology Report, “Forensic Science in Criminal Courts: Ensuring Scientific Validity of Feature-Comparison Methods,” Executive Office of the President, September 2016, https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/PCAST/pcast_forensic_science_report_final.pdf.

• A video interview between Peter Neufeld and exoneree Keith Harward: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJnr3_QbVFI&feature=emb_logo (optional)

• Types of Error Rates, Part 3-Presented by Brandon L. Garrett

• Autopsy of a Crime Lab, Chapters 4-5 (optional)

• President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology Report, “Forensic Science in Criminal Courts: Ensuring Scientific Validity of Feature-Comparison Methods,” Executive Office of the President, September 2016, https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/PCAST/pcast_forensic_science_report_final.pdf

• Overstatement and Courtroom Testimony, Part 4-Presented by Brandon L. Garrett

• Autopsy of a Crime Lab, Chapter 6 (optional)

• American Statistical Association Position on Statistical Statements for Forensic Evidence 1 (January 2, 2019), https://www.amstat.org/asa/files/pdfs/POL-ForensicScience.pdf

• U.S. Department of Justice, Approved ULTR for the Forensic Firearms/Toolmarks Discipline – Pattern Match, January 24, 2019, https://www.justice.gov/olp/page/file/1083671/download 

• Brandon Garrett and Gregory Mitchell, How Jurors Evaluate Fingerprint Evidence: The Relative Importance of Match Language, Method Information, and Error Acknowledgment, 10 J. Emp. Leg. Stud.484 (2013), https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/faculty_scholarship/3853/

•  Expert Qualification and Proficiency, Part 5-Presented by Brandon L. Garrett

• Autopsy of a Crime Lab, Chapter 7 (optional)

• Brandon L. Garrett and Greg Mitchell, The Proficiency of Experts, 166 U. Penn. L. Rev. 915 (2018), https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/penn_law_review/vol166/iss4/3/

• Gregory Mitchell and Brandon Garrett, The Impact of Proficiency Testing on the Weight Given to Fingerprint Evidence, 37 Behav. Sci. & L.195 (2019), https://forensicstats.org/blog/portfolio/the-impact-of-proficiency-testing-information-and-error-aversions-on-the-weight-given-to-fingerprint-evidence/

• Cognitive Bias, Part 6-Presented by Brandon L. Garrett

• Autopsy of a Crime Lab, Chapter 8 (optional)

• Itiel E. Dror, David Charlton, and Ailsa E. Peron, Contextual information renders experts vulnerable to making erroneous identifications, 74 Forensic Science International 156 (2006), https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0379073805005876?via%3Dihub; see also Dr. Itiel E. Dror, https://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucjtidr/

• Daniel C. Murrie and Marcus T. Boccaccini, Adversarial Allegiance and Expert Witnesses, 11 Annual Review of Law and Social Science 37(2015), https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-120814-121714

• Forensic Science Regulator, Cognitive Bias Effects Relevant to Forensic Science Examinations, FSR-G-217, 1 (2015), https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cognitive-bias-effects-relevant-to-forensic-science-examinations

• Quality Control and the Crime Scene, Part 7-Presented by Brandon L. Garrett

• Autopsy of a Crime Lab, Chapters 10-11 (optional)

• Report of the Boston Bar Association Drug Lab Crisis Task Force, at https://bostonbar.org/docs/default-document-library/bba-drug-lab-crisis-task-force-report.pdf

• Judicial Gatekeeping and Conclusion, Part 8- Presented by Brandon L. Garrett

• Autopsy of a Crime Lab, Chapters 9, 12 (optional)

• Brandon Garrett and Chris Fabricant, The Myth of the Reliability Test, 86 Fordham Law Review 121 (2018), https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol86/iss4/4/

• Paul C. Giannelli, Scientific Evidence: Bench Notes & Lab Reports, 22 Criminal Justice 50 (2007), https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/faculty_publications/688/

• National Commission of Forensic Science, Reflecting Back–Looking toward the Future, National Institute of Standards and Technology, April 11, 2017, https://www.justice.gov/archives/ncfs/page/file/921431/download

Additional Information