Friday April 2, 2010
The San Francisco Police Department has now widened the investigation of its crime lab and must determine whether thefts, sloppy evidence handling and other problems documented as having existed at the crime lab in 2009, actually began several years earlier.
While this sort of misconduct uncovered in San Francisco may be rare, many of the same safeguards against the more pervasive problem of inadvertent error can also protect against intentional misconduct. Read more about steps needed to ensure that forensic evidence is objective, valid and reliable.
Thursday April 1, 2010
Today, The Justice Project released the April edition of the TJP monthly newsletter!
Please take some time to read our newsletter and browse our website to learn more about the troubling stories of wrongful convictions, the encouraging work taking place around the nation, and to learn what you can do to help.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Today Florida State Senator Mike Haridopolos will seek funding from the legislature, through state budget amendments, for a commission to study wrongful convictions and incarcerations.
Research on the exonerations of innocent people has identified many of the primary causes of wrongful convictions. A number of states have already created similar commissions that use case studies and research to make meaningful recommendations to enact safeguards through legislation. Learn more about the reforms designed to eliminate common, preventable errors that undermine the fairness and accuracy of our criminal justice system.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Despite The Justice Project’s statewide study last year highlighting the lack of written eyewitness identification procedures and best practices among Texas law enforcement agencies, the Houston Chronicle reports that many departments still have not adopted policies or procedures that can reduce faulty eyewitness identification. While important progress has occurred in Dallas and Austin, most jurisdictions lag behind in the implementation of best practices.
Eyewitness misidentification is widely recognized as the leading causes of wrongful convictions, playing a role in more than 75 percent of DNA exonerations nationwide and about 82 percent of DNA exoneration in Texas. The Justice Project has outlined recommendations for policy improvements that will enable law enforcement to obtain the most reliable evidence from eyewitnesses for use in a criminal investigation.
Monday, March 29, 2010
San Francisco prosecutors may be forced to drop an additional 1,400 cases because of the growing scandal at the San Francisco crime lab. Last month officials discovered that a long-time crime lab technician had stolen and used cocaine held as evidence. The lab was shut down on March 9th by Police Chief George Gascón.
While the sort of blatant misconduct uncovered in San Francisco may be rare, many of the same safeguards against the more pervasive problem of inadvertent error can also protect against intentional misconduct. Read more about steps needed to ensure that forensic evidence is objective, valid and reliable.
Friday, March 26, 2010
On March 25th Broward County, Florida circuit court judge declared Anthony Caravella fully exonerated. He was wrongfully convicted of a 1983 rape and murder based on a false confession.
Caravella spent 26 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Learn about other cases of wrongful conviction and how recording suspect interrogations is a critical safeguard that can prevent injustices caused by false confessions.
Photo from South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Thursday, March 25, 2010
David Kofoed, the chief criminal science investigator of Douglas County, Nebraska, was recently convicted of evidence tampering for planting blood evidence during a murder investigation. This conviction calls into question the legitimacy of other cases on which he worked and has spurred calls for a review of Kofoed’s past cases.
While the sort of blatant misconduct uncovered in Omaha may be rare, many of the same safeguards against the more pervasive problem of inadvertent error can also protect against intentional misconduct. Read more about steps needed to ensure that forensic evidence is objective, valid and reliable.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Oklahoma’s commissioner of health recommended Tuesday that more funding and new headquarters be provided to the embattled Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to help it regain its national accreditation and reduce a backlog of more than 1,000 incomplete autopsy reports.
It is important that states allocate sufficient funding so that our criminal justice system has access to reliable, efficient forensic services. Read The Justice Project’s recommendations for improving forensic standards.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
The Vermont Senate has passed legislation that asks a law enforcement advisory committee to study the implementation and costs of electronic recording of custodial interrogations as well as expanded preservation of forensic evidence.
Electronically recording custodial interrogations ensures the availability of strong and reliable evidence, and is a proven method of reducing wrongful convictions. Click here to learn more about the benefits of electronically recording interrogations.
Friday, March 19, 2010
On March 18th a Connecticut Superior Court judge ruled Ronald Taylor and George Gould actually innocent of a 1993 murder, overturned their convictions, and ordered their immediate release from prison. The judge’s ruling came after a star eyewitness recanted her original testimony and DNA analysis eliminated Taylor and Gould as the culprits.
Both Taylor and Gould spent 16 years in prison for a crime they did not commit. Click here to read other cases of wrongful conviction that expose the common errors in our criminal justice system.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
The Detroit Police Department Crime Lab closed in 2008 after an audit showed erroneous weapons ballistics tests in a number of criminal cases. Now the Detroit City Council has approved funding for a special unit to review years worth of evidence that was processed by the lab and used in criminal trials. A county prosecutor stated Tuesday that five cases already are slated to be retried as a result of the tainted evidence.
Unfortunately, carelessness, inadvertent bias and misconduct in crime labs have compromised the reliability of forensic evidence, largely because of a lack of meaningful oversight and quality standards. Read more about steps needed to ensure that forensic evidence is objective, valid and reliable.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
A Rhode Island State Senator recently introduced a bill that would establish uniform procedures and requirements for eyewitness identification lineups. The bill also calls for the creation of a task force to identify and recommend policies and procedures to improve the accuracy of eyewitness identification.
Eyewitness evidence is critical to our criminal justice system. Decades of research on eyewitness memory have demonstrated that eyewitness evidence, much like trace physical evidence, must be collected carefully, according to scientifically sound protocols, or its accuracy can be tainted or ruined. Read TJP’s recommendations for improving the reliability of eyewitness evidence.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
In Nebraska, Douglas County’s chief crime-scene investigator is on trial for the second time. This time he is charged with one count of evidence tampering for allegedly planting evidence in a 2006 murder, which was used against two men who were wrongly charged and imprisoned.
Unfortunately, forensic misconduct, carelessness, and inadvertent bias in crime labs have compromised the reliability of forensic evidence. Read more about steps needed to ensure that forensic evidence is objective, valid and reliable.
Monday, March 15, 2010
The Ohio State Legislature will likely vote this week on a bill that would require more accurate lineup protocols, encourage video-recording of interrogations, and improve access to DNA evidence. Supporters of the bill say that it includes vital components that will improve criminal investigations.
Read The Justice Project’s recommendations to improve eyewitness identification, increase access to DNA-testing, and promote electronic recording of custodial interrogations.
Friday, March 12, 2010
In a letter to the Broward County, Florida public defender, Broward County State Attorney Michael Satz explained his new office policy regarding the disclosure of potentially exculpatory evidence concerning police officers under investigation for misconduct. Previously, individual prosecutors used their discretion to determine whether such information was material to a defendant’s case. Now, notices of police officers under investigation will be automatically disclosed to the defense.
Learn more about the need for prosecutors’ offices to adopt and enforce clearly defined, uniform policies and procedures, and the importance of an open discovery process to ensure fairness in criminal cases.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Hundreds of cases may be dismissed pending allegations that a long-time crime lab technician tampered with evidence at the San Francisco crime lab. In light of these events, San Francisco public defender Jeff Adachi is calling for a larger independent investigation into operations at the lab.
It is important that an independent body oversees the operations of forensic science labs in order to develop and enforce quality standards. Read more recommendations and solutions for improving the practices and standards of forensic science.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Two Virginia prosecutors will face Virginia State Bar misconduct hearings regarding alleged Brady violations in the 1998 capital murder trial of Daryl Atkins. Defense attorneys alleged that the two prosecutors coached Atkin’s co-defendant during a pretrial meeting to make his testimony better conform to physical evidence, and withheld information during trial.
Prosecutors are arguably the most powerful figures in the American criminal justice system. Learn more about their principal responsibilities and how to ensure they are held accountable.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
An Orleans Parish Criminal District Court judge today granted a new trial for Michael Anderson, saying that prosecutors acted improperly at his August trial. In a seven-page ruling the judge found prosecutors’ withholding of a videotaped interview with the sole eyewitness, and a jailhouse informant’s plea deal, could have blindsided his defense attorneys.
Learn more on the principal responsibilities of prosecutors and how to ensure they are held accountable.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Prompted by the recent exoneration of Gregory Taylor, North Carolina’s Attorney General has ordered an independent review of the state’s crime lab. The questionable practices of the state lab became a critical issue in Taylor’s case and were a major factor in his wrongful conviction.
Learn more about steps states should take to improve the reliability of forensic evidence.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Christopher Scott and Claude Simmons were officially exonerated on March 3rd by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals after being released last October based on new evidence of innocence.
According to prosecutors, it was mistaken eyewitness testimony that led to the wrongful conviction of the two men in 1997. Read The Justice Project’s blog to learn more about this case, and learn about recommendations for the state of Texas to improve their eyewitness identification procedures and to ensure accurate and reliable testimony.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
A Pennsylvania Senate advisory committee is reviewing eyewitness identification practices for photographic lineups that may lead to misidentifications, and plans to produce a report late spring. Senators are also considering mandating procedures across the state.
Eyewitness identification is a critical tool for apprehending and prosecuting criminals. Yet, eyewitness misidentification is widely recognized as one of the leading causes of wrongful convictions. The Justice Project outlines recommendations for policy improvements that will enable law enforcement to extract the most reliable evidence from eyewitnesses for use in a criminal investigation.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
On March 2nd a Criminal District Court judge blasted the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office for wiping clean a prolific jailhouse snitch’s record after his testimony helped send defendant Michael Anderson to death row.
Testimony from in-custody informants, often referred to as “jailhouse snitches” has been widely used in the American criminal justice system. The motive for jailhouse snitches to fabricate testimony dramatically increases when the state offers incentives for the incarcerated person in exchange for testimony. Unfortunately prosecutors often utilize jailhouse snitches despite their testimony being widely regarded as the least reliable form of evidence in the criminal justice system.
Click here to learn more about how states can improve the standards for admissibility of such testimony and help ensure that the most reliable evidence is making it into the courtroom and before the jury.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
On March 1 Texas Governor Rick Perry officially pardoned Timothy Cole, who was wrongfully convicted over two decades ago, and died in1999 while serving prison time for a rape he did not commit. Cole’s case was one of dozens profiled in The Justice Project’s report, Convicting the Innocent: Texas Justice Derailed. Cole’s case is a powerful reminder of the need for eyewitness identification reforms that increase the reliability of evidence and can help prevent tragic mistakes.
Eyewitness identification reform is one of the issues being addressed by the Timothy Cole Advisory Panel on Wrongful Convictions, created by the Texas Legislature to make recommendations on the prevention of wrongful convictions.
Monday, March 1, 2010
North Carolina’s Attorney General ordered a review of thousands of old cases that included evidence from a forensic lab to determine whether any evidence may have been withheld from defendants by the State Bureau of Investigation. The decision comes after the exoneration of Gregory Taylor.
The Attorney General’s decision also highlights the need for significant forensic oversight. To learn more about the importance of forensic oversight, read The Justice Project’s policy review, Improving the Practices and Use of Forensic Science: A Policy Review.
Friday, February 26, 2010
The American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) is meeting in Seattle this week to address the National Academies of Science (NAS) 2009 report, an attempt to improve the validity and accuracy of forensic science.
To learn more about improving the practice and use of forensic science, read The Justice Project’s solutions and recommendations.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Prosecutors are the most powerful actors in the criminal justice system with the duty to protect the innocent and guard the rights of the accused. Unfortunately, cases continue to emerge that demonstrate a lack of accountability when these duties are disregarded. Earlier this week, a Massachusetts District Judge ruled not to impose sanctions on Boston a federal prosecutor for failing to disclose exculpatory evidence in a timely fashion.
Read The Justice Project’s recommendations and solutions for improving prosecutorial accountability.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Despite the high expectations many Americans have for crime labs and the field of forensic science–what specialists call the “CSI effect” –crime labs across the country struggle under backlogs and shortage of resources, threatening to make credible crime scene analysis a lost art, according to law enforcement officials and forensic specialists.
Read The Justice Project’s recommendations and solutions for improving the practices and standards of forensic science.