PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Over the past five decades, our courtrooms have been flooded with an avalanche of unreliable, even atrocious "science." Experts with qualifications that were dubious at best and fraudulent at worst have peddled — for a fee, of course — all manner of damning theories based on their allegedly scientific analysis of hair, fibers, bite marks, arson, boot prints, blood spatters and ballistics. Of the 330 people exonerated by DNA tests between 1989 and 2015, 71% were convicted based on forensic testimony, much of which was flawed, unreliable, exaggerated or sometimes outright fabricated."
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: John Grisham's thoughts on 'junk science' are invaluable - as are the seven other reasons Grisham gives for "America's shameful number of wrongful convictions." Although my focus here is limited to 'junk science,' Grisham's entire commentary should be read at the link below.
Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
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COMMENTARY: "John Grisham: Eight reasons for America's shameful number of wrongful convictions," published by The L.A. Times o March 11, 2018. (John Grisham is a writer, attorney, politician and activist best known for his popular legal thrillers. This piece was adapted from the foreword of "The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist.")
GIST: "Over the past five decades, our courtrooms have been flooded with an avalanche of unreliable, even atrocious "science." Experts with qualifications that were dubious at best and fraudulent at worst have peddled — for a fee, of course — all manner of damning theories based on their allegedly scientific analysis of hair, fibers, bite marks, arson, boot prints, blood spatters and ballistics. Of the 330 people exonerated by DNA tests between 1989 and 2015, 71% were convicted based on forensic testimony, much of which was flawed, unreliable, exaggerated or sometimes outright fabricated. Brandon L. Garrett, a professor of law at University of Virginia, has studied nearly all of the trial transcripts from wrongful convictions later exposed by DNA-based exonerations. "There is a national epidemic of overstated forensic testimony, with a steady stream of criminal convictions being overturned as the shoddiness of decades' worth of physical evidence comes to light," he wrote last year in The Baffler. "The true scope of the problem is only now coming into focus." An excellent new book by RadleyBalko and Tucker Carrington, “The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist,” chronicles the story of two of the most brazen experts ever allowed in a courtroom. Steven Hayne was a controversial forensic pathologist who once boasted of performing more than 2,000 autopsies in a single year. His sidekick, Michael West, was a small-town dentist who assumed the role of an expert in many other fields. Together they tag-teamed their way through rape and murder trials in Mississippi and Louisiana, accumulating an impressive string of convictions, several of which have been overturned. Some are still being litigated. Many others, however, seem destined to stand. It's a maddening indictment of America's broken criminal justice system, in which prosecutors allowed — even encouraged — flawed forensic testimony because it was molded to fit their theories of guilt. Over two decades, elected judges permitted these two professional testifiers to convince unsophisticated jurors that science was on the side of the state. The atrocities that occurred in Mississippi and Louisiana aren’t specific to one time and place. The medical examiners, police officers, prosecutors, judges and others who hold sway over our criminal justice system around the country have largely failed to deliver justice. We must do better." (Editor's Note. Amen! HL);
The entire commentary can be read at the link below:
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-grisham-wrongful-convictions-20180311-story.html
Read Prof. Brandon L. Garraett's cpmments on the Grisham commentary at the link below - including Garrett's link to testimony in the death penalty (junk bite-mark) case of DNA exoneree Kennedy Brewer: "John Grisham wrote a powerful op-ed, here, today in the L.A Times, discussing causes of wrongful convictions, including flawed forensic evidence. He notes, citing to data that I’ve collected, that “Of the 330 people exonerated by DNA tests between 1989 and 2015, 71% were convicted based on forensic testimony, much of which was flawed, unreliable, exaggerated or sometimes outright fabricated.” Grisham then discusses a fantastic new book by Radley Balko and Tucker Carringon, “The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist,” that describes how over many years, two experts in Mississippi, testified about forensics to convict people later exonerated. You can read the testimony in one of those cases, later shown to be false, in the death penalty case of DNA exoneree Kennedy Brewer, here, on my resource website. The analyst concluded that Brewer’s teeth in fact left the marks: “Within reasonable medical certainty, the teeth of Kenneth—un, Mr. Kennedy Brewer inflicted the patterns described on the body” of the victim, and explaining that reasonable medical certainty means “yes, he did” leave the marks."
https://forensicsforum.net/2018/03/11/grisham-on-flawed-forensics-read-the-transcript/
Read Prof. Brandon L. Garraett's cpmments on the Grisham commentary at the link below - including Garrett's link to testimony in the death penalty (junk bite-mark) case of DNA exoneree Kennedy Brewer: "John Grisham wrote a powerful op-ed, here, today in the L.A Times, discussing causes of wrongful convictions, including flawed forensic evidence. He notes, citing to data that I’ve collected, that “Of the 330 people exonerated by DNA tests between 1989 and 2015, 71% were convicted based on forensic testimony, much of which was flawed, unreliable, exaggerated or sometimes outright fabricated.” Grisham then discusses a fantastic new book by Radley Balko and Tucker Carringon, “The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist,” that describes how over many years, two experts in Mississippi, testified about forensics to convict people later exonerated. You can read the testimony in one of those cases, later shown to be false, in the death penalty case of DNA exoneree Kennedy Brewer, here, on my resource website. The analyst concluded that Brewer’s teeth in fact left the marks: “Within reasonable medical certainty, the teeth of Kenneth—un, Mr. Kennedy Brewer inflicted the patterns described on the body” of the victim, and explaining that reasonable medical certainty means “yes, he did” leave the marks."
https://forensicsforum.net/2018/03/11/grisham-on-flawed-forensics-read-the-transcript/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/c