Innocence Blog

Forensics Series Continues Tonight on CNN

Posted: August 20, 2009 3:15 pm

CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” has been investigating questions about forensic disciplines in a special series on forensics this week. Last night, CNN contributor Sanjay Gupta visited the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab to report on hair analysis, bullet analysis and DNA testing practices. Watch video of his visit here.

And CNN medical producer Stephanie Smith posted on the AC360 blog today about Innocence Project client Steven Barnes and the role of unvalidated forensics in wrongful convictions.

The show continues tonight at 10 p.m. ET with a report on Dr. Steven Hayne in Mississippi, who has been accused of reaching conclusions that go beyond science to fit what prosecutors need to secure convictions. Tonight's broadcast will feature an interview with Tyler Edmonds, who was sentenced to death row partly as a result of Hayne's testimony. Edmonds was released after the Mississippi Supreme Court threw out his conviction — in a ruling that called Hayne's testimony "scientifically unfounded."

Two Innocence Project clients were exonerated last year after Hayne's testimony contributed to their wrongful convictions; read more about their cases here.

Learn about recommendations for forensic reform and take action at the Just Science website.