Innocence Blog

Science Thursday - A Blood-Based Age Test?

Posted: November 25, 2010 8:25 am

This is the first installment of a new weekly feature on the Innocence Blog where we’ll feature stories each Thursday on the role of science in criminal justice systems around the world. For more on forensic science reform in the U.S., visit the Just Science Coalition website.

Researchers in the Netherlands report that they have developed a test that can estimate a person’s age (within 9 years) from a drop of blood.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder created a new Science Advisory Board for the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) that will focus on evidence-based approaches to prevent and reduce crime.

A U.K. Judge is concerned juries are “improperly influenced” by unreliable evidence.

Police in Taos, NM used voice analysis to charge a man for calling in bomb threats to local schools.   

Two Texas men were convicted of infecting women with HIV based on a genetic test created by Texas university researchers.

Investigative reporters question the work of the Ramsey and Washington County Chief Medical Examiner, who also contracts with 13 counties in Minnesota, in two possible cases of wrongful conviction.

Radley Balko advocates for bifurcated trials as a solution to prevent more wrongful convictions.

The National Football League is using digital forensics to investigate inappropriate text exchanges by its players.