Innocence Blog

Posted: June 2, 2011 5:59 pm

Washington DC’s new "independent" crime lab will limit access to the defense and multiple investigations are being called investigate the Detroit Police Department’s forensic errors. Here’s a roundup of forensics news:

Washington DC is set to approve funding for an "independent" crime lab. However, a provision of the bill prevents defense access to lab notes and raw data normally available to the defense and instead requires the defense to persuade or litigate the government to prove that the documents are "material" to the preparation of the defense.

Evidence analyzed at U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory was excluded from a murder trial because the prosecution belatedly revealed that the analyst made a mistake on a proficiency test.

Three years after the closure of the Detroit Crime Lab for forensic errors and negligence, no independent investigation has been initiated. Meanwhile, legal experts are calling for federal oversight into an investigation of why the police did not secure or store evidence properly.

Pakistani officials agreed to allow the CIA to send a forensic team to investigate the home where Osama bin Laden was found.

Dog scent is now being applied to detect bedbugs.