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They Called 911 for Help. Police and Prosecutors Used a New Junk Science to Decide They Were Liars.
by Brett Murphy, ProPublica
Tracy Harpster, a deputy police chief from suburban Dayton, Ohio, was hunting for praise. He had a business to promote: a miracle method to determine when 911 callers are actually guilty of the crimes they are reporting. “I know what a guilty father, mother …
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More from this issue:
- They Called 911 for Help. Police and Prosecutors Used a New Junk Science to Decide They Were Liars., by Brett Murphy
- Indiana Supreme Court: Defendant Who Was Both Victim of Crime and Suspect in Unrelated Crime Entitled to Pirtle Warning Prior to Police Asking for Consent to Search Home, by Anthony Accurso
- Federal Habeas Corpus: How to Raise a Fourth Amendment Claim, by Dale Chappell
- Seventh Circuit: State Court Decision Not Entitled to AEDPA Deference Due to Incorrect Legal Standard, Pro Se Habeas Petition Granted Based on Trial Counsel’s Failure to Present Expert Witness on Determinative Issue of Guilt Resulting in IAC, by Jacob Barrett
- Colorado Supreme Court: Police Lacked Reasonable Suspicion for Traffic Stop Based on Alleged Unsafe Lane Change, by Anthony Accurso
- California Court of Appeal: Right to Withdraw Plea 23 Years After Entered Because Counsel Failed to Properly Advise of Immigration Consequences and Defendant Mistakenly Believed Permanent Resident Status Barred Adverse Immigration Consequences, by David Reutter
- California Court of Appeal Affirms Grant of Suppression Motion Where Officer’s Pat Search of Defendant Based on High Crime Area, Baggy Clothes, Criminal Record, and Suspect in Separate Case, by Douglas Ankney
- New Jersey Supreme Court: Edwards Violation When Police Fail to Cease Interrogation After Suspect Makes Ambiguous Invocation of Right to Counsel and ‘Initiates’ Request for Further Communication with Police, by Jacob Barrett
- Missouri Supreme Court: Use of Out-of-Court Statement Admitted at Trial Exceeded Limited Purpose of Exception to Rule Against Hearsay Upon Which It Was Admitted, by Matthew Clarke
- Your Car Knows a Lot About You, and the Police Are Listening, by Michael Thompson
- Ohio Supreme Court: Defendant Has Reasonable and Legitimate Basis to Withdraw Guilty Plea Before Sentencing When He Discovers Evidence That Would Have Affected Decision, by Douglas Ankney
- California Court of Appeal: ‘Actual Killer’ Under Felony-Murder Rule Means Person ‘Who Personally Killed the Victim”, by Harold Hempstead
- Attorney General Garland Orders Federal Prosecutors to End Sentencing Disparities Between Crack and Powder Cocaine, by Matthew Clarke
- Governor of Oregon Leaves Legacy of Reformation While Leaving Office, by Kevin Bliss
- Nevada Supreme Court: Trial Court Erred in Denying Motion to Substitute Counsel Where Ample Evidence Showed Counsel Was Unprepared and Motion Timely, by Harold Hempstead
- Seventh Circuit: Defendant Entitled to Present Entrapment Defense Where ‘Some Evidence’ Exists of Government Inducement and Lack of Predisposition to Commit Crime, by Douglas Ankney
- Minneapolis Police Department Surveillance Operation Kneels on the Neck of the First Amendment, by Casey Bastian
- California Court of Appeal: Trial Court’s Denial of Faretta Request Without Finding of ‘Severe Mental Illness’ Denied Defendant Sixth Amendment Right to Self-Representation, by Matthew Clarke
- Ninth Circuit: No Qualified Immunity for Detective Who Arrested Anti-Police-Slogan Sidewalk Chalkers, but Not Other Chalkers Whose Content Wasn’t Anti-Police, Even Though There Was Probable Cause to Arrest, by Matthew Clarke
- Massachusetts Supreme Court: Commonwealth Failed to Show GPS Monitoring as Condition of Probation Is Constitutional, by Anthony Accurso
- Sixth Circuit Announces Nonretroactive Change in Sentencing Law Is Not an ‘Extraordinary and Compelling Reason’ Warranting a Sentence Reduction under Compassionate Release Statute, by Douglas Ankney
- Oregon Supreme Court: Federal Law Prohibits Elected DA’s Delegation of Wiretap Authority and Overbroad Initial Search Warrant Requires Suppression of Evidence Obtained as Result of Over 20 Subsequent Warrants, by Mark Wilson
- Invasions of Privacy for People on Electronic Monitoring Is a Warning of Worse Things to Come, by Benjamin Tschirhart
- The District of Colombia: Inside the Most Expansive Surveillance Network in America, by Casey Bastian
- Florida Supreme Court Settles Circuit Split, Holding Dual DUI Convictions Regarding Single Victim in Single Incident Violates Double Jeopardy, by David Reutter
- Houston Cop from Fatal Raid Lied in Other Cases, by Jayson Hawkins
- Electronic Freedom Foundation’s Atlas of Surveillance Helps You Watch Those Who Watch Us, by Michael Thompson
- Was the DNA at the Crime Scene Left by the Perpetrator – or by a Pet?, by Douglas Ankney
- New York Police Department Joins Crowdsourced Surveillance Ring Neighbors App, by Michael Thompson
- Registry of Approved Standards Adds Two New 3D Firearm Analysis Standards, by Casey Bastian
- FBI Heist Made Public, by Jayson Hawkins
- New San Francisco Ordinance Allows Police to Access Private Security Cameras, by Kevin Bliss
- Cruel and Unusual: Residency Restrictions Force Registrant to Die Among Strangers, by Eike Blohm, MD
- News in Brief
More from Brett Murphy:
More from these topics:
- Digital Parallel Construction: Detecting and Challenging Hidden AI, Jan. 1, 2026. Probable Cause, False Statements, Testimony or Documents, Evidence - Integrity/Reliability of, Official Report, Exculpatory Evidence - Disclosure Obligations.
- Zombie Forensics: Discredited Science Stalking the Courtroom, Dec. 15, 2025. DNA Testing/Samples, junk science, Forensic Sciences, Opinions and Expert Testimony.
- Police AI and “Sycophancy”: New Evidence Tools May Tell Cops Exactly What They Want to Hear, Dec. 15, 2025. junk science, Police State-Surveillance, Evidence - Integrity/Reliability of, Evidence - Failure to Disclose, Exculpatory Evidence - Disclosure Obligations.
- Beyond a Reasonable Doubt? Fingerprint Evidence’s Troubling Flaws, April 15, 2025. junk science, Wrongful Conviction, Fingerprint Evidence.
- Cops’ Lie-Detecting Delusion: They Can’t Spot Lies Based on Nonverbal Cues or ‘Abnormal’ Behavior—Yet Keep Lying to Themselves (and Ruining Lives) That They Can, April 15, 2025. junk science, Aberrant Behavior, Violent anti-social behavior, Lie Detector Tests.
- Ninth Circuit Announces Attorney Cannot Be Compelled to Provide ‘Privilege Log’ Protected Under Fisher if Doing So Would Undermine Client’s Fifth Amendment ‘Act-of-Production Privilege’ and Attorney-Client Privilege, April 15, 2025. Fifth Amendment, False Statements, Testimony or Documents, Attorney/Client, Brady/Giglio/Jencks Act Issues.
- A Guilty Voice: Is Voice Analysis Junk Science or Reliable Evidence?, March 15, 2025. junk science, Evidence - Integrity/Reliability of.
- Study Confirms New York City’s ShotSpotter Deployment Was a Costly Misstep, March 15, 2025. junk science, Use of a Gun.
- From the Editor Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Holdings and Dicta*, March 15, 2025. Editorials, False Statements, Testimony or Documents, Confessions and Statements of Defendant.
- Bite Marks and Broken Justice: A Louisiana Man’s Life and Death Struggle Against Junk Science, March 15, 2025. junk science, Wrongful Conviction.




