by Jo Ellen Nott

The National Institute of Justice (“NIJ”) published a paper titled “The Impact of False or Misleading Forensic Evidence on Wrongful Convictions,” providing grim facts and figures on one of the worst injustices in the criminal justice system – wrongful convictions.

As of 2023, The National Registry ...

by Jo Ellen Nott

A recent study by Binghamton University researchers offers hope for identifying victims of fires where traditional methods fail. Fire victims can be identified through dental records if the teeth are preserved and such records exist. DNA testing is often the only way to identify badly burned ...

by Jo Ellen Nott

A Colorado jury awarded a 78-year-old woman, Ruby Johnson, $3.76 million in damages on March 1, 2024, after a SWAT team raided her home based on a faulty phone tracking app and a misleading warrant. “The detective misled the court by portraying the phone pings ...

by Jo Ellen Nott

In a significant decision on May 16, 2024, the Justice Department of the Biden Administration proposed to reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III. This history-making shift, though not legalization, acknowledges the drug’s medicinal value and lower abuse potential.

The proposed rule, endorsed by Attorney ...

by Jo Ellen Nott

Dr. Robert Maher, electric and computer engineer who has researched and studied gunshot acoustics at the University of Montana, published the results of a two-year study on synchronizing and processing audio recordings of gunshots in 2018. His research was sponsored by a National Institute of Justice ...

by Jo Ellen Knott

DNA profiling has become the gold standard in forensic science since the first murder case was solved in England in 1987 by genetics professor Alec Jeffreys at the University of Leicester.   Although Colin Pitchfork is not as notorious as Charles Manson or Jeffrey Dahmer, it is a name forensic scientists know well for being the first criminal to be convicted of murder using DNA evidence.

A recent study by researchers at the University of New Hampshire (“UNH”) published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences continues the foundational work of Jeffreys and offers a simpler and cheaper method for identifying touch DNA. The study led by Samantha Crane, co-director of the FAIR Lab at UNH, and co-authored by anthropologist Connie Mulligan at the University of Florida will help advance the impact DNA profiling has in forensic investigations.

Traditional DNA testing can be expensive and complex, hindering the ability to distinguish between DNA left by a perpetrator (primary transfer) and DNA transferred indirectly from another source (secondary or tertiary transfer). However, a new method developed by the UNH researchers led by McCrane utilizes a more accessible and affordable technique called qPCR.

To test the method, the researchers had volunteers ...

by Jo Ellen Knott

Keith Harward, 67, was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, a state whose motto is “To be, rather than to seem.” Unfortunately for Harward, he spent 33 years “seeming” to have a life after the state of Virginia wrongfully convicted the ex-sailor of a brutal murder and rape in September 1982 and sentenced him to life in prison.

            Harward's path in life took this tragic turn during his time in the United States Navy while stationed on the USS Carl Vinson. In 1982, a heinous crime shook Newport News, Virginia, implicating a fellow sailor, Jerry Crotty, in the rape of Teresa Perron, along with the crowbar assault on her husband that killed him. Although Crotty was the real perpetrator, Harward found himself caught in a web of wrongful accusations and faced a justice system blinded by flawed forensic evidence.

"I was wrongly convicted for 33 years," Harward recounts, reflecting on the expert witnesses who almost sealed his fate. Bite mark analysis, now labeled as "junk science, “was the cornerstone of his conviction. Six forensic dentists falsely claimed that Harward’s teeth matched bite marks left on Teresa Perron’s leg by Crotty. Despite initial dismissal due to lack ...

by Jo Ellen Knott

Differentiating accidental falls from child abuse in young children poses a significant challenge for professionals who work these cases. Child abuse cases are some of the most challenging for prosecutors, law enforcement professionals, and child protection advocates tasked with finding the truth about what happened to the injured or deceased child.

In most cases, no one other than the accused was present to witness the event, and children (especially infants) are too young to communicate what the circumstances were that led to their injuries. As pointed out by a research team from the University of Utah, the task of uncovering the truth “is complicated even more because there are very few scientifically based and validated tools or datasets available to help distinguish between accidental and abusive trauma in infants.”

            More than 600,000 children were victims of abuse in 2021, according to the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families. Of that number, 1,820 children died due to their injuries, and most were younger than three years old. For more than a decade, the National Institute of Justice (“NIJ”) has awarded grants for research to help physicians and law enforcement distinguish ...

by Jo Ellen Knott

Oregon legislators passed H.B. 4002 on March 1, 2024, with support from both Democrats and Republicans on a 21-8 vote. Gov. Tina Kotek’s office indicated on March 7 that she would sign it sometime in the upcoming 30 days. H.B. 4002 undoes important drug possession reform brought about by Measure 110 in 2020.

            Measure 110 reclassified drug possession as a Class E violation with a $100 fine, coupled with voluntary health assessments and access to treatment. Oregonians who supported Measure 110 argued against coercive treatment (entering treatment to avoid incarceration) saying it was ineffective and ethically questionable. They supported treating drug abuse as a health issue rather than a criminal one.

            Public dissatisfaction with Measure 110 grew during its three years of existence because of ongoing opioid-related deaths and public nuisances such as “discarded needles, human feces, and oral sex," according to The New York Times, that are associated with drug use. Despite its intentions, Measure 110 did not address the root issues of black-market drug quality and potency, made worse by prohibition.

Critics argued that decriminalization alone would not curb overdose deaths, especially with the influx of potent drugs like fentanyl. ...

by Jo Ellen Nott

California is at the forefront of change in criminal justice reform with a new law, Senate Bill 731, allowing people with felony convictions, even violent ones, to petition to have their records sealed. This reform offers a fresh start for many Golden Staters who have served their time and are committed to rebuilding their lives.

            Senate Bill 731 went into effect in mid-2023 providing Californians with most kinds of felony convictions, including violent crimes, the opportunity to ask for their records to be cleared. Applicants must have fully served their sentences, including probation, and have gone two years without being re-arrested to be eligible. Sex offenders are not included.

Senate Bill 731 is a turning point for many ex-felons, affording them opportunity after incarceration.Nick C. exemplifies the transformative potential of this law. Thirteen years ago, he sat in an Alameda County jail facing decades in prison and the grim reality of perhaps never seeing his children again. Having been charged with attempted murder after a “bar fight went sideways,” Nick pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon.

            After paying his debt to society, Nick took anger management classes, earned a GED, and ...