Networked Knowledge
Forensic Science and Forensic Pathology Homepage

Authors of this page: Dr Robert N Moles and Bibi Sangha

Networked Knowledge - the Henry Keogh
A state of Injustice
Losing Their Grip - The Case of Henry Keogh

Expert Evidence homepage
Arnold Melnikoff - flawed forensic science
Investigation and Forensic Experts homepage External link: The case of the West Memphis Three crime lab and forensic documents archive

Lectures on Forensic Issues - Dr Bob Moles

Ballistics - lectures and images
Blunt force trauma: based upon the book "Forensic Pathology" by Vincent DiMaio and Dominick DiMaio
Pointed and edged weapons: based upon the book "Forensic Pathology" by Vincent DiMaio and Dominick DiMaio

The Gudmann Forensic Newsletters

December 2009 - Metallurgical Assistance to Police Forces
November 2009 Part Two - Experts: Horses for Courses
November 2009 Part One - Water Damage After Fire
October 2009 Part Two - Circumstantial Evidence
October 2009 Part One - Incompetent forensic investigations
September 2009 Part Three - Metallurgy in Criminal Forensics
September 2009 Part Two - Failure Analysis
September 2009 Part One - Triple Murder and Fire - Chifley

Law Reports

McCreight v Her Majesty's Advocate Forensic errors at trial - overstated by 1,000 times

Books received for review

An Introduction to Forensic Genetics - William Goodwin, Adrian Linacre and Sibte Hadi - John Wiley and Sons 2007 ISBN 9780470010266 - courtesy of Linda Machan
Bloodstain Pattern Analysis - with an introduction to crime scene reconstruction - Tom Bevel and Ross M Gardner - 2nd edition - CRC Press 2002 ISBN 0-8493-0950-6 - courtesy of Professor Tony Thomas
Interpretation of Bloodstain Evidnece at crime scenes - Stuart H James and William G Eckert - 2nd edition - CRC Press 1998 ISBN 0-8493-8126-6 - courtesy of Professor Tony Thomas
Bloodstain Pattern Evidence - Objective Approaches and Case Applications - Anita Y Wonder - Elsevier Academic Press 2007 - ISBN 978-0-12-370482-5 - courtesy of Linda Machan
Crime Scene Photography Edward M Robinson - Elsevier Academic Press 2007 ISBN 13: 978-0-12-369383-9 - courtesy of Linda Machan
Forensic Medicine - Clinical and Pathological Aspects - Jason Payne-James, Anthony Busuttil and William Smock - Greenwich Medical Media Ltd 2003 ISBN 1 841100 269 - courtesy of Professor Tony Thomas

Codes of Practice

Australia New Zealand Forensic Science Society code of ethics
November 2004 - UK Home Office Code of Practice and Performance Standards for Forensic Pathology

Academic and specialist reports

December 2009 - New York Crime Laboratory Report on 'trace evidence'
April 2009 - Forensic Institute Scotland - A Review of the Options for the Accreditation of Forensic Practitioners
18 February 2009 - National Academy of Sciences: Evidence to Support Reliability of Many Techniques Is Lacking
2008 Justice Michael Kirby "The Urgent Need for Forensic Excellence" 32 Crim Law Journal 205
November 2007 - Professor Stephen Cordner - A Model Forensic Pathology System - Submission to Goudge Inquiry, Toronto
Introduction to forensics and crime investigations - Robin Napper added 17 October 2007
October 2007 - Association for European Cardiovascular Pathology - Guidelines for autopsy investigation of sudden cardiac death
July 2007 - Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine - DNA resequencing and the "near normal" autopsy
December 2005 - Forensic Science International - Drowning: Still a Difficult Autopsy Diagnosis
2001 - Dr K Paul Kirkbride - National Institute of Forensic Science Innovations Report
2001 - Prof D J Gee - Obituary by MA Green
1999 - Australian Federal Police (AFP) experts provide insight for Candian inquiry into wrongful conviction [Morin Case]
1995 - Prof D J Gee - Reaching Conclusions in Forensic Pathology
1986 - Prof W Tilstone - Where Now for Forensic Science? - Volume 4 No 1 - Proceeding of Aust NZ Forensic Science Society -

James Robertson Integrity Issues Impacting on Provision of Forensic Services, – Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences 31:87-97, 1999

Judy Bourke – Misapplied Science: Unreliability in Scientific Test Evidence - Part 1 – introduction, Australian Bar Review 10 (1993) p123
Part 2 – official legal responses, Australian Bar Review 10 (1993) p183

Article – Scientific Evidence in South Australia – a Brief History: Michael Wright – Technical Services – Police journal 1986

Article – Horowitz, Pounder – is the Stomach a useful forensic clock? - Aust NZ J Med 1985; 15 - See cases of Van Beelen in South Australia and Truscott in Canada

Jordana Scharnberg and Hilton Kobus - The use of Polilight for detection of semen stains on Fabrics: The Polilight is a high intensity light source based on a xenon arc lamp and utilises a series of interference filters to provide a selection of illuminating wavelengths... Over the last few years the “Polilight” has been used routinely in the author’s laboratory for the detection of dried semen stains in sexual assault cases. The light source has 10 filter settings to allow selection of wavelengths from the UV (350nm) through to the red (600nm). The problem is the fluorescence of the semen stain is influenced by the fluorescence of the material on which it is deposited.

Crime scene examinations

Affidavit of Robin Napper - referred to in Stafford Court of Appeal judgment
Forensic crime scene stepping plates

Arson reports - Cameron Todd Willingham

See also the case of Michael Penney - South Australia
See also the work of Janet Crease in use of fire-detection dogs

30 August 2009 - New York Times - Editorial: Questions About an Execution
11 October 2009 - Houston Chronicle - Perry's office quiet on expert's arson report
2 October 2009 - New York Times - Texas Governor Defends Shakeup of Commission
16 October 2009 - Reason.com - More Strange Turns in Texas' Possible Execution of an Innocent Man
1 October 2009 - CNN - Texas governor shakes up panel probing 2004 execution
19 September 2009 - Dallas Morning News - Perry defends disputed '04 execution of Corsicana man
7 September 2009 - New Yorker - Trial by Fire: Did Texas execute an innocent man? major article
30 August 2009 - The Huffington Post - Innocent but Executed
7 February 2009 - Miller-McCune - Arson Convictions, Fire Investigations Feel the Heat

Canines / Dogs - in investigations

See also the work of Janet Crease in use of cadaver and fire-detection dogs

27 September 2009 - Houston Chronicle - ‘Scent lineups' may be failing smell test [Curvis Bickham]
31 July 2009 - Digital Journal - Man in Prison for 27 Years Because of Fake Scent-Tracking Dog [Bill Dillon]

Colour Photography

21 April 2008 - The Advertiser - colour photography in use since 1908

Detroit Crime Lab closed down

1 October 2008 - Detroit News - Workers rip crime lab's closing
30 September 2008 - Detroit News - Crime lab workers urge Detroit council to reconsider closure
26 September 2008 - Detroit News - Detroit shuts down error-plagued crime lab
25 September 2008 - Detroit News - Detroit Police shut down crime lab

Hairs and Fibres

16 December 2009 - WKYC - Akron man wrongly convicted of murder, headed home [Donald Gates]
15 December 2009 - MSNBC - DNA testing clears man who served 28 years [Donald Eugene Gates] FBI hair analyst Michael P. Malone
14 December 2009 - Washington Legal Times - DNA Evidence Could Exonerate Murder ConvictFBI hair analyst [Michael P. Malone]

Linguistics

2 December 2009 - Sydney Morning Herald - Dialect detective warned police Yorkshire Ripper tape was a hoax

Odontology

July 2009 Wisconsin Innocence Project - Charges Dropped Against Man Wrongfully Incarcerated for 23 Years” [Robert Stinson]
31 January 2009 - TMJ-TV - Wrongly Convicted Man Freed After 23 Years [Robert Stinson]
1 March 2008 - CNN - Bite mark evidence disputed in murder cases
20 February 2008 - Reason - The Bite-Marks Men - Mississippi's criminal forensics disaster
2 August 2007 - Reason - How a Mississippi dentist may be sending innocent people to jail

Preservation of Evidence

10 March 2008 - Los Angeles Times - The law may give him a new chance

Withholding of Test Results

19 February 2010 - ABC 11 - Questions remain about SBI's role in Greg Taylor case
17 February 2010 ABC - Taylor declared innocent after years in prison
12 February 2010 - Associated Press reported “Agent: SBI didn't allow full result in lab reports
11 February 2010 - Associated Press - More witnesses hammer Greg Taylor evidence
25 November 2009 - Associated Press - Innocence Commission turns over Greg Taylor case
6 October 2009 - WTVD - Pleas continue to free inmate Greg Taylor

General Media Reports

3 February 2004 - The Times - Wrongful convictions put forensic science in the dock
18 December 2009 - The Oregonian - Man freed after authorities destroy evidence in 1998 homicides [Philip Cannon]
17 December 2009 - New York Times - Report Condemns Police Lab Oversight
16 September 2009 - Detroit News - Wrong man jailed for 23 years [Karl Vinson]
18 September 2009 - AP - Texas group derides scent IDs as junk science [canine detections]
25 June 2009 - New York Times - Justices Rule Lab Analysts Must Testify on Results
13 July 2009 - The Tennessean - National institute could fix crime-lab deficiencies
16 June 2009 - Houston Chronicle - Wrongful forensic report violates right to fair trial
13 June 2009 - The Advertiser - Forensic recipe reduces drug mix - Hilton Kobus award
6 June 2009 - Daily Telegraph - CSI Sydney's real-life sleuths solving our worst crimes
12 May 2009 - New York Times - Plugging Holes in the Science of Forensics
10 May 2009 - Toronto Star - Ottawa urged to establish forensics watchdog
24 April 2009 - The Australian - Hot tub lets the medical experts brainstorm
25 March 2009 - The Daily Journal - Police face lack of space: Departments grapple with crowded evidence rooms [New Jersey]
16 March 2009 - Richmond Times Dispatch - Forensic experts gave flawed testimony in 4 Virginia cases in ‘80s, study finds
12 March 2009 - The Times - DNA clears ‘killer’ Sean Hodgson after 30 years in jail [Never throw anything away]
27 March 2009 - Daily Telegraph - Dim cops finally cotton on to DNA mystery [Cotton buds]
2 April 2009 - Daily Record - Man wrongly convicted of murdering lover with chloroform cleared after forensic error [Craig McCreight]
11 March 2009 - Innocence Project - U.S. Department of Justice Failing to Enforce Critical Forensic Oversight
21 February 2009 - New York Times - Crime Scene Imperfections
18 February 2009 - New York Times - Study Calls for Oversight of Forensics in Crime Labs
14 February 2009 - Sydney Morning Herald - Fingerprint scanner to nail villains
4 February 2009 - New York Times - Science Found Wanting in Nation’s Crime Labs
28 January 2009 - NineMSN - Teenager's organs destroyed after autopsy
10 December 2008 - The Advertiser - Forensic science partnership to reduce wait for post-mortems [South Australia]
3 October 2008 - Daily Telegraph - NSW Police cuffed by inefficient old computers
11 November 2008 - USA Today - Court weighs nature of lab evidence
22 November 2008 - The Australian - Murder trial hung on a few metres [Gordon Wood]
24 October 2008 - The Advertiser - Fictional CSI TV has helped real forensics
13 October 2008 - Sydney Morning Herald - Body can decompose in 18 days: expert
24 September 2008 - AAP - Second suspect DNA police case found [Victoria, Australia]
22 September 2008 - Brisbane Times - Drugs worth millions go missing from police
7 September 2008 - NewsCom - Morgue closure [Westmead NSW] sparks warning
16 August 2008 - Houston Chronicle - Panel to probe whether [Cameron Willingham] wrongly executed [fire investigation]
5 August 2008 - Mississippi cuts ties with rogue medical examiner [Steven Hayne]
23 July 2008 - Flinders University - Funding boosts crime fight potential
20 June 2008 - International Herald Tribune - Texas governor pardons Houston man [Houston crime lab scandal]
9 July 2008 - Daily Telegraph - Your case is 'hopeless' – Court [forensic pathologist error alleged]
3 July 2008 - Daily Telegraph - Westmead morgue to shut: lack of staff to blame
13 June 2008 - Canadian Press - Doctor tells inquiry pathologist [Rajgopal Menon] refused to re-examine cancer tests
30 May 2008 - Canadian Press reported – New Brunswick pathologist [Rajgopal Menon] under scrutiny for errors hopes to get back to work
23 March 2008 - The Observer - How police put their faith in the 'expert' witness who was a fraud
25 February 2008 - The Advertiser - Real life in court more than a clever sound grab
21 February 2008 - Canwest News - 24,000 cases under review as pathology probe expands
11 December 2007 - West Australian - Forensics could reveal Milat’s accomplice
18 November 2007 - The Sunday Times - The expert as judge and jury
12 November 2007 - BBC News - Second victim of Molseed inquiry forensic scientist charged with suppresing evidence UK 1994
November 2007 - Reason - CSI: Mississippi - A case study in expert testimony gone horribly wrong
17 Sep 2005 - New Scientist - errors in fingerprint identifications
12 September 2007 - UK Forensic Science Regulator / Forensic Science Advisory Council / Forensic Pathology Council
29 June 2005 - The Australian - Pigs drowned to test murder theory

Book Review: Lethal Witness – Sir Bernard Spilsbury, Honorary Pathologist Andrew Rose - 2007
Book Review: The Father of Forensics - Sir Bernard Spilsbury by Colin Evans - 2007
Was he the best forensic pathologist or a person who sent many to the gallows on unscientific guesswork?
7 June 2009 - Canwest News Service - Fugitive doctor may be cleared of murder — 99 years after his execution [Hawley Crippin]
Wellcome Library: Bernard Spilsbury - Guts, instinct and evidence
5 September 2008 - Time Magazine - Sherlock Spilsbury from 2 July 1934
17 October 2007 - “The great misleaders” Andrew Rose - Sutton, 296pp, £20,
20 August 2007 - Daily Mail - Bernard Spilsbury's evidence was often fatally flawed

External links

Zeno's Forensic site
Dan Stidham USA Forensic issues in relation to the West Memphis 3
Forensic Science Services UK Case studies including Pitchfork, first DNA case
Forensic Fraud An excellent collection of examples, mostly from USA but one or two from UK and Australia
Crime Reconstruction Brent Turvey on experts faking evidence and perjury
Forensic Victimology Brent Turvey on false reporters and their reasons
Forensic Solutions LLC an excellent forensic science resource
US Law Enforcement Community - Police Link
Homicide Investigations - checklist and field guide
UK Home Office forensic science and forensic pathology documents and standards
Arson investigations - TC Forensics
On NetK: Janet Crease - sniffer dogs
Lawton: Ballistics, Firearms, Ammunition
Lawton: Explosives, Bombings
Ballistics at Netfirms.com
Lecture notes on Forensic Science and Forensic Medicine
Australia: National Institute of Forensic Science
UK: Centre for Forensic Linguistics
Australia: Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine
Rutgers Library Research Guide - Forensic and Police Issues
Scotland: The Forensic Institute
Truth in Justice - Bitemarks
Truth in Justice - Junk Science
Innocence Project - Forensic Science Misconduct

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