Jesus, it gets worse and worse, and of course the governments lawyers take no responsibility in informing the defendants.
Christ. On Tue, Apr 17, 2012 at 12:23 AM, Dana <[email protected]> wrote: > > Convicted defendants left uninformed of forensic flaws found by Justice > Dept.By Spencer S. > Hsu< > http://www.washingtonpost.com/spencer-s-hsu/2011/03/02/ABJ7xmP_page.html> > , Monday, April 16, 6:54 PM > > Justice Department officials have known for years that flawed forensic > work< > http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/investigating-flaws-in-forensics/2012/04/16/gIQAMSDSMT_gallery.html > > > might > have led to the > convictions< > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/local/fbi-crime-lab-case-reviews > > > of > potentially innocent people, but prosecutors failed to notify defendants or > their attorneys even in many cases they knew were troubled. > > Officials started reviewing the cases in the > 1990s< > http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/Weisberg%20Subject%20Index%20Files/F%20Disk/FBI/FBI%20Whitehurst%20Frederick/Item%2007.pdf > > > after > reports that sloppy work by examiners at the FBI lab was producing > unreliable forensic > evidence< > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/local/forensic-analysis-methods > > > in > court trials. Instead of releasing those findings, they made them available > only to the prosecutors in the affected cases, according to documents and > interviews with dozens of officials. > > 98< > http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/convicted-defendants-left-uninformed-of-forensic-flaws-found-by-justice-dept/2012/04/16/gIQAWTcgMT_allComments.html#comments > > > > Comments< > http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/convicted-defendants-left-uninformed-of-forensic-flaws-found-by-justice-dept/2012/04/16/gIQAWTcgMT_allComments.html#comments > > > > - Weigh In< > http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/convicted-defendants-left-uninformed-of-forensic-flaws-found-by-justice-dept/2012/04/16/gIQAWTcgMT_story.html?wpisrc=al_national&sub=AR#weighIn > > > - Corrections?< > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/interactivity/corrections/> > > Personal Post< > http://personalpost.washingtonpost.com/c?add_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Flocal%2Fcrime%2Fconvicted-defendants-left-uninformed-of-forensic-flaws-found-by-justice-dept%2F2012%2F04%2F16%2FgIQAWTcgMT_story.html > > > > Gallery > < > http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/investigating-flaws-in-forensics/2012/04/16/gIQAMSDSMT_gallery.html > >< > http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/investigating-flaws-in-forensics/2012/04/16/gIQAMSDSMT_gallery.html > > > > A Washington Post investigation reveals that officials have known for > decades that flaws in forensic techniques have led to the convictions of > innocent people, raising the question: How many more are > there?< > http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/investigating-flaws-in-forensics/2012/04/16/gIQAMSDSMT_gallery.html > > > > How accurate is forensic > analysis?< > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/local/forensic-analysis-methods/ > > > > Learn more about the reliability of each type of forensic analysis. > DNA< > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/local/forensic-analysis-methods/?tab=0 > > > Fingerprint< > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/local/forensic-analysis-methods/?tab=1 > > > Handwriting< > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/local/forensic-analysis-methods/?tab=2 > > > Polygraph< > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/local/forensic-analysis-methods/?tab=3 > > > Firearm evidence< > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/local/forensic-analysis-methods/?tab=4 > > > Hair and > fiber< > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/local/forensic-analysis-methods/?tab=5 > > > Pattern and impression< > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/local/forensic-analysis-methods/?tab=6 > > > Bullet lead composition< > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/local/forensic-analysis-methods/?tab=7 > > > > Independent scientists critique suspect forensic > work< > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/local/fbi-crime-lab-case-reviews/ > > > > Select a name below to see case reviews > > - Benjamin Boyle< > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/local/fbi-crime-lab-case-reviews/documents/?d=284108-r0136 > > > - Donald Gates< > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/local/fbi-crime-lab-case-reviews/documents/?d=284039-r0030 > > > - John Huffington< > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/local/fbi-crime-lab-case-reviews/documents/?d=284089-r0104 > > > - Newton Labert< > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/local/fbi-crime-lab-case-reviews/documents/?d=284028-r0016 > > > - Full list of 137 cases identified by the > Post< > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/local/fbi-crime-lab-case-reviews/ > > > > *Convictions linked to suspect forensics* > > Interactive database of > defendants< > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/local/fbi-crime-lab-case-reviews/ > > > > In addition, the Justice Department reviewed only a limited number of cases > and focused on the work of one scientist at the FBI lab, despite warnings > that problems were far more widespread and could affect potentially > thousands of cases in federal, state and local courts. > > As a result, hundreds of defendants nationwide remain in prison or on > parole for crimes that might merit exoneration, a retrial or a retesting of > evidence using DNA because FBI hair and fiber experts may have > misidentified them as suspects. > > In one Texas case, Benjamin Herbert Boyle was executed in 1997, more than a > year after the Justice Department began its review. Boyle would not have > been eligible for the death penalty without the FBIs flawed work, > according to a prosecutors memo. > > The case of a Maryland man serving a life sentence for a 1981 double > killing is another in which federal and local law enforcement officials > knew of forensic problems but never told the defendant. Attorneys for the > man, John Norman Huffington, say they learned of potentially exculpatory > Justice Department findings from The Washington Post. They are seeking a > new trial. > > Justice Department officials said that they met their legal and > constitutional obligations when they learned of specific errors, that they > alerted prosecutors and were not required to inform defendants directly. > > The review was performed by a task force created during an inspector > generals investigation of > misconduct<http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/9704a/> at > the FBI crime lab in the 1990s. The inquiry took nine years, ending in > 2004, records show, but the findings were never made public. > > In the discipline of hair and fiber analysis, only the work of FBI Special > Agent Michael P. Malone was questioned. Even though Justice Department and > FBI officials knew that the discipline had weaknesses and that the lab > lacked protocols and learned that examiners matches were often wrong > they kept their reviews limited to Malone. > > But two cases in D.C. Superior Court show the inadequacy of the > governments response. > > Santae A. Tribble< > http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/2012/04/16/gIQAbndgMT_story.html > >, > now 51, was convicted of killing a taxi driver in 1978, and Kirk L. Odom, > now 49, was convicted of a sexual assault in 1981. > > Key evidence at each of their trials came from separate FBI experts not > Malone who swore that their scientific analysis proved with near > certainty that Tribbles and Odoms hair was at the respective crime > scenes. > > But DNA testing this year on the hair and on other old evidence virtually > eliminates Tribble as a suspect and completely clears Odom. Both men have > completed their sentences and are on lifelong parole. They are now seeking > exoneration in the courts in the hopes of getting on with their lives. > > > > http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/convicted-defendants-left-uninformed-of-forensic-flaws-found-by-justice-dept/2012/04/16/gIQAWTcgMT_story.html?wpisrc=al_nati > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:349922 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
