“ Forensics are not raised in the laboratory, research environment. Forensics emerge from crime scenes. They’re usually ad hoc experiments that are done to solve a crime. ”
Chris Fabricant is the Joseph Flom Special Counsel and Director of Strategic Litigation at the Innocence Project. The Innocence Project works to exonerate the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reform the criminal justice system to prevent future injustices. As head of the Strategic Litigation team, he supervises attorneys to develop and execute national litigation and public policy strategies to address the leading causes of wrongful conviction, including eyewitness misidentification, the misapplication of forensic sciences and false confessions. He has served as a clinical law professor, trial attorney, and appellate counsel. He has authored a number of articles, published in Fordham Law Review and New York University Law Review & Social Change, among others, and frequently speaks on criminal and social justice topics.
According to the Innocence Project, nearly half of wrongful convictions were a result of misapplied forensics. Forensic science comprises many disciplines and offers valuable methods of gathering evidence, but when misapplied, the consequences for defendants whose life and liberty is at stake are devastating. Steven Mark Chaney of Texas was wrongfully convicted of murder and imprisoned for nearly 30 years largely based on bite mark evidence and testimony built on shaky scientific underpinnings. Chris Fabricant of the Innocence Project discusses some of the major problems with forensic evidence, including unreliability of testing methods in disciplines like bite mark matching and erroneous or exaggerated expert testimony, and how misapplied forensics have sent clients to prison for decades for crimes they did not commit.
Watch Part 2 of Pseudoscience and Dubious Forensics.
According to the Innocence Project, nearly half of wrongful convictions were a result of misapplied forensics. Forensic science comprises many disciplines and offers valuable methods of gathering evidence, but when misapplied, the consequences for defendants whose life and liberty is at stake are devastating. Steven Mark Chaney of Texas was wrongfully convicted of murder and imprisoned for nearly 30 years largely based on bite mark evidence and testimony built on shaky scientific underpinnings. Chris Fabricant of the Innocence Project discusses some of the major problems with forensic evidence, including unreliability of testing methods in disciplines like bite mark matching and erroneous or exaggerated expert testimony, and how misapplied forensics have sent clients to prison for decades for crimes they did not commit.
Watch Part 1 of Pseudoscience and Dubious Forensics.