Poor People Science & Wrongful Convictions
An interview with M. Chris Fabricant
CLE Credit — Approved in 5 States
Keith Harward was convicted of a horrific murder and served 33 years in prison based on junk science, sometimes referred to as “poor people science.” Chris Fabricant of Innocence Project explains how Harward's conviction for the heinous act was based on little more than a dentist’s testimony that his teeth matched bite marks on the deceased victim. Notwithstanding his innocence, Harward served 33 years before Fabricant and others were able win an exoneration using DNA evidence.
Forensic science is often viewed as the silver bullet in modern criminal convictions, but not all forensic science disciplines are backed by sound empirical data. Fabricant explains how junk science leads to injustice, wrongful convictions, and the failure to apprehend violent criminals responsible. He explains that the term "poor people science" refers to how the courts seem to employ one system to adjudge experts in civil cases against wealthy corporate defendants and a far more lax approach to admitting evidence against criminal defendants with limited resources. Fabricant shares how courts can unintentionally enable destructive precedent that can then lead to the wrongful imprisonment of many.
Additional Resources
Read the book: Junk Science and the American Criminal Justice System
Learn more about the cases discussed:
- Keith Allen Harward, wrongfully convicted
- Steven Mark Chaney, wrongfully convicted
- Eddie Lee Howard, wrongfully convicted
The following interviews were also discussed in this conversation:
- Pseudoscience and Dubious Forensics with Chris Fabricant
- A Failure of Forensics with Prof. Brandon Garrett and Dr. Peter Stout
- Analyzing Death - Race and Bias in Capital Punishment with Prof. John Donohue
About M. Chris Fabricant
“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.
