Forensic Science in the News
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Forensic science is taking on an ever more important role as it becomes increasingly sophisticated and helps solve investigations. Forensic scientists have played key roles in high profile court cases and books, movies, and television shows have further brought forensics into the public eye. Every day, forensic science is part of the news. Here are some of the most recent of those stories.USA Today – Crime Scene Team Exposes Animal Cruelty
"Forensic crime-scene investigations are no longer limited to human victims. Many of the very same techniques brought to public awareness by the popular CSI television series are being used to make cases against those who have harmed or killed cats, dogs, horses or other animals."
This is also seen in Bones to Ashes when Tempe comes across a dog skeleton during her investigation.
Forensic Magazine – Eliminating DNA Backlog
"Every criminal that the United States fails to convict on first offence goes on to commit, on average, an additional six crimes. It's a chilling thought, and it sits at the heart of one of the most pressing issues to face forensic science today; the DNA backlog. The scale of the backlog problem has reached frightening proportions, with the latest Bureau of Justice Statistics indicating a 73% increase in case work, and a resulting 135% increase in case work backlogs, between 1997 and 2000 alone."
AP - 226 Bodies Exhumed From Grave in Bosnia
"Forensic experts have exhumed the remains of 226 victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre from a mass grave in eastern Bosnia, officials said Thursday."
The Guardian - Forensic DNA tests 'reveal traces of Madeleine's body on resort beach'
"Forensic analysis by retired South African police superintendent Danie Krugel claimed to reveal Madeleine's body had either been temporarily buried or was still beneath the beach at Praia da Luz, the resort from where she disappeared on 3 May."
The Chicago Tribune - Pathologist shortage hits small towns hard
"It took 18 months for Marilyn McGill to be told what she already knew
in her heart. Until she had her father's official cause of death, McGill could not file a claim that the 79-year-old former coal miner's demise was linked to 'black lung' disease. So she waited anxiously for autopsy results from the lone forensic pathologist performing hundreds of autopsies each year in southern Illinois and southwest Indiana. The delay highlights the legal and emotional impact of a national shortage of forensic pathologists -- doctors who keep the wheels of justice turning by performing autopsies in cases of unnatural or unusual deaths."
Frederick News-Post - Forensic analysis begins
"The investigation into a set of human remains found Saturday in a park near Fredericktowne Village is now in the hands of an anthropologist."
Houston Chronicle - Value of eyewitnesses unclear
"For those who work on behalf of inmates who loudly proclaim their innocence - and ask for DNA testing to prove it - the faulty identification of Ronald Gene Taylor was no surprise. The great majority of DNA exonerations have involved bad eyewitness IDs."
The Freelance Star – Fingerprints Go High-Tech
"LatentMaster combines custom-made software with a custom-equipped camera. It can detect fingerprints left at crime scenes that can't be obtained with traditional techniques. It can process them faster and without the risk of destroying evidence the way methods involving chemicals can."
Seattle Times – Red Hair Part of Neanderthal Genetic Profile
"The hair color of humanity's closest relative might sound trivial, but the finding, announced today in the journal Science, stunned anthropologists with the sheer power of genetics to reveal what Neanderthals looked like and how they behaved. And that, some say, will change the way humanity views itself."
Chicago Daily Herald – State Police Lauded for Saving Evidence
"Illinois State Police forensic scientists Cecilia Doyle, Debora Depczynski and the late Barbara Wilson discovered DNA traces on a discarded chicken bone found at the Brown's crime scene. The evidence led to the May conviction of Juan Luna, one of two men charged in the grisliest murders in suburban history."
KathyReichs.com
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