Plugging Holes in the Science of Forensics - NYTimes.com

Plugging Holes in the Science of Forensics - NYTimes.com

Plugging Holes in the Science of Forensics

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By HENRY FOUNTAIN

Published: May 11, 2009

It was time, the panel of experts said, to put more science in forensic science.

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A report in February by a committee of the National Academy of Sciences found “serious problems” with much of the work performed by crime laboratories in the United States. Recent incidents of faulty evidence analysis — including the case of an Oregon lawyer who was arrested by the F.B.I. after the 2004 Madrid terrorist bombings based on fingerprint identification that turned out to be wrong — were just high-profile examples of wider deficiencies, the committee said. Crime labs were overworked, there were few certification programs for investigators and technicians, and the entire field suffered from a lack of oversight.