Sollecito tried to force the door open and failed, prompting him to call the police. A sample of 300 of his autopsy reports was examined by a panel of experts, who ruled that one-third of his patients had never been autopsied. Such evidence should have resulted in an open and shut case by todays standards but was not made clear enough to understand at the time. Coworkers at the medical examiners office had to work around the clock double-checking the fired technicians findings. The exploits of the 39th district eventually made media headlines in the mid-1990s. Machine Gun Kelly George "Machine Gun" Kelly was a notorious criminal during the Prohibition era, taking part in bootlegging, kidnapping and armed robbery. 9. He spent 26 years in jail before a group called The . Amanda Knox was a 20-year old American citizen living in Perugia, Italy, sharing an apartment with several other women. In 2015, the FBI admitted to decades of relying on faulty hair analysis in trials, a grave error in criminal proceedings. Furthermore, Johnny Webb, a jailhouse informant, testified against Willingham claiming he had confessed to the arson leading to the murders. The LAPD could not counter the idea of lost blood because there was no documentation of how much reference blood was taken from Simpson as evidence. But the sheer scale of ineptitude and invalidation wrought by this crime lab arguably rivals the grievous nature of the crimes it was tasked with solving. Few cases in history have been more focused on forensic evidence than the O.J. Not only is there a huge volume of data collected for current investigations, but there is also a huge volume of digital forensics that must be stored indefinitely, in case of later appeals. A suspects laptop and cell phone can show evidence of a crime, motivation, or premeditation. Her shoddy forensic work allowed 200 convicted defendants to be freed from custody while their cases were reviewed by officials.[2]. But, for residents of Douglas County, Nebraska, those three letters could just as easily stand for Criminal Subterfuge in Investigations thanks to disgraced David Kofoed, whose tenure as chief of the local CSI division was marred by the willful manipulation of DNA evidence in a series of murder cases. With the rate of laboratory malfeasance far outpacing the capacity of authorities to address it, we may never fully ascertain just how many lives were ruined or potentially lost thanks to the Houston Police Departments forensic infractions. On June 13, 1994, the bodies of Ron Goldman and the ex-wife of OJ Simpson, Nicole Brown, were found outside of Browns home. The athlete's lawyer said some images showed "great. To better understand the tragic rippling effect of the lost evidence in this case, keep reading. The person who drew the blood could only guess he had taken 8 mL; only 6 mL could be accounted for by the LAPD. An eyewitness claimed to have seen Dennis Williams, Kenneth Adams, and Willie Rainge in the abandoned townhouses where the bodies of the victims were found. Without perfect organization and updated records, things inevitably go missing, and when they do, defendants end up paying a very steep price. In 2003, Kofoed linked Ivan Henk to the murder of four-year-old Brendan Gonzales with what was likely a manufactured blood sample that prompted Henks arrest and eventual guilty plea. This was particularly difficult to achieve in this case. Autopsy reports indicated that most of Kerchers injuriesbruising and cuts near the genital regionwere sustained as a result of being restrained during the sexual violence. In 2014, a group of police officers was apprehended after executing a vicious extortion plot that involved kidnapping, threats, and even holding criminal suspects out of windows. Two years later, having been convicted only of kidnapping, Bundy was preparing to stand . district attorney drops or reduces charges in 67 cases over mishandled evidence Dist. Michelle Theer (2000): On December 17 th, 2000, John Diamond shot and killed Air Force Captain Marty Theer. As in the Zhang case, network logs can be analyzed to identify mass movements or deletions of data and other suspect user activity. A press release given by the FBI in 2015 revealed one of the biggest fails in forensic science history. The jury disregarded Gibsons testimony, acquitting Mrs. Hall and her brothers of all charges. In 2009, the convictions were reversed by the Indiana Supreme Court. How many criminals are walking free due to untested rape kit backlogs? The victim's sweater was found neatly folded by the truck. In the face of brazen inaction by Scotland Yards sex crimes investigators, a drastic rejiggering of the force followed. Sheriff's Department headquarters and O.C. The Austin Police Department, for example, stores at least 600,000 items, with approximately 60,000 new pieces of evidence being processed each year. At the time, tests were not readily available to differentiate between natural and contaminant EDTA or the differences in the level of EDTA in blood. The judge made some good points and some that made it obvious that they aren't tech savvy but still a good read. The appeal by Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito against their conviction for the killing of the British student Meredith Kercher took a significant turn yesterday when independent, court-appointed experts dismissed as unreliable forensic evidence crucial to the prosecution case. On April 27, a woman in eastern Brooklyn called the police. Miner was a clever and successful "Gentleman Bandit" who continually eluded police both in the United States and Canada. Detective Fuhrman was discredited by the prosecution when he was alleged to be a racist and accused of planting evidence. Gorkski, a Polish meat factory worker, is appealing his conviction for the murder of Shirley Finlay in Ballymena. Investigators exhumed seven bodies that Erdmann had testified about. While he has not been charged yet, he has been suspended while the authorities investigate these allegations. Wright (89-260), 497 U.S. 805 (1990) IDAHO v. WRIGHT. Fingerprint evidence that tied her to gasoline cans used in the arson had been planted by New York State Troopers. It wasnt until many years later that investigators would attribute his wounds to Willingham being in the fire before the flashover (i.e., when the entire room suddenly ignites in flames). The DNA traces on the knife, which were discovered by police in Sollecito's kitchen, appeared "unreliable in as much as [they were] not supported by scientifically validated analytic procedures", the experts' report said. From the beginning, there were issues involving evidence collection. 4.2 Suzanne Johnson. He has remained in jail since the spring of 2013. Its worth noting that as of June 2017, the federal government remains committed to keeping current processes in place. In 1999, the Ford Heights Four won a $36 million in damages from Cook Countythe largest settlement for a civil rights case in U.S. history. Lauren. In the years that followed, more than 1,400 cases were reviewed, hundreds of convictions overturned, and $5 million in compensation was awarded to victims of the police. The prosecution had expert witnesses who testified that the evidence was often mishandled. Over her career, Dookhan completed as many as 60,000 analyses, making her partly responsible for an estimated 11,000 criminal convictions. Webb would later recant his testimony, telling a reporter he was mistaken as a result of being on multiple medications for bipolar disorder. On May 11, 1978, newly engaged Carol Schmal and Lawrence Lionberg were found shot in the head. Her case has never been solved. The case, which earned Kofoed his first and greatest encounter with infamy, revolved around the suspects in a double murder: Nicolas Sampson and Matt Livers. One of the most renowned cases involving problems with the chain of evidence was the O.J. Fred Zains academic record does not reveal the makings of a person fit to wield a beaker, let alone work in a forensics lab. Coworkers at the medical examiner's office had to work around the clock double-checking the fired technician's findings. Photos were taken of critical evidence without scales in them to aid in measurement taking. Photograph: Stefano Medici/AP. This faith in Zains abilities sent untold numbers of innocent men behind bars, primarily for rape and murder charges. Even those at the upper echelons of criminal justice have been found guilty of fraud in forensics. OJ Simpson was found not guilty on October 3, 1995. The jurors have to unanimously decide guilt or innocence. Forensic evidence is crucial to crime scene investigators. Podlecki also testified that both Williams and Adams tested positive for being type A secretors, an assertion later refuted by an independent forensic witness. Marco Raymond Butterfield, 22, was arrested following the robbery and shooting of a 27-year-old man outside a barber shop in northwest Oklahoma City. The jurors agreed that the DNA testimony was difficult to appreciate since expert witnesses were not able to put their evidence in terms that the jury could understand. This inability to understand key evidence made the evidence essentially useless; even some seasoned lawyers found the scientific testimonies to be incomprehensible. [10] No one can say for certain how many innocent prisoners have been executed, died in prison, or served time for crimes that they did not commit. A Question of Character Eleanors tongue had been removed, a horrifying insult to her love of singing. Experts also noted that while the alleged murder weapon did contain trace amounts of Knoxs DNA, it was curiously free from the victims DNA. The chance that blood found on Simpsons sock could be from someone other than Nicole Brown was 1 in 21 billion. Her maid eventually told police that Mrs. Hall had bribed her to provide an alibi and that she had gone with her brothers to confront Edward and Eleanor in Lovers Lane that night. She could pass through borders with no apparent problems and was linked crimes in at least three countries. How many innocent people are serving sentences for crimes they didnt commit? Key points: Kelly says she was told police no longer have forensic evidence from her rape kit Both had been shot. At the trial, James Grigsona psychiatrist known as Doctor Death for frequently recommending the death penalty for defendantswas called as an expert witness. The consequences of that complacency have been devastating for Massachusetts. On Tuesday, Matheson unveiled scientific evidence suggesting that Simpson's blood type matches a drop found on a "trail of blood" near the body of his ex-wife, and that her blood type was on a. In 2008, Brooklyn cops were caught siphoning off drugs confiscated in arrests which, for many observers, would constitute a textbook case of crooked policing. Changing that initial perception was going to be tough. The defense team stated that EDTA was found in the samples of blood that were collected at the crime scene. In 2002, the facility was closed due to unacceptably shoddy lab work and, in 2008, an internal affairs probe uncovered evidence of cheating on lab proficiency tests, resulting in a second closure. "The international procedures for the inspection [of the scene of a crime] were not followed," Stefano Conti and Carla Vecciotti, both professors, said in their report. People are being sentenced to jail for life or are being put on death row. According to an examiners study, at least 90 percent of trial transcripts in their Microscopic Hair Comparison Analysis Review contained erroneous statements. Erdmann later admitted that he had thrown the head away. William A. The Ford Heights Fourall black menwere tried by an all-white jury. The mess-ups: A review of 88 of his cases found that 65 had incomplete documentation, 32 had administrative errors, and in eight cases, evidence had been misplaced. All seven were examined and proved inconsistent with his findings. The world watched every detail of the case on Court TV, which highlighted the many mistakes of forensics investigators as an epic fail. For example, the Innocence Project aims to free the staggering number of innocent people who remain incarcerated, and to bring reform to the system responsible for their unjust imprisonment. Founded in 1992 by Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck, it has helped to free 350 people on DNA evidence and identified 149 alternative perpetrators as of June 2017. While interviewing with the CIA, Harding touted his evidence planting exploits as an example of his ability to conduct covert operations, somehow failing to comprehend that admitting to a string of serious crimes might get him in trouble with the government. Harry Thaw in 1905. The maid warned police that the ministers wife had a network of spies around town to keep tabs on Edwards affair. was acquitted of all charges based on reasonable doubt. Lack of verifiable evidence; Failure to look for witnesses; Improper procedural process; If the investigation was mishandled, the case may never go to court or if it does, the judge may dismiss it from further court procedures. No one knows how many innocent men and women have been put to death because of faulty forensics or inaccurate experts. Not Guilty: Famous Successful Defense Cases By Diana Aizman Esq. California O.C. Willie owned a gun of the same caliber as the one that killed the couple, and he had complained to friends at a local pub that Edward was not giving him enough allowance from the family funds. He has been a guest speaker on numerous national radio and television stations and is a five time published author. Erdmann pleaded no contest to seven felonies regarding false evidence and botched autopsies. It is the defense attorney's job to speak for the defendant and to cast doubt on the prosecution's case. Fearing the flat had been robbed, Romanelli began rummaging around, unknowingly disturbing the crime scene. Prosecutors misplaced most of the evidence, the autopsy report, and grand jury testimony records that would have pointed toward Mrs. Hall as a suspect. She served only three years in jail for her crimes and is now free, just like the dangerous Dookhan Defendants she put back on the streets. Sometimes it's forensic evidence and sometimes it's merely re-examining clues, but cold cases do occasionally get solved. The BTK Killer You can't talk about criminal cases and digital forensics without mentioning the infamous BTK killer case. Simpson trial. This case involves defendant James Franqueira, a 32-year-old Vermont resident. The case took a turn as there were no eyewitnesses and no physical evidence. And, in another case of negligence, Callery failed to fire a chemist who had failed required proficiency tests. Nor had the police "respected international standards for the collection and bagging of exhibits", they maintained. In a shocking double fail, thieves in Kent, England, had very little trouble stealing a computer server from Forensics Telecommunications Services in 2007. He estimated internal organ weight measurements for subjects that had never been cut open. However, the prosecutors were able to get their hands on 88,000 e-mails and other messages on Michelle's . Wet items were also packaged before allowing them to dry, causing critical changes in evidence. Yet, at some point during his five years as a Washington, D.C. FBI agent, he lost his way and was eventually found at the wheel of an FBI vehicle under the influence of drugs. Over the course of this three-year period, Coleman-Farrow not only neglected to interview suspects, but also forged victim statements, allowed video evidence to remain untouched, and failed to bring forensic evidence to the proper channels. The Zhang case demonstrates that the availability of network data presents opportunities to investigate user activity in non-cyber cases, (i.e., a theft of trade secrets matter). Conspiracy theorists helped spread the rumor that a racist cop had killed both Nicole and Ron to frame O.J. Shirley Kinges plight was one of at least 36 instances of evidence planting perpetrated by members of the New York State Troopers C Division and at least one member of Troop F. Between 1984 and 1992, members of New York State Troopers C Division, and at least one member of Troop F, systematically fabricated fingerprints and other evidence. The recanted testimony was never reported to Willinghams attorneys and the prosecution ultimately cited the statute of limitations. Sheriff had investigator probe into evidence mishandling even though he had mishandled evidence O.C. Joseph Sledge, for example, served 36 years for a crime in North Carolina, but he could have been out decades earlier if police hadnt misplaced evidence from his trial. But, when an agent like Matthew Lowry is caught getting high on heroin that he stole from an FBI crime lab, that credence suffers greatly. For nine years, Annie Dookhan worked as a crime lab chemist in Massachusetts, performing drug tests for criminal cases. It was Romanelli who uncovered Kerchers two cell phones in a garden nearby and she requested that the police break into Kerchers room. Boneys history included attacking women. A civil court awarded the plaintiffs a total of $6.5 milliona gesture which is more symbolic than practical in light of Kofoeds inability to pay the fine. Helmsman of the drug lab for nearly two decades, and himself suspected of professional improprieties, Callery had overseen a spate of irresponsible hiring decisions. During a Reddit " Ask Me Anything . In 2006, he faked DNA evidence that was used to solve the murder of Jessica OGrady. The newer mitochondrial testing of hair is more expensive, but it does exactly match hair to a suspect through DNA. And, for a time, its Sapphire sex crimes unit was expected to be no exception. He was sentenced to death and currently sits in prison on death row. Three days later, Camm was arrested for the deaths of his family. In 2010after more than a year of renewed investigation and stiff opposition from embarrassed state authorities, including Governor Rick Perrythe Texas Forensic Science Commission led by Dr. Craig Beyler concluded that there was not ample evidence for arson and Vasquezs testimony was hardly consistent with a scientific mind-set and was more characteristic of mystics or psychics.. Unfortunately, Dookhan wasnt some laboratory wunderkind with a passion for drug offenses. Vasquez also had claimed that Willinghams first and second-degree burns were most likely self-inflicted with the intent to avert suspicion. But they said it could not have been the murder weapon as its profile was inconsistent with the slash wounds on Kercher's throat. In addition to the untold numbers of people who have been convicted on faulty evidence, a fair number of known violent drug offenders have also been released, leading to an increase in the crime rate and time spent rearresting offenders released because of fabricated evidence. Whether its DNA testing, tool mark identification, bite mark measuring, or blood spatter analysis, its assumed that these methods are reliable, consistent, and valid measures of criminal activity. Witnesses may be unreliable, and memories might be foggy, but scientific evidence doesnt lie. Still, Robert Lowery, vice president of the Missing Children's Division at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, points to other high-profile missing children's cases as support for the belief that cases like . On December 23, 1991, a fire ravaged Cameron Todd Willinghams house killing his two-year-old daughter and one-year-old twins, while Willingham escaped with minor burns. The millionaire who gunned down the high-society architect. Lawyers, experts say forensic evidence was too experimental for courtroom. This article explores five fascinating cases of fraud in forensics to underscore the importance of using scientifically valid and reliable methods in this growing career field. Ted Bundy. This case is documented as the first to establish the modern law of negligence. For Zains many victims, exoneration and compensation are the only justice possible. The experts at the appeal court were scathing yesterday in their criticism of the reliability of that evidence. 1 The Central Park 5. Experts dispute key evidence concerning alleged murder weapon and Sollecito DNA on Meredith Kercher's bra, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Amanda Knox arrives for the appeal hearing in Perugia, Italy. Todd Spitzer has dropped or reduced charges in 67 criminal cases as a result of. Some costs, however, may be incalculable. jails are located at 550 N. Flower St. in. But a small number of cases around the country have . If evidence with Simpsons blood showed traces of EDTA, the defense claimed, then that blood had to have come from the lab, which meant that it was planted. Ironically, the work of a man determined to secure criminal convictions, regardless of innocence, may allow an apparently guilty man to go free. Frank Lee Smith, for example, died of cancer on death row, after serving 14 years for a rape and murder he did not commit. Robinson was on-site at a Tucson facility in April 2018 when the FBI took the servers into custody pursuant to a federal warrant. A card left by the killer was handled by dozens of people in the crowd, making fingerprint forensics useless in court. But, like so many corruption cases, Lowrys greatest crime may not be one which exists on any US law book. No one had bothered to measure it, either, leading to suspicions that some of the blood might have been missing. In 2006, the lab rehired a forensic analyst who previously resigned under suspicion of falsifying data. During the trial, all of the missteps of the forensic team came to light, including the possibility of evidence tampering (and obvious evidence mishandling), as well as the glaring absence of evidence security. To add to the problem, the blood was not immediately turned over as evidence but was carried around for several hours before it was entered into the chain of custody, allowing for speculation of when and how the 1.5 mL of blood may have disappeared. Lost evidence has collapsed 6,000 cases including alleged killers and rapists Crime expert fears that 12,000 prosecutions have failed in the past two years because pieces of evidence that. When his son failed to respond, he called 911. Beyond poor evidence collection techniques, sloppy maneuvering at the scene caused more bloody shoe prints to be left behind by LAPD than by the perpetrator. Police used forensic evidence found at the scene to track the thieves, which led to their houses. His wife had been out Christmas shopping and despite her insistence that Willingham had never been abusive and had no motive for the crimes, he was arrested. In addition to bearing the financial burden of revisiting tainted convictions, the government has agreed to award $1,000 for each hour of wrongful incarceration endured by an innocent person, leading to compensation for at least 25 people believed to have been booked on bad evidence. Defense attorneys became suspicious because Erdmann seemed to be able to supply prosecutors with whatever testimony they needed, without the proper testing to back up his reports. To buttress law enforcement accusations, Kofoed planted traces of blood which tied the suspects to the murder scene, ultimately securing a guilty verdict in court. Both Knox and Sollecito were arrested and charged with Kerchers murder due to trace amounts of Knoxs DNA found on the kitchen knifethe presumed murder weaponand Sollecitos DNA found on Kerchers bra clasp. While the future of forensics methods is beyond the scope of this article, its important to remember examples where the collection or processing of evidence have failed. Coleman is an author, screenwriter, university student, and tarot reader. Somehow, these flashing signs of inability didnt prevent him from landing jobs as a police chemist for the state of West Virginia and chief of physical evidence in Bexar County, Texas. Unfortunately, DNA testing proved him innocent 11 months after he died. After various appeals and retrials, students from the Northwestern University Medill School of Journalismincluding award-winning NPR journalist Laura Sullivanpresented new evidence in 1996. What happened in the trial of O.J. A Question of Planted Evidence Microscopic comparisons were very convincing to juries, especially when linked with testimony from forensic experts claiming that the hair matched a suspect. His parents were both charged and convicted of murdering Gabriel due to signs of abuse. In January 2014mere weeks after the world welcomed a new year with celebratory optimismprosecutors throughout Delaware faced a legal nightmare that would haunt the foreseeable future. Supervisors might never have caught the mistakes if not for the fact that the technician in question applied for a new training program. Atty. He could not prove his whereabouts during this time. DNA testing then proved that he wasnt a murderer. Copyright 2022 Crime Museum, LLC - All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy |. One of the examiners most aggravating mistakes was the loss of an entire head, which contained a bullet from the killers gun. 1. Justice Kennedy, with whom The Chief Justice, Jus tice White and Justice Blackmun join, dissenting. Several inquiries and protests have been made by experts within the legal system regarding the deplorable way that forensic evidence is being stored across the country. 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