SWGDAM Guidelines on "Probabilistic Genotyping Systems" (Part 2)

What makes a "Probabilistic Genotyping System" probabilistic? That a computer program delivers a probability related to a DNA prof...

SWGDAM Guidelines on "Probabilistic Genotyping Systems" (Part 1)

In June, the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (SWGDAM), approved new “Guidelines for the Validation of Probabilistic Genotyp...

November is the month of DFIR books

I keep a wishlist of upcoming books and recently noticed that four high-quality technical books will be coming out in November. These cover ...

Disentangling Two Issues in the Hair Evidence Debacle

Forensic-science practitioners commonly present findings regarding traces left at crime-scenes, on victims or suspects, or on or in their po...

First NIST OSAC Forensic Science Standards Up for Public Comment

One of the responses to the 2009 NRC report on forensic science was the creation last year of an Organization of Scientific Area Committees ...

What Proves that "the expert and his methods couldn’t possibly be reliable"?

I am developing an allergic reaction to the following kind of argument: "A forensic-science expert testified that a trace at the crime ...

What the FBI Hair Examiner Said About Race in State v. Manning

Two previous postings discussed the meaning and import of FBI testimony about hair in a trial of Willie Manning. I questioned Justice Breyer...