There is a disturbing account of how the FBI have reportedly used pseudoscience to convict people over decades (http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/23/fbi-evidence-single-hair-kirk-odom). They apparently embraced the myth that, using simple microscopic techniques, they could demonstrate with great certainty that a single hair found at the scene of a crime was identical to that taken from a suspect (and very different from that of other individuals?). This has been challenged for decades (the technique appears to have not appealed to European police forces) but 'specialist FBI agents' apparently gave evidence in numerous court trials that led to convictions and (in some cases) executions. This is tough on jurors who presumably had to take the official assertions as gospel. After spending years in jail, at least 3 individuals convicted on this evidence have been proved to be innocent as a result of retesting using the newer genetic finger-printing techniques. Some individuals maintain that 'hair microscopy' was popular in the FBI as it 'got convictions'. It appears that resisting evidence debunking the technique was resisted by the FBI for years but thousands of convictions relying on hair microscopy may have to be re-examined (if the evidence has been retained).
No comments:
Post a Comment