The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism identifies nine cases with misleading microscopic hair or fiber comparisons; one man serving life for killing a police officer in 1994 says he is innocent.
Category: Flawed Forensics
This series examines flaws in scientific tests and techniques used to solve crimes — and how well the justice system addresses those shortcomings.
Posted inFlawed Forensics, Justice & Safety
Several states searching out flawed FBI hair, fiber cases; Wisconsin is not
At least three men convicted in Wisconsin have been cleared in separate cases in which DNA testing proved that earlier microscopic hair analysis was wrong
Posted inFlawed Forensics, Justice & Safety
Wisconsin’s tainted hair, fiber cases
The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism has found nine cases in the state involving 12 defendants that featured faulty crime laboratory hair or fiber comparison. Seven cases were flagged by the national task force re-examining cases involving FBI hair and fiber analysts. Two are cases in which DNA testing showed that Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory hair comparisons linking suspects to crime scene hairs were wrong.
Posted inFlawed Forensics, Justice & Safety
DNA tests in Wisconsin murder raise questions amid alleged evidence tampering
In the Ken Hudson case, experts are puzzled by tests finding no human DNA in the red substance on his left foot. Is it animal blood? A judge has granted more testing.
Posted inFlawed Forensics, Justice & Safety
Common interrogation technique suspected of causing false confessions
Aspects of the Reid Technique can lead suspects — such as Wisconsin’s Brendan Dassey — to admit to crimes they now say they did not commit.
Posted inFlawed Forensics, Justice & Safety
After 27 years, judge overturns rape conviction, cites flawed FBI hair analysis
Richard Beranek’s conviction was overturned after serving 27 years in prison for sexual assault. His case is the latest in which flawed hair analysis by the FBI led to a wrongful conviction.
Posted inFlawed Forensics, Justice & Safety
Wisconsin, U.S. used flawed hair evidence to convict innocent people
FBI admits errors in 90 percent of hair and fiber cases, including 13 in Wisconsin. Such errors are now a factor in one-fifth of all DNA exonerations.
Posted inFlawed Forensics, Justice & Safety
Hair analysis: Here’s how the FBI got it wrong
The FBI, the New York-based Innocence Project and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers are examining nearly 3,000 cases nationwide in which the FBI may have misused microscopic hair comparison.