CEO DATELINE - District attorneys group says bite-mark review has no teeth
CEO DATELINE - District attorneys group says bite-mark review has no teeth
- September 8, 2016 |
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Walt Williams
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A presidential council has reportedly concluded there is no science to justify the use of bite-mark analysis in investigating crimes, but the National District Attorneys Association said such a conclusion is bunk.
The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology recently investigated the use of bite-mark analysis in solving crimes and found there is no science to support it actually works, nor is there ever likely to be, according to a report leaked to the news website The Intercept.
"PCAST finds that bite-mark analysis does not meet the scientific standards for foundational validity, and is far from meeting such standards," the council said in its report. http://bit.ly/2ccfBH4
Bite-mark analysis is one of several types of forensic evidence investigators use to solve crimes, as popularized in such TV dramas as CSI. The council also reportedly concluded that several other forms of forensic evidence—from tire tread marks to certain kinds of DNA evidence—also lacked sufficient scientific validity and should not be admissible in court.
However, NDAA said in a statement that in reaching those conclusions, the council ignored "large bodies of scientific evidence" that show that such evidence is effective.
"The forensic science disciplines that the PCAST authors attack are (and have been) reliably used every day by investigators, prosecutors, and defense attorneys across the United States to aid in both exonerating the innocent and convicting the guilty," the association said.
NDAA called the council's findings "scientifically irresponsible," adding that ending the use of bite-mark analysis and other forensic evidence would have a "devastating effect" on law enforcement in bringing the guilty to justice. http://bit.ly/2cnqfP3
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