Forensics Under the Microscope

Newsweek
More courts are starting to question the ‘facts’ proved by scientific evidence.

Emerging Forensics Field May Hit Legal, Ethical Obstacles

Science Magazine
The Dutch parliament adopted a law in 2003 regulating forensic DNA phenotyping, the use of DNA samples to predict a suspect’s ancestry or physical characteristics. But the Netherlands is still the only country to have done so.

Police solve cold case with DNA evidence

South Carolina Now
CONWAY – Horry County police say they found a man who sexually assaulted a woman at knifepoint. The crime occurred 12 years ago. Raphel Burroughs is now 56. Authorities say Burroughs attacked the woman in 1998. A DNA sample taken that year helped police nab Burroughs.

Cold-case Unit Launched by District Attorney’s Office

San Francisco Examiner
Santa Clara County’s new district attorney, Jeff Rosen, Wednesday announced the formation of a unit that will use DNA evidence to investigate unsolved crimes, fulfilling a promise he made at the outset of his campaign.

New DNA Law IDs Suspects In 40 Cases

The Denver Channel
…Officials started collecting the swabs Sept. 30, 2010. CBI said 15,404 swab samples have been collected since then. The samples are processed when charges are filed. Officials said 9,912 of the samples have been processed….

Remains of military man found, burial set for Saturday in Texas 68 years after MIA

The Republic
…Sixty-eight years after Lake disappeared in a plane crash over Papua New Guinea, his remains have been found and returned to his daughter for burial. On Saturday, Wade will attend a hero’s funeral for a father she never knew…

Databank to catalog African DNA

MSNBC
WASHINGTON, May 27, 2003 — A university and a genetic database company are partnering to trace the genetic factors behind diseases that disproportionately strike blacks. The databank could involve DNA samples from 25,000 people of African descent, in America and elsewhere.

‘Katie’s Law’ leads to 10 arrests in Colorado Springs

MSNBC
Colorado Springs police made arrests in 10 unsolved crimes the past few months thanks to a new law that requires DNA samples from felony suspects, authorities said Wednesday. The arrests in Colorado Springs accounted for a quarter of the 40 newly solved cases using the law, which requires all people arrested on suspicion of a felony to submit to a DNA sample.