1. Simpson We'd be remiss if we started our list anywhere other than the case dubbed the " trial of the century. According to a 2010 investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), a detective constable and two trainees revised the statement of a rape survivor to suggest that she had retracted her claims. On December 23, 1991, a fire ravaged Cameron Todd Willinghams house killing his two-year-old daughter and one-year-old twins, while Willingham escaped with minor burns. But when the unit faced blistering criticism over a barrage of bungles that allowed a prolific rapist to prey on more than 70 women and another to victimize up to 102 people, a number of Sapphire investigators categorized cases incorrectly, attempting to artificially reduce the number of unsolved sexual assaults. Wright (89-260), 497 U.S. 805 (1990) IDAHO v. WRIGHT. In the aftermath of successful attacks on Belgiums forensic labs, European officials are now concerned about the security of their nuclear sites as well. O.J. The government obtained warrants to search Mr. Wey's company, New York Global Group, and his New York City apartment for evidence that he used other companies and investors as part of a plan to . The time was 5:55 p.m. For 14 years, the lab relied on malfunctioning equipment that incorrectly logged all evidence entry dates as January 1, 1970. The grim implications of such a callous disregard for the law were clear: In order to improve the Sapphire units image, these three men were willing to deny victims justice and permit violent predators to roam free among the vulnerable. In West Virginia alone, Zain may have lied in as many as 182 different cases. A sixth officer, situated in Troop F, had long known the other five perpetrators and undoubtedly shared in their criminal nonchalance, even planting evidence in one instance where a conviction would have been secured without it. But, despite the laudable efforts of local and federal officials to stem the tide of narcotic officer corruption in Philadelphia, rampant corruption is alive and well on the streets of Philadelphia. And in addition to his work in a Texas crime lab, Zain served as a forensics consultant to 10 other states, creating the possibility that he lied across thousands of primarily rape and murder trials. She was also accused of taking cocaine from positive samples and adding it to negative samples to help secure convictions. Photograph: Stefano Medici/AP. Gibson claimed to have heard a female voice call out, Henry! before the fatal shots were fired. One of the most frustrating and heartbreaking docu-series in recent memory was The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez. Silk Road Case: Mishandling of Critical Evidence Mishandling of Critical Evidence As we progress through the digital age, courts are addressing questions of whether digital evidence is reliable. The first decision to uphold the admission of DNA evidence in s tate appellate court was in 1988; before that, DNA was thought of as too inconclusive.Now c ourts have determined that DNA identification theory, practice, and techniques are widely accepted among the scientific community and therefore valid as . Theres no shortage of crime-fighting TV shows where protagonists brandish the latest forensic science techniques. This inability to understand key evidence made the evidence essentially useless; even some seasoned lawyers found the scientific testimonies to be incomprehensible. One of the examiners most aggravating mistakes was the loss of an entire head, which contained a bullet from the killers gun. During Camms trial, the prosecution stated that Camm had dual motives: a $750,000 life insurance policy and alleged infidelity. Sometimes, the stolen items were replaced with false evidence. This is a broad concept that can range from using excessive force, performing illegal searches, selective law . After 36 years of appeals, the evidence was finally located on the top shelf of a forensics storage room. Because the police department did not have proper collection documents regarding Simpsons blood, it was argued that the police planted Simpsons missing blood on critical evidence and in critical areas of the murder scene. Two people were convicted and imprisoned for that brutal affair: Michael Kinge and his mother, Shirley. One can only hope that, in time, his legacy will evolve into one of wrongs righted by a wiser justice system, rather than the virulent injustices he authored. This case is documented as the first to establish the modern law of negligence. DNA testing then proved that he wasnt a murderer. They added that a trace of Sollecito's DNA on Kercher's bra clip, the vital piece of evidence linking him to the murder scene, could have got there by contamination, as the defence team said at the trial. One of the main issues in the Casey Anthony case was that the prosecution went forward with evidence that the forensic experts told them was questionable. While interviewing with the CIA, Harding touted his evidence planting exploits as an example of his ability to conduct covert operations, somehow failing to comprehend that admitting to a string of serious crimes might get him in trouble with the government. In the years that followed, more than 1,400 cases were reviewed, hundreds of convictions overturned, and $5 million in compensation was awarded to victims of the police. Problems with her collection and analysis techniques prompted further scrutiny, revealing that she had been reporting false negatives instead of false positives during chemical tests for semen detection on clothing. The first edition of Electronic Evidence in Criminal Investigations and Actions: Representative Court Decisions and Supplementary Materials was published in February of 2016. Sheriff's Department headquarters and O.C. Other mistakes included overlooking stains, botched chemical tests, and improperly processed rape kits.[3]. As a private contractor, he performed more than 3,000 autopsies in 41 jurisdictions spread out over West Texas. During the June 2011 appeals trial, experts uncovered the numerous flaws in the forensic evidence levied against Knox and Sollecito. And they werent alone in this scandal. A Question of Planted Evidence Even more harrowing is when we find that acts of investigative dishonesty are deliberate and systematic, shrouding the high-profile convictions and acquittals that saturate our news feeds in a thick veil of suspicion and withering cynicism. At the time, tests were not readily available to differentiate between natural and contaminant EDTA or the differences in the level of EDTA in blood. In 2002, the facility was closed due to unacceptably shoddy lab work and, in 2008, an internal affairs probe uncovered evidence of cheating on lab proficiency tests, resulting in a second closure. But the evidence of his wrongdoing, along with the actions of other Brooklyn officers, was enough to throw out 400 different drug cases and secure the release of over two dozen people wrongfully arrested on drug charges. According to an examiners study, at least 90 percent of trial transcripts in their Microscopic Hair Comparison Analysis Review contained erroneous statements. Her case has never been solved. The experts at the appeal court were scathing yesterday in their criticism of the reliability of that evidence. During the trial, all of the missteps of the forensic team came to light, including the possibility of evidence tampering (and obvious evidence mishandling), as well as the glaring absence of evidence security. Cases involving computer forensics that made the news. The abbreviation CSI has become a household term to capture the magic of Hollywoods high-tech vision of forensic work. 3The Philadelphia PD's Narcotics Unit Resembles A Mafia Operation Every city has ignominious chapters in its history that it would rather forget. In 2014, a group of police officers was apprehended after executing a vicious extortion plot that involved kidnapping, threats, and even holding criminal suspects out of windows. Some believe that the positive EDTA results may have been due to contamination of the equipment used to run the tests. Police misconduct is any action done by a police officer that is illegal, inappropriate, or against police policies. Boney ultimately claimed it was Camm who murdered the family. 10 Examples of Police Intimidation Cases: Wrapping Up. HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The Houston Forensic Science Center says it fired a crime scene investigator after it discovered she violated policy and protocol, affecting two sexual assault cases. Key points: Kelly says she was told police no longer have forensic evidence from her rape kit When the prosecution presented hairs found in the back of Williamss car, Podlecki claimed they were consistent with the victims. Evidence to be used against European terrorists, including those suspected in the most recent attacks against Paris, has been burned, lost, or compromised during the fires. Robinson was on-site at a Tucson facility in April 2018 when the FBI took the servers into custody pursuant to a federal warrant. It began during the trial of a suspected Oxycontin dealer, when the court discovered that confiscated drugs had vanished and been replaced with heart medication. This article explores five fascinating cases of fraud in forensics to underscore the importance of using scientifically valid and reliable methods in this growing career field. Among the mounds of evidence, there was a glass wine decanter, a clock radio and hair samples, all kept in evidence bags after being collected from the March 5, 1985 murder scene. Atty. Although it was documented in his notes by Detective Mark Fuhrman, one of the first to arrive on the scene, no further action was taken to secure it. Photos were taken of critical evidence without scales in them to aid in measurement taking. During the first trial in 1978, state serologist Michael Podlecki testified that at least one of the rapists had type A secretor blood, a trait shared with approximately 25 percent of the population. Knox, 23, from the US, and Sollecito, 27, an Italian, are serving sentences of 26 and 25 years respectively for the murder. Williams, Adams, Rainge, and Gray all received harsh sentences. In 16 cases, pieces of evidence were returned to the wrong rape kit, hindering 19 investigations. An eyewitness claimed to have seen Dennis Williams, Kenneth Adams, and Willie Rainge in the abandoned townhouses where the bodies of the victims were found. Defense attorneys and organizations like the Innocence Project are pushing for standardized use of DNA tests on hair, as well as more accurate testimony about how hair can be similar, but not necessarily matched. Instead of attempting to cover up this hairy forensic fail, the FBI and all legal organizations involved admitted their mistakes and took full responsibility for preventing them in the future. Kercher, 21, from Coulsdon in Surrey, was found dead in a flat she shared with Knox and two Italian women. 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