Forensic Crime Labs Are A Mess. What Happened?
Rechtsmedizin der Charité Berlin Ralf Roletschek/Wikimedia CommonsThe Justice Department is reviewing thousands of FBI cases for flawed forensic work that could've contributed to the conviction of innocent people. Even worse: This might be bigger than the FBI. Earlier this month, we wrote about Annie Dookhan, a forensic chemist at a Massachusetts-based crime lab who stands accused of some pretty stark negligence. Turns out she's not the only one. Problems in crime labs have reached the top levels of government and spread out across the country, shining a spotlight on the troublesome role of science in criminal cases. The Justice Department, specifically, has announced a review of FBI cases to see if technicians misrepresented lab reports and testimonies that might have led to wrongful convictions. The DOJ will scour at least 21,000 cases conducted by the FBI Laboratory's hair and fibers unit before 2000. But there's another issue. About three...