Autopsy of a Crime Lab by
This book exposes the dangerously imperfect forensic evidence that we rely on for criminal convictions. "That's not my fingerprint, your honor," said the defendant, after FBI experts reported a "100-percent identification." They were wrong. It is shocking how often they are. Autopsy of a Crime Lab is the first book to catalog the sources of error and the faulty science behind a range of well-known forensic evidence, from fingerprints and firearms to forensic algorithms. In this devastating forensic takedown, noted legal expert Brandon L. Garrett poses the questions that should be asked in courtrooms every day: Where are the studies that validate the basic premises of widely accepted techniques such as fingerprinting? How can experts testify with 100 percent certainty about a fingerprint, when there is no such thing as a 100 percent match? Where is the quality control in the laboratories and at the crime scenes? Should we so readily adopt powerful new technologies like facial recognition software and rapid DNA machines? And why have judges been so reluctant to consider the weaknesses of so many long-accepted methods? Taking us into the lives of the wrongfully convicted or nearly convicted, into crime labs rocked by scandal, and onto the front lines of promising reform efforts driven by professionals and researchers alike, Autopsy of a Crime Lab illustrates the persistence and perniciousness of shaky science and its well-meaning practitioners.
Interpreting Evidence: Evaluating Forensic Science in the Courtroom by
This book explains the correct logical approach to analysis of forensic scientific evidence. The focus is on general methods of analysis applicable to all forms of evidence. It starts by explaining the general principles and then applies them to issues in DNA and other important forms of scientific evidence as examples. Like the first edition, the book analyses real legal cases and judgments rather than hypothetical examples and shows how the problems perceived in those cases would have been solved by a correct logical approach. The book is written to be understood both by forensic scientists preparing their evidence and by lawyers and judges who have to deal with it. The analysis is tied back both to basic scientific principles and to the principles of the law of evidence. This book will also be essential reading for law students taking evidence or forensic science papers and science students studying the application of their scientific specialisation to forensic questions.
Cops in Lab Coats: Curbing Wrongful Convictions Through Independent Forensic Laboratories by
Situated firmly at the intersection of the courtroom and the lab room, Cops in Lab Coats illustrates the legal and personal gravity of forensic science as a tool for police and lawyers alike. Thompson combines her studies of wrongful convictions, scientific mishandling in the lab room, and the legal interplay of analysts and lawyers to hone in on the need for independent crime labs nationwide. Cops in Lab Coats brings a fresh and critical perspective to the world of forensic science and illustrates the dire need for independence between crime labs and police departments across the country.
In Doubt: The Psychology of the Criminal Justice Process by 
Identifying the Culprit: Assessing Eyewitness Identification by 
Wrongful conviction : law, science, and policy by 
How Police Generate False Confessions by 
Enhancing Justice, Reducing Bias by 
Implicit Racial Bias Across the Law by 