News All - Florida Forensic Science

Watch a Florida Cop Botch a Drug Field Test on Video, Then Arrest an Innocent Man

Body camera footage obtained by Reason appears to show a now-fired Florida sheriff’s deputy blatantly lying about the results of a roadside drug test during a traffic stop last year.

The video shows the April 17, 2018, traffic stop of Florida resident Steve Vann by former Jackson County Sheriff’s deputy Zachary Wester. Vann was subsequently charged with possession of methamphetamines and paraphernalia as a result of the traffic stop, but state prosecutors later dropped those charges as part of a review of more than 250 cases that Wester was involved in since his hiring in 2016.

Your Vehicle Black Box: A ‘Witness’ Against You in Court

January 18, 2019/in Attorney, Digital Forensics News, News /by Forensic Competency

Odds are your vehicle is equipped with an Event Data Recorder, also known as a vehicle black box. And, your local police department is now fully equipped to retrieve and analyze the black box data and use it against you in court.

DNA Basics

January 17, 2019/in Biology News, News /by Forensic Competency

Last week, the National Association for Public Defense (NAPD) hosted a webinar on DNA basics.

DNA no longer means do not acquit. This presentation will help you understand the steps of DNA testing; the different DNA statistics used in cases; the charts in a typical DNA file; and challenges that you could be making against DNA evidence.

Cato Institute 2018 Surveillance Conference

January 16, 2019/in Digital Forensics News, News /by Forensic Competency

The legendary spymaster James Jesus Angleton called the world of intelligence a “wilderness of mirrors,” and rarely has that description seemed as apt as it does in 2018. President Donald Trump rails against a “deep state” embedded within the very intelligence agencies over which he now presides—even as former intelligence leaders claim that it’s Trump who has sought to politicize intelligence. In U.S. v. Carpenter, the Supreme Court handed down a seminal Fourth Amendment ruling that could dramatically reshape electronic privacy law—but what it will mean in practice remains radically uncertain. Meanwhile, technology companies ranging from social media platforms to manufacturers of the connected devices that constitute the “Internet of Things” have struggled with how to balance users’ privacy against their own business interests and the surveillance demands of governments around the world.

Join the Cato Institute—and an array of top experts, technologists, and policymakers—for a probing examination of these issues and many more as we seek to navigate the wilderness.

Donald Trump and the “Deep State”

Michael Glennon, Tufts University
Susan Hennessey, Brookings Institution & Lawfare
Kate Martin, Center for American Progress
April Falcon Doss, Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP
Patrick Eddington, Moderator, Cato Institute

Flash Talks

Looking for a Backdoor Down Under: Australia’s War on Encryption Sharon Bradford Franklin
Who’s Watching the Kids: Social Media Surveillance of Students Rachel Levinson-Waldman
A Million Little Eyes: Building Networks for Facial Recognition Surveillance Jake LaPerruque
Spot the Surveillance: A Virtual Reality Tool Dave Maass
Low-Hanging Fruit: Evidence-Based Solutions to the Digital Evidence Challenge Jennifer Daskal

Privacy Not Included: Rating the Creep-Factor of Networked Appliances Heather West

Panopticon of Things: Networked Appliances as Surveillance Devices

Andrew Ferguson, University of the District of Columbia
Hannah Quay-de la Vallee, Center for Democracy and Technology
Heather West, Mozilla
Matthew Feeney, Moderator, Cato Institute

Flash Talks

Watching the Watchers—Facebook Transparency Edition Alexandra Galloway
Watching the Watchers—Google Transparency Edition David Lieber
Watching the Watchers—FOIA Transparency Edition Jesse Franzblau
New Proposals for Law Enforcement Access to Encrypted Communications Matthew Green

Jailing the Wrong Man: Mug Shot Searches Persist in New York, Despite Serious Risks

January 15, 2019/in Eyewitness Identification News, News /by Forensic Competency

Many big police departments will not use open-ended mug shot searches because of the chance of a mistaken identification. But New York City detectives turn to them routinely.

FREE Webinar: Probabilistic Genotyping

January 14, 2019/in Biology News, News /by Forensic Competency

DNA labs are increasingly turning to sophisticated computer programs to unravel increasingly complex DNA mixtures. This webinar will help you understand how probabilistic genotyping systems work, explore the limitations of these programs and discuss legal challenges that could be made to them.

She Was Jailed for Drunk Driving. Instead She Had Had a Stroke, Didn’t Get Help for Days

January 11, 2019/in Medical Trauma, News /by Forensic Competency

A woman accused of drunken driving and jailed had really suffered a stroke, and despite multiple contacts with police and corrections officers, she went days without medical attention.

High-Tech Cameras That Recognize People Are Coming to Broward Schools

January 10, 2019/in Digital Forensics News, News /by Forensic Competency

The next time you step onto a Broward County school campus, the video camera may be able to watch and remember your movements.

The Broward County School District plans to install a $621,000 surveillance system that includes technology that can recognize people.

FREE Webinar: The Transfer Defense

January 9, 2019/in Attorney, Biology News, News /by Forensic Competency

Law enforcement are using increasingly smaller DNA samples to prosecute cases. Does a few cells worth of DNA at a crime scene translate to proof beyond a reasonable doubt? This presentation will break down tools that you could use to develop a DNA transfer defense and help you communicate to the jury that the DNA evidence in your case may be meaningless.

Hillsborough Robbery Case Raises Cell Phone Privacy Questions

January 8, 2019/in Digital Forensics News, News /by Forensic Competency

The case of a man suspected of burglary in Hillsborough County is the latest in a string of cell phone-related cases that could further define privacy rights in a digital world.

Taphone Prince is refusing to give investigators the passcode to his Alcatel 7 cell phone even after a judge issued a warrant for its contents.

State Attorney’s Office Reviewing 1975 Murder Case Recently Featured in Times Series

January 7, 2019/in Biology News, News /by Forensic Competency

The state attorney’s office that prosecuted Tommy Zeigler for the murders of his wife, in-laws and another man at his furniture store on Christmas Eve 1975 says that it is taking a fresh look at his case.

And a Florida state representative says he wants to introduce legislation to address both prosecutorial misconduct and problems with access to forensic science, including DNA testing.

FREE Webinar: DNA Basics

January 4, 2019/in Biology News, News /by Forensic Competency

DNA no longer means do not acquit. This presentation will help you understand the steps of DNA testing; the different DNA statistics used in cases; the charts in a typical DNA file; and challenges that you could be making against DNA evidence.

It Shouldn’t Be Routine for Cops to Consult with Medical Examiners

January 3, 2019/in Attorney, Crime Lab News, Medical Trauma, News /by Forensic Competency

This week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit released an opinion in Dean v. Phatak, a case involving testimony from a medical examiner in a trial over a crime that turned out not to be a crime at all.

Here’s the background: Noel Dean was arrested and charged with shooting and killing his wife, Shannon Dean, in 2007. Noel Dean claimed that Shannon Dean shot herself as he watched. He noted her previous suicide attempts as well as notes in which she had contemplated suicide. The autopsy on Shannon Dean was done by medical examiner Darshan Phatak. Based on very little, Phatak ruled Shannon Dean’s death a homicide. He said in depositions that he did so after watching video of a police interrogation with Noel Dean in which Noel Dean claimed that his wife was holding the gun to the right side of her head, with the handle pointing toward the floor. Phatak claimed to have found evidence that the handle of the gun was actually pointed upward, toward the ceiling. He first said his evidence for this conclusion was the position of the gun’s “injector rod” on the floor, but then changed and said it was due to the “line of sight.” It isn’t clear what he meant by either.

Bloodstain Analysis Convinced a Jury She Stabbed Her 10-Year-Old Son. Now, Even Freedom Can’t Give Her Back Her Life.

December 28, 2018/in News, Patterned Evidence News /by Forensic Competency

Julie Rea was convicted of killing her son largely on the testimony of bloodstain-pattern analysts. She was later acquitted and exonerated, joining a growing community of Americans wrongly convicted with bad science.

Jeff Brandes Files Cell Phone Privacy Bill

December 27, 2018/in Attorney, Digital Forensics News, News /by Forensic Competency

State Sen. Jeff Brandes has again filed a bill that would protect individuals’ privacy contained on cell phones and other electronic devices as well as GPS location data.

The bill would require a warrant to access electronic information from a person suspected of a crime. A warrant is not currently required to search such electronic data.

New Scientific Paper: The Uncertain Future of Forensic Science

December 26, 2018/in News, Patterned Evidence News /by Forensic Competency

Abstract

Forensic science is at a crossroads. In the last two decades, often-used forms of pattern evidence, such as fingerprint, tool mark, and bite mark identification, have faced significant criticism for lacking adequate scientific validation or proven reliability. Is this the beginning of a sea change, signaling the rise of a science-based, empirically grounded approach to these forms of evidence, both in the courtroom and in the crime laboratory? Or has the increased attention produced Band-Aids rather than meaningful and lasting cures? This essay argues that the current state of forensic science reform is both “half empty” and “half full.” Looking first at bite mark evidence, then at modifications in the language used by forensic scientists for their courtroom testimony, and, finally, at the creation and the elimination of the National Commission on Forensic Science, this essay argues that we have thus far seen modest and meaningful – but far from adequate or transformative – reform. Our best hope for sustained, substantial changes necessary for improving forensic science evidence within our system of justice requires the creation of another national commission or other institutional body, made up of both research scientists and other institutional stakeholders, and situated as to prevent “capture” by either forensic practitioners or advocates within our adversarial system.

Mnookin, Jennifer L., The Uncertain Future of Forensic Science (December 12, 2018). 147 Daedalus 99 (Fall 2018); UCLA School of Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 18-42. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3300354.

Presumptive Drug Test Training

December 20, 2018/in Attorney, Chemistry News, News /by Forensic Competency

UCF doctoral students Emily Lennert and Jessica Sprague, along with UCF Professor Candice Bridge, Ph.D., visited PD9 to discuss presumptive drug tests.

We Broke Into a Bunch of Android Phones With a 3D-Printed Head

December 19, 2018/in Digital Forensics News, News /by Forensic Competency

Facial recognition is cropping up everywhere. From shopping malls to the workplace, it’s likely something is scanning your face every day. But rather than invade your privacy, facial recognition on smartphones is supposed to protect your digital life from snoops.

If you’re an Android customer, though, look away from your screen now. We tested four of the hottest handsets running Google’s operating systems and Apple’s iPhone to see how easy it’d be to break into them. We did it with a 3D-printed head. All of the Androids opened with the fake. Apple’s phone, however, was impenetrable.

She Swiped Her Co-Worker’s Coke Can. Police Say It Cracked a 28-Year-Old Murder Case

December 18, 2018/in Biology News, News /by Forensic Competency

The police were again circling the Franz Bakery Outlet in the spring of 2017, hungry for information, and now she knew why.

The shop, a branch of a commercial outfit supplying baked goods to customers across the region, was located on an empty two-lane road north of Bellingham, Wash. The investigators had come once before, in 2013, asking about a delivery truck driver named Timothy Bass. Strangely, they had wanted to know details of his daily routes decades ago.

Now, four years later, a female co-worker — who has not been publicly named — asked why. They told her: Bass was a suspect in the 1989 rape and murder of 18-year-old Mandy Stavik, one of the region’s most infamous unsolved crimes.

Orlando Public Defender’s Office Hosts 17th Annual PD Clothing Drive

December 17, 2018/in News /by Forensic Competency

A very big thank you to all who volunteered and donated on Saturday . . .

Not only did we resupply our closets with wardrobes for clients in court, we also:

Provided warm clothing for people in need Saturday
Connected with members of the community who see us as caring professionals as a result
Established a source for any witnesses, parties or visitors needing appropriate court room attire
Set up a resource for clients entering treatment programs who had only the clothes on their backs
And we had some fun evaluating fashions past and, perhaps, future

We couldn’t have done it without everyone’s help.

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