The Justice Department and the FBI have acknowledged they gave flawed testimony with regard to forensic evidence in almost all trials against criminal defendants for more than 20 years before 2000.

Glen. P Jackson, distinguished professor of Forensic and Investigative Science at West Virginia University is available to add context to the story. Jackson is currently researching alternate methods of identification should a suspect’s DNA not be available, including chemical composition of their hair.

The Washington Post reports: Of 28 examiners with the FBI Laboratory’s microscopic hair comparison unit, 26 overstated forensic matches in ways that favored prosecutors in more than 95 percent of the 268 trials reviewed so far. The cases include those of 32 defendants sentenced to death. Of those, 14 have been executed or died in prison, the groups said under an agreement with the government to release results after the review of the first 200 convictions.”

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-WVU-

ak/04/21/15

CONTACT: Devon Copeland, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
304.293.6867, Devon.Copeland@mail.wvu.edu

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