PBS FBI video notes

  • no national standard for forensic testimony

  • can get certified in forensics online

  • bad forensic testimony leaves murderers on street and puts innocent people in jail

  • crime scene investigations not accurately depicted in television

  • richmond, california is one of most dangerous cities in america

  • actual job involves getting dirty, blood, bad smells, seeing the worst that people are capable of

  • fingerprints used to identify criminals for over a decade

  • in 2004 a series of explosions in subway in madrid killed/injured over 2,000 people

  • partial prints found on bag of explosives

    • sent to interpol then fbi

    • match was found

    • sent them to Brandon Mayfield attorney’s house which matched his prints from the military

    • said they were 100% accurate and 0% chance they could be wrong

  • no two people have the same fingerprint

    • no scientific study to prove this true

  • fingerprints examined for ridges, loops, whirls

  • then compared w known print

  • once there are “enough” points of similarity, its confirmed a match

  • only evidence against Mayfield was the partial print

    • he was Muslim

    • maintained that he had never been to spain

    • independent expert examined all fingers of mayfield and one finger had 15+ similarities so testified it was a match

  • print eventually determined by spanish police as belonging to an algerian

  • never before in history had there been a two fingerprints w 15+ similarities that didnt belong to the same person

  • changes standards

  • fingerprints are determined by subjective decision by examiner

  • examiners can be influenced by unconscious bias

  • gave same prints to examiners and over half changed their previous verdict (4 out of 5) despite same data and same examiner but different case details

  • FBI changed way it testifies (used to say it was infallible and 0% error rate) but now says there is no infallibility

  • courts were misled for years

  • experts were always told there was no error rate


  • families deserve justice

  • markings link bullet to gun

  • evidence is important to explain what happened, why it happened

  • questikons being raised abt validity of tehcniques used

  • most foresnic sciences do not meet scientific standards and have never been scientifically examined

  • prosecutors and lawyers assume forensic evidence doesn’t have problems and is valid

  • bite mark analysis produces high percentage of false positives

  • 3 year old girl was abducted, sexually assaulted, murdered, and dumped in a pond

  • kept brooks for 72 hours and took dental impressions to compare to bite marks on girl’s wrist

  • brooks was working at bar filled w people when crime occured

  • sentenced to life in prison despite the only evidence being the bite marks

  • essentially same crime occured to another 3 year old girl while brooks was in prison

  • same forensic dentist and examiner testified that the bite marks on this girl belonged to brewer- the girl’s mom’s boyfriend

  • only forensic science considered 100% valid is DNA bc it came from medical science and has held up to 100s of years of testing

  • DNA has called into question the reliability of other forensic scienes

  • in orlando florida woman charged w murder of her 3yo daughter

  • didnt call until she had been missin for 31 days

  • remains of daughter found 1.5 blocks from home

  • casey anthony’s mother said casey’s car smelled like a dead body and becsuse of that and casey’s weird behavior they sought death penalty for casey

  • no other evidence- weapon, motive, etc

  • stain in trunk’s carpet causing odor

  • never before intrduced forensic science saying trunk smell smelled like human decomposition

  • forensic science should all be validified before it reaches the courtroom because judges, lawyers, and juries are all scientifically illiterate

  • in casey anthony case over 37 forensic experts testified

  • abc news paid $200k for pics of casey and caylee

  • most ppl board certified but not all

  • because guy works on a body farm his sense of smell for dead bodies should be trusted

  • if someone says theyre an expert and get into court then theyre an expert- nothing to check or confirm them

  • jurors have no way of knowing if experts are certified or qualified or not

  • some certifying organizations lack stringent requiremtns

  • ACFEI called ceritifcation mill

  • took 2 hours and $660 with no forensic background to take an open note test and become certified

  • former president of ACFEI quit bc he couldn’t change how it functioned

  • money was more important than advancements and quality in the field and applicatants

  • certificate is semantical embellishment

  • intention is to certify individuals as experts in their field to testify in court

  • DNA evidence used to release Brooks and Brewer from their case and real killer was caught.



so basically to summarize- forensic science is extremely unregulated and unreliable. dont trust experts that testify because they’re wrong and might not have actually earned their certification. the only reliable forensic science is DNA testing