This month Gil Sapir reviews Junk Science and the American Criminal Justice System by M. Chris Fabricant.

Expert evidence is frequently exploited by prosecutors keen on securing a conviction regardless of the reliability of the expert or the expert’s methodology. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in forensic science. To combat this pervasive problem, defense lawyers need to have a thorough understanding of Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and companion rules. Rene L. Valladares and Hannah Nelson discuss the rules, summarize cases favorable to the defense, and provide useful checklists.

for Criminal Defendants

Wholesale destruction of communications evidence on agents’ cellphones and elsewhere is something that criminal defendants and their lawyers face with shocking regularity.

“Surreptitious DNA sample” refers to the collection and analysis of DNA from a person without the person’s knowledge and without coercion. For example, the police may swab a suspect’s DNA from a discarded cigarette. Oded Oren outlines an argument for suppressing the DNA information extracted from the analysis of surreptitiously obtained DNA rather than suppression of the DNA itself or the physical object from which it was obtained.

What are the problems with fingerprint analysis? Justin Fahringer describes a recent Daubert hearing that included testimony by latent fingerprint examiners from two law enforcement agencies. The testimony revealed that many law enforcement agencies that employ latent print examiners have struggled to evolve and have continued to utilize stale and unreliable methods.

Attorneys and courts should not simply trust that computer programs are reliable. Why should litigants have faith in evidence that purports to be accurate when the inner workings of the computer program that produced the evidence are shrouded in mystery? Source code review is necessary for a complete assessment of a program’s reliability. Tamar Lerer discusses pretrial strategies to help obtain source code when a program has not been demonstrated to be reliable.

Implicit racial bias in forensic testimony cannot be ignored as a primary driver of injustice. Janis Puracal discusses how implicit racial bias can impact forensic testimony, and she shares her family’s story.

Most types of forensics lack the statistical backing that nuclear DNA tests have. Nonetheless, the general public believes that fingerprinting, for example, is as reliable or even more reliable than DNA testing. What should be the response in the courtroom?

Richard Miletic discusses the types of data that can be extracted from a cellphone (including call history and accessed Wi-Fi networks) and from cloud accounts (including texts, emails, and location history). In addition, he lists the data stored by phone companies (location of serving cell tower and estimation of target phone location).

Law enforcement has started to use genetic genealogy websites to try to identify suspects in cold cases. How does genetic genealogy work? What should defense attorneys look for if forensic genetic genealogy is used in their cases?

“Surreptitious DNA sample” refers to the collection and analysis of DNA from a person without the person’s knowledge and without coercion. For example, the police may swab a suspect’s DNA from a discarded cigarette. Oded Oren outlines an argument for suppressing the DNA information extracted from the analysis of surreptitiously obtained DNA rather than suppression of the DNA itself or the physical object from which it was obtained.

What are some common mistakes made by crime scene investigators during the recovery of human skeletal remains?

Smartphones can create a detailed record of what their users have been doing. Wisconsin litigator Peyton Engel focuses on the traits smartphones have in common with general-purpose computers and the implications from a digital evidentiary perspective. He discusses retrieving evidence from smartphones, extracting information from cloud storage, finding evidence of a secret or hidden phone, wearable tech, issuing subpoenas for social media records, and using apps to collect evidence.

This month Matthew T. Mangino reviews The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist: A True Story of Injustice in the American South by Radley Balko and Tucker Carrington.

Defense attorneys should not become overwhelmed by DNA evidence and believe they have no way to challenge the allegations. Counsel can demonstrate to jurors that other plausible explanations exist.