THE CRIME LAB MINUTE
November 19, 2007
Attention Subscribers - Please click here to view entire newsletter with graphics.
Announcement
The ASCLD/LAB Board of Directors has approved a computer forensic proficiency test. The company producing the test is Digital Forensics Quality Solutions. They are associated with the National Center for Forensic Science at the University of Central Florida. Contact information is: www.dfqs.org OR contact Carrie Whitcomb at whitcomb@mail.ucf.edu
Final Notice: West Virginia University is offering a one week training program to be held in San Diego, CA. Tuition, lodging, airfare and some meals are covered by a grant from the National Institute of Justice. The deadline to enroll is November 30, 2007.
If y ou have any questions, the link to the website is http://www.be.wvu.edu/execed/fma.htm
Please take time to visit our Vendor Gallery. These are the companies that support our association and the ASCLD website. Click here to visit them. Forensic Science in the News
Michigan
Regional crime lab may remain open
State appropriations committee asks labs to keep running while funds are found.
West Virginia
Gift Strengthens WVU Forensics
West Virginia University and its forensic and investigative science program have received gifts and in-kind donations totaling more than $5.5 million from California businessman and philanthropist Ming Hsieh.
Virginia
Pentagon Panel Calls For Crime Lab Overhaul
A panel of military and civilian scientists says the U.S. Defense Department could save money and lives by overhauling how it collects and uses DNA evidence in Iraq and Afghanistan
Overhaul of military labs urged
The Defense Department needs to spend $195 million over the next two years to overhaul and centralize its CSI-style forensic science program,
Texas
Crime lab report: Contaminated evidence, samples swapped
“I see this slide back toward silence,” is what an analyst, who is on the job in the lab now, had to say.
Minnesota
Target Crime Lab Helps Police Crack Cases
Target's crime lab and forensic experts often provide the missing link to connect killers to their crimes.
Canada
Probe of pathology system begins
The probe was ordered by the province seven months ago after an investigation of 45 child deaths in which questionable findings of foul play were made in 20 cases dating back to 1991.
Smith apologizes for critical autopsy errors
Low salaries paid to provincial forensic pathologists have been a chronic impediment to obtaining a steady supply of qualified practitioners.
Maryland
Many are to blame for Maryland Judge’s Ruling
Crime Lab Report respectfully disagrees with Judge Souder's decision, but acknowledges the awkward position in which she was placed by the state's fingerprint expert.
Great Britain
The DNA evidence that trapped the killer
A small piece of sticky tape proved to be the silent clue which waited for science to catch up and allow it to speak.
Georgia
Wrongly Convicted Man Now Free Thanks To DNA Evidence
47-year-old Ronnie Taylor spent 14 years in a Texas prison for a rape he said he never committed.
General Interest
Nov. 9, 1888: Jack the Ripper Strikes for the Last Time ... Or Does He?
Nearly 120 years later, research continues. In fact, there's more of it being done now than at any time since the case was officially closed in 1892.
Washington
Prosecutors decline to charge crime lab manager over DUI testing
The King County prosecutor's office has declined to file perjury charges against Ann Marie Gordon, a state toxicology lab manager who falsely certified quality-assurance samples used in drunken driving breath tests. |
