When medical examiners don't do their job right...

[SineSwiper]

...many innocent people go to prison or death row.

A long article, but a good read about "miscarriages of justice" because of horribly corrupt crime labs.

[Flip]

Who would have thought... interesting stuff.

[RentCavalier]

Doesn't surprise me. I took a forensics course--the things they say they find from forensics labs is almost laughable at times. Its such a pain-in-the-ass "science" that even at the best of times, it is educated guesswork.

Even fingerprinting, you know, is potentially flawed. Sometimes, fingerprints are so hard to see that even if you try to count the minutiae, you really just have to grab at threads to find any solid identifying marks.

[Zeus]

No one, not even scientists or "experts", should be excluded from review and skepticism

Sad part is, with the popularity of drudge such as CSI, they're more and more likely to have an influence on jurors

[SineSwiper]

You know, all it takes sometimes is a defense lawyer that isn't shit for brains to ask the obvious questions like "What in your investigations indicated that the gun was being held with both hands?" Obviously, there isn't a sane answer for that one.

[Zeus]

You know, all it takes sometimes is a defense lawyer that isn't shit for brains to ask the obvious questions like "What in your investigations indicated that the gun was being held with both hands?" Obviously, there isn't a sane answer for that one.

And no lawyer wants to look like he's questioning the validity of scientific findings. It's really silly

[SineSwiper]

And no lawyer wants to look like he's questioning the validity of scientific findings. It's really silly

It's not "silly". It's fatal. People go to death row for this bullshit!

[Zeus]

And no lawyer wants to look like he's questioning the validity of scientific findings. It's really silly

It's not "silly". It's fatal. People go to death row for this bullshit!

And lawyers lose face - and clients or even jobs - for looking silly by trying to question a scientific 'expert'

Besides, do you honestly think most lawyers even understand what that person is saying to the point to where they can challenge it? Please....