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Article • October 15, 2025 • from CLN November, 2025
The Malleable Mind in the Courtroom: Why Confident Eyewitnesses Often Provide the Least Reliable Evidence by David Reutter by David M. Reutter “Remembrance of things past is not necessarily the remembrance of things as they were.” – Marcel Proust When jurors weigh evidence in a criminal trial, few types of …
Ninth Circuit Announces ‘Clear Error’ Review Applies to District Courts’ Factual Findings for Brady Challenges and Affirms District Court’s Mid-Trial Order Excluding Witness Testimony and Imposing Monetary Sanctions for Government’s Brady Violation by Sam Rutherford by Sam Rutherford The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the U.S. …
Montana Supreme Court: Expert Witness Testimony Presented Via Two-Way Video Conferencing Technology Violates Confrontation Clause by Sam Rutherford by Sam Rutherford The Supreme Court of Montana held that the presentation of expert witness testimony adverse to the defendant via two-way video conferencing technology during trial violated the defendant’s right to …
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Affirms Trial Court’s Exclusion of Expert Testimony on iPhone’s Frequent Location History Data as Not Sufficiently Reliable Under Daubert-Lanigan Standard by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney   In a case of first impression, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirmed a trial court’s exclusion of expert testimony …
Article • May 15, 2024 • from CLN May, 2024
New Jersey Supreme Court Announces Extension of Eyewitness Identification Safeguards of Henderson to Pretrial Preparation Sessions and Provides Framework for Showing Photos During Pretrial Phase by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Court of New Jersey unanimously extended the investigative eyewitness identification safeguards of State v. Henderson, 27 A.3d …
Article • March 15, 2024 • from CLN March, 2024
Interactive Lineups Are a Promising New Tool to Improve Accuracy of Suspect Identification by Eyewitnesses by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott Wrongful convictions are a troubling aspect of the criminal justice system in the United States. Most experts estimate the rate of falsely convicted prisoners to be between …
Article • March 15, 2024 • from CLN March, 2024
New York Court of Appeals Reverses Conviction Because Testifying Criminalist Not Shown to Have Requisite Involvement in DNA Testing Process and Provides Guidance to Avoid Future Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause Violations by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso The Court of Appeals of New York reversed a case where the …
Article • March 15, 2024 • from CLN March, 2024
Foundations of Firearms Audio Forensics Built by Dr. Robert Maher Will Continue to Be Important Forensic Tool as More Recording Devices Are Present at Crime Scenes by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott Dr. Robert Maher, electric and computer engineer who has researched and studied gunshot acoustics at the …
New Jersey Supreme Court Excludes CSLI Testimony Based on Agent’s ‘Rule Of Thumb’ Method for Determining Defendant’s Location by Anthony Accurso by Anthony W. Accurso The Supreme Court of New Jersey held a lower court erred when it allowed an FBI agent to testify about cell site location information (“CSLI”) …
Article • February 15, 2024 • from CLN February, 2024
Study Raises Alarms About Inaccuracies and Bias in Gun Forensics Reporting by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott An October 2023 study from Iowa State University reveals a troubling trend among firearms experts reporting on cartridge-case comparisons. The authors of the study, Gary Wells and Andrew Smith, state that …
Article • February 15, 2024 • from CLN February, 2024
Tales From the ‘Tails’ of Bloodstains by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney Protrusions that deviate from the boundaries of otherwise elliptical bloodstains—known as “tails”—may provide additional relevant crime-scene evidence, according to James Bird, scientist and co-author of a study appearing in the journal Physics of Fluids. A group of scientists …
Article • February 15, 2024 • from CLN February, 2024
Researchers Find Fiber Evidence Lasts Longer Underwater Than Previously Thought by Jo Ellen Nott by Jo Ellen Nott People have long looked to bodies of water as safe places to dispose of and forever hide evidence of their crimes. They believed that by tossing murder weapons or victims into the …
One Solution to Jurors Giving Too Much Weight to Improper Forensic Testimony: 4-Minute Training Video Based on DOJ Guidelines by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke Improper forensic evidence played a part in 1 out of 5 wrongful convictions listed in the National Registry of Exonerations as of September 2023. Studies …
Article • November 1, 2023 • from CLN November, 2023
U.K. Study of Consistency Among Pairs of Child Witnesses Shows Surprising Results by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke A recent report on a study of the consistency among pairs of child witnesses published in the U.K. journal Legal and Criminological Psychology showed the surprising result that neither the age of …
Article • January 15, 2023 • from CLN February, 2023
Police Find It Easier to Influence Public Opinion Than to Protect and Serve by Benjamin Tschirhart by Benjamin Tschirhart Ask the average person how the police department of a major city could best use $300,000, and they might suggest investing in de-escalation training, mental health crisis response, or teaching officers …
Article • September 15, 2022 • from CLN October, 2022
Forensic Psychiatrist Questions the Value of Memory by Jayson Hawkins by Jayson Hawkins Eyewitness testimony is often central to criminal trials, and even though the quality of that testimony has repeatedly come under fire in the age of DNA-based exonerations, the value of eyewitness accounts has not diminished. This value …
Article • August 15, 2022 • from CLN September, 2022
$670,000 Awarded to Use Virtual Reality to Evaluate Eyewitness Accuracy by Jacob Barrett by Jacob Barrett The National Science Foundation (“NSF”) awarded University of Arkansas Professor James Lampinen, and a  team of researchers, just under$670,000 to study the relationship between eyewitness confidence and accuracy across a range of variables using …
Article • May 15, 2022 • from CLN June, 2022
Idaho Supreme Court Announces Prospectively Testimony by Drug Recognition Expert Requires State to Comply With Expert Witness Disclosure Requirements of Rule 16(b)(7) by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The Supreme Court of Idaho announced, “that henceforth, testimony from drug recognition expert requires the state to comply with the expert witness …
Article • May 1, 2022 • from CLN May, 2022
Fifth Circuit Affirms Habeas Relief and New Trial Based on Counsel’s Failure to Interview State’s Key Eyewitness in Murder Case by Dale Chappell by Dale Chappell Finding that defense counsel’s failure to interview the State’s key eyewitness in a Louisiana murder case constituted ineffective assistance of counsel under Strickland v. …
Second Circuit Declares Police Firearms Examiners Subject to Brady, Examiner Who Failed to Disclose Exculpatory Ballistics Report Not Entitled to Qualified Immunity by Douglas Ankney by Douglas Ankney The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the decision of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut …
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