Governor Abbott appoints five to Texas Forensic Science Commission, including Brazos County District Attorney kbtx.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kbtx.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
“Concentrate on what cannot lie: the evidence.”
With that simple statement in the pilot episode of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” lead character Gil Grissom voices perhaps the greatest myth about forensic science: its certainty.
Since 1989, bad forensic science has contributed to as many as a quarter of the 2,700-plus exonerations nationwide. Tens of thousands of cases have been found to be tainted by faulty forensic analysis or testimony.
The Houston Police Department had one such lab – consumed by years of mismanagement, neglect, and corruption – out of which grew the Houston Forensic Science Center. It has now become a model of reform. Its leader, Peter Stout – a toxicologist who is an unashamed nerd in a macabre high-tech toy store – sees forensic science as a civilizing force that offers “a just result . something that actually is fair, evenhanded, and reflects, as close as you can understand, the actual truth.”
Crime lab in Texas reinvents how evidence is gathered csmonitor.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from csmonitor.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.