FBI admits it fudged forensic hair matches in nearly all criminal trials for decades

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department and FBI have formally acknowledged that nearly every examiner in an elite FBI forensic unit gave flawed testimony in almost all trials in which they offered evidence against criminal defendants over more than a two-decade period before 2000.

Of 28 examiners with the FBI Laboratory’s microscopic hair comparison unit, 26 overstated forensic matches in ways that favoured prosecutors in more than 95 per cent of the 268 trials reviewed so far, according to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and the Innocence Project, which are assisting the government with the country’s largest post-conviction review of questioned forensic evidence.

FBI admits it fudged forensic hair matches in nearly all criminal trials for decades

Hair analysis was the main one of the questionable areas of expert testimony coming from the FBI, that has been impugned. The analysis of bite mark patterns was also mentioned.

The flawed or fabricated results being questioned are from the period of two decades prior to 2000. I think this story was reported in Toronto because of a recent uproar having to do with flawed hair tests being used at a hospital here to determine if mothers should have children removed from their custody due to proven drug use, proven by flawed hair analysis, that is.

Most conspiracy minded people on ATS have little faith in the American justice system, but this news seems to indicate systematic skewing of evidence in hundreds of trials, some of them involving capital punishment.

Why?

The F.B.I. is never,ever to be trusted.....never.Any alphabet agency lies,cheats and steals.Glory and funds for themselves and the truth or justice be damned.

a reply to: ipsedixit

Does this mean that a bunch of people sitting in jail for drug charges will be released? Because I'm all for that.

Well,no, Obama recently said that he would not federally legalize cannabis. Also, the white house no longer does freedom of information act requests, too.

It's genocide. A planned genocide, in slow motion. Look who is in prison and for what...

for cannabis???

while child molesters get a slap on the wrist and go out to do it again..

the WRONG people are in those prisons right now, and the entire American public needs to wake up and realize it. It is time for the People to set the prisoners free.

a reply to: ipsedixit

I'm all for exposing this to the max. There is a another thread open with a bunch of amusing replies.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

FBI agents deemed faultless in 150 shootings since 1993

Yea, they handle the evidence very well.

The FBI has been public enemy #1 in the US for a long time, from the rotten deeds of the Hoover years through the bungling of Waco & Ruby Ridge, to the anthrax cases, and now IMSI-catcher/Stingray devices and setting up mentally challenged patsies. So much is made about the NSA and all of its data collection, and rightfully so, but as far as threats go the FBI outstrips them by a mile.

After JFK and 9/11, it is very anti-climactic to find the FBI tripping over hair analysis. It is almost like getting Al Capone on tax evasion.

I wonder if this is related to the Prison Industrial Complex and the necessity of keeping those jails full for monetary reasons. Corporatism (fascism) run amok. Surely not. It was probably just an honest, two decade, eff-up, right?

originally posted by: ipsedixit
It was probably just an honest, two decade, eff-up, right?

Only two decades of incompetence?

a reply to: ipsedixit

Your statement reads funny. After a reveal like this, what makes you still think that the government is capable of covering up either of those two conspiracies for the long term like you allege? To me, this is just more evidence that conspiracy theorists give FAR too much credit to the government's ability to carry out plans.

originally posted by: Krazysh0t
a reply to: ipsedixit

Does this mean that a bunch of people sitting in jail for drug charges will be released? Because I'm all for that.

# yeah!!!

Lets free all the dealers and rapists and murderers too!!

Have you ever thought about the fact that maybe some of the people who are in jail because of the FBI's exageration actually DESERVE to be in jail, and because of some smart ass lawyer or some bleeding heart black judge they've spent the last 15 years of their sorry ass life escaping the cell time they so richly deserve for their crimes against their own society.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

I think there is culture wide incompetence and corruption here. Yes the government is dumb, but the average American, present company excepted, of course, is also dumb. Kids can fool kids with scams that are transparent to an adult.

George H. W. Bush said it best, "Americans don't read."

Print all the exposés you want. Nobody is going to read them, or understand them.

a reply to: andy1972

You are absolutely correct, and the newspaper article says that in some cases, other evidence would have been sufficient to convict.

a reply to: andy1972

Well I guess we'll never know now because the FBI couldn't be honest about the way they prosecute crimes.

PS: BTW, dealers should be freed too. Dealing is just as dumb of a crime as using.

a reply to: ipsedixit

Come on man. The government couldn't even keep the lid on the NSA spying thing.

originally posted by: Krazysh0t
a reply to: andy1972

Well I guess we'll never know now because the FBI couldn't be honest about the way they prosecute crimes.

PS: BTW, dealers should be freed too. Dealing is just as dumb of a crime as using.

Both dealers and users should be inside. Its supply and demand, if theres no users the dealers dont have a market..Just like hookers and Jons.
Drugs are the bane of modern Society and should be erradicated by any and all means necessary, and that goes for rich man, poor man, beggar man and thief.

So that the tree May grow strong, you have to chop off the dead wood.

And people wonder why I have zero faith in any part of our so called "Justice system". They are not only crucifying possibly innocent people and destroying lives, but they are also perverting science to do it. I believe charges should be brought down on every one of these "experts". Manipulating evidence and data is freaking obstruction and perjury. Heads need to roll.

originally posted by: andy1972

originally posted by: Krazysh0t
a reply to: andy1972

Well I guess we'll never know now because the FBI couldn't be honest about the way they prosecute crimes.

PS: BTW, dealers should be freed too. Dealing is just as dumb of a crime as using.

Both dealers and users should be inside. Its supply and demand, if theres no users the dealers dont have a market..Just like hookers and Jons.
Drugs are the bane of modern Society and should be erradicated by any and all means necessary, and that goes for rich man, poor man, beggar man and thief.

So that the tree May grow strong, you have to chop off the dead wood.

troll much?

People like you need to be inside if that is your honest opinion.

Alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine are all drugs too. Lets destroy the lives of all those users too. Who cares that their children and family suffer

ETA: Everyone involved in this needs to be put in front of a judge. They should be put in for life for this type of behavior. They have murdered people in their own right.

This is why the quote "better 10 guilty men go free, than one innocent be wrongfully convicted" comes from.

a reply to: andy1972

I'm so glad that you know what's best for everyone. Including non violent "criminals."

Never mind the fact that outlawing drugs keeps a healthy black market, and creates even more criminals.

OK, so the FBI lies and can't be trusted, but we can trust the Dept. of Ed? the EPA? the IRS? the State Dept?

When are we going to admit that the Federal Bureaucracy and the alphabets are corrupt, top to bottom, and stop arguing that we should put any of them in any more power over our day to day lives?

originally posted by: andy1972

originally posted by: Krazysh0t
a reply to: andy1972

Well I guess we'll never know now because the FBI couldn't be honest about the way they prosecute crimes.

PS: BTW, dealers should be freed too. Dealing is just as dumb of a crime as using.

Both dealers and users should be inside. Its supply and demand, if theres no users the dealers dont have a market..Just like hookers and Jons.
Drugs are the bane of modern Society and should be erradicated by any and all means necessary, and that goes for rich man, poor man, beggar man and thief.

So that the tree May grow strong, you have to chop off the dead wood.

The only one who needs chopped off is the one holding the ax.