famous cases where evidence was mishandled

The theft proved pointless, however, when police discovered that all of the information on the servers involved old cases that had already been tried in court. Erdmann pleaded no contest to seven felonies regarding false evidence and botched autopsies. The Ford Heights Fourall black menwere tried by an all-white jury. Dubbed "The Phantom of Heilbronn," the anonymous woman's genetic material was detected at the scene of more than forty crimes over a two-decade period. When the prosecution presented hairs found in the back of Williamss car, Podlecki claimed they were consistent with the victims. Although the jurists hold the law to be always fixed and certain, yet the discovery of the fact, they say, may From the Introduction. The ensuing investigation resulted in guilty pleas from five troopers and a criminal conviction of the sixth. To better understand the tragic rippling effect of the lost evidence in this case, keep reading. Knox, 23, from the US, and Sollecito, 27, an Italian, are serving sentences of 26 and 25 years respectively for the murder. Police used forensic evidence found at the scene to track the thieves, which led to their houses. In 16 cases, pieces of evidence were returned to the wrong rape kit, hindering 19 investigations. With examples of misconduct extending into the 1980s, the Houston crime lab precipitated a lengthy reign of errors that has led to two mandatory shutdowns. On June 13, 1994, the bodies of Ron Goldman and the ex-wife of OJ Simpson, Nicole Brown, were found outside of Browns home. Furthermore, Johnny Webb, a jailhouse informant, testified against Willingham claiming he had confessed to the arson leading to the murders. With police performance measured in numbers of arrests, officers who failed to book enough criminals risked such penalties as being removed from undercover assignments. Additionally, some jurors have since admitted that the verdict was retribution for the acquittal of white police officers in the beating of Rodney King in 1992. The real killer was later identified. Theres no shortage of crime-fighting TV shows where protagonists brandish the latest forensic science techniques. She was right. Overstating the utility of common forensic methods has serious consequences. Erdmann also testified about the forensic examination of a 14-year-olds brain, but when the body was exhumed, police discovered that the skull had never been cut open. The whole situation was a bloody mess and a complete forensic fail. In 1999, the Ford Heights Four won a $36 million in damages from Cook Countythe largest settlement for a civil rights case in U.S. history. While the abundance of evidence certainly provided more than enough to do so, the doubts cast by the sloppy police work were enough of a window. Not only is there a huge volume of data collected for current investigations, but there is also a huge volume of digital forensics that must be stored indefinitely, in case of later appeals. A Question of Planted Evidence Detective Fuhrman was discredited by the prosecution when he was alleged to be a racist and accused of planting evidence. This case involves defendant James Franqueira, a 32-year-old Vermont resident. This blatant falsification of a crime report, the IPCC found, was part of a concerted effort by senior officials in the Sapphire unit to improve the rate of solved rape cases in part by recording a higher number of non-offenses. During the trial, all of the missteps of the forensic team came to light, including the possibility of evidence tampering (and obvious evidence mishandling), as well as the glaring absence of evidence security. He testified about the condition of a dead mans spleen, not knowing that the spleen had been surgically removed years earlier. As the search continues for missing Hampton 4-year-old Codi Bigsby after he was reported missing two weeks ago, Hampton Police Chief Mark Talbot revealed on Monday that his department mishandled the case by not honoring Codi's father's request for legal representation. 2 Henry and Leon McCollum. Lowrys unchecked indiscretions fly in the face of claims that the FBI has a rigorous drug testing policy and raise numerous questions about why the length of time he held onto evidence wasnt questioned, ultimately implicating the FBI as an irresponsible actor. In addition to the untold numbers of people who have been convicted on faulty evidence, a fair number of known violent drug offenders have also been released, leading to an increase in the crime rate and time spent rearresting offenders released because of fabricated evidence. Then, 2014 brought yet another wave of criticism when another forensic analyst resigned after revelations that he eschewed lab protocols and falsified official records, casting an all-too-familiar doubt on roughly 180 criminal cases. But when the unit faced blistering criticism over a barrage of bungles that allowed a prolific rapist to prey on more than 70 women and another to victimize up to 102 people, a number of Sapphire investigators categorized cases incorrectly, attempting to artificially reduce the number of unsolved sexual assaults. A series of arson attacks against forensic laboratories in Brussels has alerted the world to a huge security fail going on in Belgium. Key pieces of evidence left by the killer were passed around by reporters. Vendors camped at the site, selling balloons and soft drinks to the hundreds of visitors trampling around the crime scene. The prosecution had expert witnesses who testified that the evidence was often mishandled. Fred Zain died of cancer after the first attempt at holding him accountable for his misdeeds ended in mistrial, and before retrial could begin. A sixth officer, situated in Troop F, had long known the other five perpetrators and undoubtedly shared in their criminal nonchalance, even planting evidence in one instance where a conviction would have been secured without it. But, in truth, the lab had been plagued by corruption long before those thefts ever occurred. At least 18 of those prisoners have been proven innocent through updated DNA testing. Sadly, Willingham was found guilty and executed February 17, 2004. He was sentenced to death and currently sits in prison on death row. Prosecutorial misconduct complaints against several lawyers and police officers who worked regularly with Erdmann claimed that the lawmen bribed, threatened, or encouraged the doctor to provide whatever evidence was needed to secure a conviction. In a separate, more jarring, example of wanton duplicity, detective constable Ryan Coleman-Farrow, another member of the allegedly elite Sapphire unit, simply declined to pursue the claims of at least 12 women who reported sexual assaults between 2007 and 2010. Mishandled Evidence Should Have Prompted a Mistrial. Harry Thaw in 1905. Criminal charges and convictions have been dropped against 67 people because of evidence mishandling at the Orange County Sheriff's Department, prosecutors revealed Wednesday. While the future of forensics methods is beyond the scope of this article, its important to remember examples where the collection or processing of evidence have failed. 4 Wrongful Conviction Cases in California. Additionally, a Dutch forensic expert found Boneys DNA under Kim Camms fingernails and her DNA on his sweatshirt, two pieces of evidence which sealed his conviction. This inability to understand key evidence made the evidence essentially useless; even some seasoned lawyers found the scientific testimonies to be incomprehensible. Oscar Pistorius' defence team accused a South African police photographer of mishandling the crime scene during day 12 of his trial in Pretoria. Boneys history included attacking women. On Tuesday, Matheson unveiled scientific evidence suggesting that Simpson's blood type matches a drop found on a "trail of blood" near the body of his ex-wife, and that her blood type was on a. Filomena Romanelli, the third roommate, returned home following a phone conversation with Knox. Coworkers at the medical examiners office had to work around the clock double-checking the fired technicians findings. Coworkers at the medical examiner's office had to work around the clock double-checking the fired technician's findings. Jurors, infuriated by evidence of racism within the LAPD, questioned whether the missing blood was a result of planted evidence on the part of the detectives. Hearn said Pinholster, 58, is the only known example of evidence destruction in a case of a living death row inmate convicted in L.A. County. There's a case out of British Columbia called Regina v Hamdan that goes into some detail on the lack of proper digital evidence collection. When detectives arrived at OJ Simpsons home to inform him of the death of his ex-wife, they noticed blood on Simpsons white Ford Bronco. Sheriff had investigator probe into evidence mishandling even though he had mishandled evidence O.C. Erroneous convictions can have immeasurable consequences for exonerees, original crime victims, and families. A bloody fingerprint at Nicoles house was noted by a policeman but overlooked by the forensics team. EDTA is a blood fixer (anticoagulant) used in labs and mixed with collected blood. One of the greatest tragedies in the criminal justice system is the conviction of a person for a crime he or she did not commit. Method used to test air for decomposition made its courtroom debut in this trial. In total, those prisoners lost 17,690 years behind bars. Microscopic analysis can narrow down a suspects race, hair color, dye treatments, thickness, and many other characteristics, but it cannot determine if the hair is an exact match to a suspect. At the time, tests were not readily available to differentiate between natural and contaminant EDTA or the differences in the level of EDTA in blood. Forensic evidence is crucial to crime scene investigators. The recanted testimony was never reported to Willinghams attorneys and the prosecution ultimately cited the statute of limitations. 6. But they may explain why Zain spent the duration of his forensics career habitually faking lab results and lying to courtrooms in order to secure criminal convictions. Beyond poor evidence collection techniques, sloppy maneuvering at the scene caused more bloody shoe prints to be left behind by LAPD than by the perpetrator. While some of those men were exonerated, the exact number of cases influenced by Zain is unknowable. Subsequent exploration of Kofoeds other cases revealed a pattern of dubious handiwork. No one had bothered to measure it, either, leading to suspicions that some of the blood might have been missing. DNA wasn't always widely accepted as valid evidence in court cases the way it is today. He estimated internal organ weight measurements for subjects that had never been cut open. Authorities suspected something might be amiss when Massachusetts forensics chemist Annie Dookhan somehow managed to process a large volume of samples in a relatively short time. Rather, she had been faking test results at a rate of thousands per year. During the third trial, the defense presented evidence that the initial blood splatter expert had falsified his credentials and had no history of working with blood splatters. Without a search warrant, Detective Mark Fuhrman jumped over the external wall and opened the gate for the other three detectives present, claiming they believed Simpson might have been injured and went to investigate. For nine years, Annie Dookhan worked as a crime lab chemist in Massachusetts, performing drug tests for criminal cases. In 2009, the convictions were reversed by the Indiana Supreme Court. But the evidence of his wrongdoing, along with the actions of other Brooklyn officers, was enough to throw out 400 different drug cases and secure the release of over two dozen people wrongfully arrested on drug charges. Two years later, having been convicted only of kidnapping, Bundy was preparing to stand . When she testified on the witness stand to voice her certainty of a defendants guilt in a drug case, no one suspected that she was sometimes adding cocaine to evidence samples to produce incriminating results. The exploits of the 39th district eventually made media headlines in the mid-1990s. And, for a time, its Sapphire sex crimes unit was expected to be no exception. In at least 26 cases, the technician missed biological evidence that could have been useful for a rape trial. The Sapphire unit was merged with the Metropolitan police forces child abuse division, and bolstered with 100 additional officers in what was essentially a vote of no confidence for what was supposed to be a world-class collection of crime solvers. [5] Bloody shoe prints matching O.J.s size and pattern were found at the scene of the crime, yet no one could locate his shoes to prove that they were an exact match. 6 captivating court cases that had Americans glued to their screens 1. But, despite even the presence of eyewitnesses who could attest to grotesque law enforcement misconduct, charges leveled against Baird and other officers were consistently dismissed as baseless until Philadelphia investigators and federal agents finally began pursuing the matter in 1991. Autopsy reports indicated that most of Kerchers injuriesbruising and cuts near the genital regionwere sustained as a result of being restrained during the sexual violence. While he has not been charged yet, he has been suspended while the authorities investigate these allegations. 8. was acquitted of all charges based on reasonable doubt. Three days later, Camm was arrested for the deaths of his family. Simpsons Bronco truck, his driveway, the foyer of his home, and his bedroom. The discovery is the latest twist in one of New York's most famous cold cases, and it also revealed a major flaw in the way that evidence can be mishandled by one of the most prestigious police departments in the world. Unfortunately, Dookhan wasnt some laboratory wunderkind with a passion for drug offenses. "Not only should we not always trust the machine, we can't always trust the person that interprets the machine." Dror and Nina Sunde at the University of Oslo, Norway, gave 53 digital forensics. Still convinced of Knox and Sollecitos guilt, the prosecution spun a narrative claiming the couple had partnered with Guede in Kerchers murder. A lawmans brother was later caught trying to sell some of the documents to reporters. Fuhrman was accused of planting critical evidence, contaminating it with Simpsons blood, and falsifying police records. Dookhan was indicted on 27 charges, including obstruction of justice for tampering with evidence, perjury, and even falsifying her university degree. When evidence is misplaced, improperly processed, or inadequately stored, everyone loses. Eric Garner. Securing the Evidence They lose lives. Robinson was on-site at a Tucson facility in April 2018 when the FBI took the servers into custody pursuant to a federal warrant. California. With the rate of laboratory malfeasance far outpacing the capacity of authorities to address it, we may never fully ascertain just how many lives were ruined or potentially lost thanks to the Houston Police Departments forensic infractions. This article explores five fascinating cases of fraud in forensics to underscore the importance of using scientifically valid and reliable methods in this growing career field. Six out of ten of the nations forensic laboratories have been badly burned by arsonists, with thousands of pieces of evidence ending up lost or damaged. The bulk of Lowrys offenses entailed checking out drugs stored at the FBI lab as trial evidence, and returning them with altered weights after days, and sometimes months, of delay. Police even used a blanket that came from inside the house to cover Nicole Browns body, contaminating the body and anything surrounding it. In 2003, Kofoed linked Ivan Henk to the murder of four-year-old Brendan Gonzales with what was likely a manufactured blood sample that prompted Henks arrest and eventual guilty plea. Here are a few famous cases where digital forensics played a crucial role. She could pass through borders with no apparent problems and was linked crimes in at least three countries. Microscopic comparisons were very convincing to juries, especially when linked with testimony from forensic experts claiming that the hair matched a suspect. Among the mounds of evidence, there was a glass wine decanter, a clock radio and hair samples, all kept in evidence bags after being collected from the March 5, 1985 murder scene. His parents were both charged and convicted of murdering Gabriel due to signs of abuse. Once Meredith Kerchers room was thoroughly searched, police uncovered fingerprints and DNA belonging to Rudy Guede, who had gone on a date with the victim the night of her murder. Even before the shoddy evidence testing began, samples were often contaminated via a leaky roof. In addition, the US Department of Justice revealed that more than 400,000 stored rape kits have not yet been tested across the country because of insufficient funding. Both the LAPD lab and O.J.s Bronco were found to have been accessed by unauthorized personnel, giving the jury ample excuse to distrust the blood evidence that had been collected there. Whether its DNA testing, tool mark identification, bite mark measuring, or blood spatter analysis, its assumed that these methods are reliable, consistent, and valid measures of criminal activity. Preliminary testing revealed that the doctor had faked at least 100 of his autopsies, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. 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