FBI's Forensic Test Full of Holes

Hundreds Of Convictions Are In Question Now That FBI Forensic Evidence Has Been Discredited

(Washingtonpost.com)  This article was written by John Solomon .

---

Hundreds of defendants sitting in prisons nationwide have been convicted with the help of an FBI forensic tool that was discarded more than two years ago. But the FBI lab has yet to take steps to alert the affected defendants or courts, even as the window for appealing convictions is closing, a joint investigation by The Washington Post and "60 Minutes" has found.

The science, known as comparative bullet-lead analysis, was first used after President John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963. The technique used chemistry to link crime-scene bullets to ones possessed by suspects on the theory that each batch of lead had a unique elemental makeup.

In 2004, however, the nation's most prestigious scientific body concluded that variations in the manufacturing process rendered the FBI's testimony about the science "unreliable and potentially misleading." Specifically, the National Academy of Sciences said that decades of FBI statements to jurors linking a particular bullet to those found in a suspect's gun or cartridge box were so overstated that such testimony should be considered "misleading under federal rules of evidence."

A year later, the bureau abandoned the analysis.

But the FBI lab has never gone back to determine how many times its scientists misled jurors. Internal memos show that the bureau's managers were aware by 2004 that testimony had been overstated in a large number of trials. In a smaller number of cases, the experts had made false matches based on a faulty statistical analysis of the elements contained in different lead samples, documents show.

"We cannot afford to be misleading to a jury," the lab director wrote to FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III in late summer 2005 in a memo outlining why the bureau was abandoning the science. "We plan to discourage prosecutors from using our previous results in future prosecutions."

Despite those private concerns, the bureau told defense lawyers in a general letter dated Sept. 1, 2005, that although it was ending the technique, it "still firmly supports the scientific foundation of bullet lead analysis." And in at least two cases, the bureau has tried to help state prosecutors defend past convictions by using court filings that experts say are still misleading. The government has fought releasing the list of the estimated 2,500 cases over three decades in which it performed the analysis.

For the majority of affected prisoners, the typical two-to-four-year window to appeal their convictions based on new scientific evidence is closing.

Dwight E. Adams, the now-retired FBI lab director who ended the technique, said the government has an obligation to release all the case files, to independently review the expert testimony and to alert courts to any errors that could have affected a conviction.

"It troubles me that anyone would be in prison for any reason that wasn't justified. And that's why these reviews should be done in order to determine whether or not our testimony led to the conviction of a wrongly accused individual," Adams said in an interview. "I don't believe there's anything that we should be hiding."

The Post and "60 Minutes" identified at least 250 cases nationwide in which bullet-lead analysis was introduced, including more than a dozen in which courts have either reversed convictions or now face questions about whether innocent people were sent to prison. The cases include a North Carolina drug dealer who has developed significant new evidence to bolster his claim of innocence and a Maryland man who was recently granted a new murder trial.

---

This report is part of a joint investiagation between 60 Minutes and The Washington Post:

60 Minutes: Evidence Of Injustice
Washington Post: FBI's Forensic Test Full of Holes
Washington Post: A Murder Conviction Torn Apart By A Bullet

To learn more about the bullet lead cases uncovered in this project, click here.

---

Documents show that the FBI's concerns about the science dated to 1991 and came to light only because a former FBI lab scientist began challenging it.

In response to the information uncovered by The Post and "60 Minutes," the FBI late last week said it would initiate corrective actions including a nationwide review of all bullet-lead testimonies and notification to prosecutors so that the courts and defendants can be alerted. The FBI lab also plans to create a system to monitor the accuracy of its scientific testimony.

The Post-"60 Minutes" investigation "has brought some serious concerns to our attention," said John Miller, assistant director of public affairs. "The FBI is committed to addressing these concerns. It's the right thing to do."

[lexlocus]

It amazes me that prosecutors nearly always try to justify the unjustifiable. The prosecutors job is to see that justice is done and they should work just as hard to see that erroneous testimony, once discovered, is made avalable to the defense. Nothing is worse than to send an innocent man to prison. United States Attorneys are appointed by the President. All assistants, who actually prosecutes the cases, take their orders from the head man or woman. Thus, politics has much to do with the operation of the U. S. Attorney''s offices through out the nation. The Bush administration should also see thta justice is done, but do not hold your breath, considering George W. was the Governor of Texas, the state that kills more humans, in the name of the state, than any other. Witholding evidence is a crime, as well as giving false testimony. Let us see some heads roll over this. But, seeing what happened to Skooter Libby, those folks in the White House could not care one whit about the ordinary person. To get justice, one must work for someone in the White House. The rich and famous get justice, the poor do not. Lady Justice is peaking under her blind fold and she should be ashamed of herself.

[feelfree1]

Re: "FBI''s Forensic Test Full of Holes"

The cases against Mumia Abu Jamal and Leonard Peltier come to mind.

[susanhelit]

This only applies to the cases where this was the critical evidence, where the defendant would not have been convicted without this evidence. Most trials, there''s plenty of evidence, this is only one element.

Not to minimize the importance of checking every case where it was used - but it''s way too early to say that any case (if it were even used) is overturned by this.

[susanhelit]

I''d also like though, to see prosecutions to prosecutors who try to obstruct justice. If there is evidence that could establish true innocence, it should always be their highest priority to test it.

Should be part of the law - evidence of innocence (not of proscedural mistakes, a misdotted "i" on a search warrent), of true innocence, should always be admissible.

[jetranger7]

Theres a few Proscuters in my Opinion, who need to seriously be looked at and Investigated throughly ! To often, they play games, and try to convict the innocent, so they can move up the chain, to another position such as govenor or Senator or whatever at the expense of someone else, and, that is not their job to be doing that,Justice will be served to those that create unjustice !

[farmerbb]

..."notification to prosecutors" ....????? Ahh, gee, maybe the defendants and their lawyers should be the prime targets for any such notifications. We have all seen far too many cases where evidence surfaces AFTER a trial, proving the defendant innocent, yet the prosecutor still insists he/she is guilty. I dunno about the rest of you, but I have zero faith that each and every prosecutor notified of this will ensure that those convicted & their lawyers are also told.

[crater7]

CAN YOU IMAGINE JOHNNY SUTTON, NOTIFING THE DEFENDENTS ATTORNEYS OF THE POSSIBILITY THAT THEIR CLIENTS COULD BE INNOCENT?

ARROGANT AND POWER HUNGRY PROSECUTERS WILL NEVER ADMIT MISTAKES. CHANCES ARE THAT 99% OF THE CONVICTED ARE GUILTY, BUT, THERE COULD BE THAT 1%, THAT ARE INNOCENT.

OH WELL! TO BAD.............

[mutantdog]

"The cases include a North Carolina drug dealer who has developed significant new evidence to bolster his claim of innocence and a Maryland man who was recently granted a new murder trial."

Should the journalist here really be calling someone a "drug dealer" when they very well might be innocent? Shouldn''t this say something like, "...a North Carolina man accused of drug dealing..."?

[myidoncbs]

"2,500 cases over three decades" with tainted evidence. How many of the defendants have been put to death? Fortunately, since they usually sit on death row for 10 to 15 years, only about 1/2 of those sentenced to death have been killed so far. BUT THAT''S NO EXCUSE! The whole "criminal justice" system is UNJUST, rotten to the core, corrupt, and evil.

And the really crazy thing is: look at the comments on that story about a texas ****** who decided he "had to" act as judge, jury, and executioner as he left his house with a shotgun, went next door, and murdered two petty thieves who were taking junk from his neighbor. Lots of a-holes are saying he was justified! How stu/pid can they be? If every paranoid lunatic with a gun can just decide, on their own, who is guilty and who deserves to die (death for petty theft?) and immediately sentence the "guilty" to death and carry out the sentence on the spot, guess what? We''ll have total chaos, anarchy, and life will not be worth shiiiiit for anybody!

What the h3ll has this country become under the "leadership" of the freat "Decider"?

[mygramma]

A law enforcement agency like the FBI that prides itself on world class excellence should also abide by world class honesty and integrity. It hasn''t.

[b0ludo]

Our DAs will do anything to get a conviction and that is the way we like it. So what if a small percentage of convictions were won via giving co-defendants a deal that could save them, even if they lied? That is the only way to keep this human junk off the streets!! Better yet, shoot them when you catch them. It will help the prison overcrowding. Catch a thug raping a child? Give him some double-barreled justice ipso facto... You''ll see how our crime rates start to decline when we start hanging perps in public places.

[creeper00]

Just the latest scandal du jour traceable to the crooks in the "administration".

I can''t whip up any indignation over this one...nor any of the other daily tales of malfeasance. My outrage meter pegged years ago.

[prinzowhales]

Only a people accustomed to crawling on its collective power before power would continue to allow a murderous and criminal regime rule over it...

SEE:http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2035108967536002048&hl=en

LOOSE CHANGE shows how elements of the Washington Regime murdered 3,000 Americans...Infowars.com has an archive of the crimes of this Regime against the American people...Why would anyone be surpirsed that the leadership of the Federal Bureau of Incompetence continues its abysmal work...it was only yesterday that the whistle was blown on the FBI''s crime lab hijinks...the FBI leadership sabotaged the investigations of its fine street agents who wanted to go after the terrorist suspects at the flight school...The White House itself threatened agents with arrest if they continued their bin Laden investigations PRIOR TO 9-11.

If America continues to accept the kind of Demopublican criminal leadership that covers up for criminals--as evidenced by the arse-licking corrupt swine on the 9-11 Commission--then you will have a police state that is fully in the service of the criminals.

[glaswolf]

dukakislives at 12:28 PM: Before guns, people used knives and clubs and things were more violent and more dangerous. Guns make noise and usually after one person is shot, the ambiance is alerted, and someone intervenes. If I recall correctly, Richard Speck stabbed 8 nurses one at a time. He tied them up, then walked them one at a time into another room where he stabbed them with one knife. No guns will mean a radical increase in brutal butchery. Ask Speck ... only one nurse survived the knifings.

[Renegade.Rivers]

It''s a sad side note to the American justice system that our justice system has been so tainted over the years. Justice is hard to come by, and good legal representation is even harder to obtain. We gloat and stick our chest out as we brag about how great and fair our justice system is, but the truth be told, its really not that great or fair. In the system that we have, moneys buys justice, justice is no free for the offering. There are those that would have you believe otherwise, but with the number of faulty lab analysis, and all the other anomalies that have been proven to exist in the legal system they tout so highly, how can they continue to take that stand.

We have taken and made criminal elements out of various groups in society that weren''t considered so a hundred years ago. We have seen the creation of laws, and the justification for their existence on so called "moral grounds" that I am sure could never been envisioned by our forefathers.

History has not been kind to justice in America, because justice has not been well served in America. America has found it convenient to throw out justice, when justice got in the way of the undertakings of rich and powerful, whose sole ambitions were to satisfy their lust for the possessions of others at what ever cost necessary, even at the expense of justice.

[king77shaw]

9/11 was indeed an inside job!

[denn034]

Shame on the FBI.

[beanamerican]

First of all, dukakislives should move to Canada. Go see what you are missing but don''t come back.
And for those of you that think there is even one FBI analyst at the FBI Lab that purposely tries to put innocent people in jail, you should follow dukakislives to Canada. Come on people - a mistake was made and not on purpose. Next time you want to throw a stone at the FBI Lab just think about whether you would want them to help you if your loved one was missing or killed.

[beanamerican]

First of all, dukakislives should move to Canada. Go see what you are missing but don''t come back.
And for those of you that think there is even one FBI analyst at the FBI Lab that purposely tries to put innocent people in jail, you should follow dukakislives to Canada. Come on people - a mistake was made and not on purpose. Next time you want to throw a stone at the FBI Lab just think about whether you would want them to help you if your loved one was missing or killed.

[beanamerican]

First of all, dukakislives should move to Canada. Go see what you are missing but don''t come back.
And for those of you that think there is even one FBI analyst at the FBI Lab that purposely tries to put innocent people in jail, you should follow dukakislives to Canada. Come on people - a mistake was made and not on purpose. Next time you want to throw a stone at the FBI Lab just think about whether you would want them to help you if your loved one was missing or killed.

[cdddraftsman]

"9/11 was as much of an inside job as the attack on Pearl Harbor"

Wow ! That man should have his brain exhumed and donated to the bureau of wildlife ! :-( ......tl

[anonbene]

Did you know prisons are private companies now? Did you know you can buy stock in prisons? Did you know police lawyers and judges buy stock in prisons? Did you know it is profitable to have as many prisonors in prison as possible and building more prisons is a for profit venture? Did you know that prisons are in the top three fastest growing industries? Did you know most public defenders are worth exactly what you pay them? Zilch. Did you know it is estimated that up to 25% of all inmates are innocent of any crime? It is in the best financial interest of everyone in the courtroom that you be convicted of something? Wake up folks. Always follow the money.

[likeablunchs]

'' ...

if a network or camera or art supply or calculator company can send a signal to a tv,

or send a signal to a paid computet operating system company to spruce up the signal before posting to the tv,

why would the network, camera, art supply, or calculator company choose to waste uncountable vaulable time and effort and other resources trying to develop equipment that is compatible with an operating system that does not even spruce up a signal before passing it to a television?

... ''

[mcvet]

And for those of you that think there is even one FBI analyst at the FBI Lab that purposely tries to put innocent people in jail, you should follow dukakislives to Canada. Come on people - a mistake was made and not on purpose. Next time you want to throw a stone at the FBI Lab just think about whether you would want them to help you if your loved one was missing or killed.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by BeAnAmerican at 07:57 PM : Nov 18, 2007
+ report abuse

It seem''s you fascist ALWAYS come up with some excuse. PLEASE explain why, when confronted with the story from a DEFENSE Attorney for another man who admitted to the killings, the NAZI judge in N.C. refused to even concider releasing the man but instead turned the Attorney in to the Bar Association.. His CLIENT WAS DEAD!!! You sure know how to bury your head in the sand that''s for sure. I know one thing, if something like this happens based on ONE piece of evidence, someone wasn''t looking for justice... NOPE! That judge ant that jury were looking for a REASON to lock someone up... PERIOD! Sieg Heil Y''all.

[cmaples82]

This is the daugther of the victims that Lee Wayne Hunt MURDERED . I don''t care what any of you say he is GUILTY and it really sucks that he is gettting all this national attention when the family of the victims can''t even get a return call from the people on 60 minutes . and ythe comment from the people saying should the journalist really be call ing someone a drug dealing if he is speaking about Lee Wayne Hunt he needs to go back and watch the show because he addimited to being a drug dealer and even though he is in prison he probally is still dealing drugs .