Organization
Failed Evidence
Failed Evidence is a publisher focused on issues related to wrongful convictions, forensic science, and criminal justice reform. It frequently covers topics such as the reliability of eyewitness testimony, the risks of false confessions, and the impact of recording police interrogations. The publisher analyzes court decisions, scientific research, and law enforcement policies to highlight challenges and improvements in the criminal justice system. It also discusses procedural reforms like full-session recording of interrogations and expert testimony on forensic evidence. The content aims to inform legal professionals, policymakers, and the public about the complexities and safeguards necessary to prevent miscarriages of justice.
10 published works
Blogs
Authors
Failed Evidence
Recording Interrogations: Not a Silver Bullet, But a Definite Improvement
Today’s New York Time’s has an op-ed article by Professor Jennifer Mnookin of UCLA, “Can a Jury Believe What It Sees? Videotaped Confessions Can Be Misleading” Prof. Mnookin was a…
Failed Evidence
One Court, One Day, One Issue, Two Cases: Opposite Conclusions on Experts Testimony on Eyewitnesses and Confessions
On May 28, 2014, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court published two opinions about whether juries could hear from experts. In Commonwealth v. Walker, the Court said an expert could tell the jury…
Failed Evidence
Picking a New Police Chief: At Last, the Process Begins in Pittsburgh
Over a year ago, the chief of police in Pittsburgh resigned during a corruption scandal. (He subsequently pled guilty and has been sentenced to eighteen months in federal prison.) Very shortly…
Failed Evidence
Part II — US DOJ: FBI, DEA, ATF Will Record Questioning: Record The Whole Session
In my last post, I discussed the significance of the new US DOJ policy, effective July 11, that creates a presumption that all federal law enforcement agencies — the FBI,…
Failed Evidence
US DOJ: FBI, DEA, ATF Will Record Questioning of Individuals in Custody
According to reports this morning by the Arizona Republic, National Public Radio, and other outlets, the U.S. Department of Justice has decided that federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI,…
Failed Evidence
Assuring Conviction Integrity with a Systems Error Reduction Approach
Those of you who follow this blog have read (e.g., here and here) about conviction integrity units (CIUs): small groups of attorneys in a district attorney’s office who have the…
Failed Evidence
Exoneration Report for 2013: Behind the Headlines, Two Significant Findings
On February 4, the National Registry of Exonerations published its yearly report for 2013. The Registry, a joint project of the University of Michigan Law School and the Center for…
Failed Evidence
National Commission on Forensic Science: A Step Toward National Standards
Following up on my last post, in which I asked why there were still no national standards for forensic science five years after the National Academy of Sciences’2009 report Strengthening…
Failed Evidence
Is It Time for National Standards for Forensic Labs?
Here we are, more than a month after chemist Annie Dookhan, formerly of the Massachusetts State Drug Laboratory, entered a guilty plea to producing fraudulent forensic testing results, and went…
Failed Evidence
Ten Steps Bill de Blasio and Bill Bratton Should Take to Fix Stop-and-Frisk
New York City will have a new mayor in 2014. In my article “Ten Steps Bill de Blasio and Bill Bratton Should Take to Fix Stop-and-Frisk,” published in The Nation,…