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Study finds forensic experts overstated evidence concerning DNA

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BY FRANK GREEN

MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE

Published: March 20, 2009

RICHMOND, Va. - A first-of-its-kind study has found that forensic experts gave flawed testimony in the trials of 82 men wrongfully convicted of rape or murder in the 1980s.

Brandon L. Garrett, a law professor at the University of Virginia, and Peter Neufeld, co-founder of the Innocence Project, wrote The Virginia Law Review study, released Monday.

It examined 137 trials in which transcripts exist and forensic experts testified for the prosecution.

The cases are among 233 from across the country in which DNA has proved innocent people who were wrongfully convicted.

Garrett said that in 60 percent of the cases - 82 of 137 - in which forensic-expert testimony was available, they gave testimony overstating the evidence.

He stressed that the flawed testimony did not necessarily lead to a wrongful conviction and that the study suggests nothing about the overall quality of forensic work being performed in any state.

The Innocence Project has found the most common contributor to wrongful convictions is mistaken eyewitness identification.

Garrett said that overall, the study found invalid testimony from 72 forensic analysts employed by 52 laboratories in 25 states.

It also uncovered erroneous or unsupported testimony about the accuracy and results of forensic techniques such as hair, bite mark and fingerprint comparison and even DNA testing.

The study began with a request from the National Academy of Sciences committee examining the needs of forensic science.

The academy's report released last month recommended the creation of an independent national entity to establish standards.

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