Category: Forensics

Dubai: Police Wednesday announced that a new forensic science and criminology department will be set up within two years, which will feature specialised areas related to chemistry, biology and nuclear science.

Speaking at a press conference, Lt Gen Dahi Khalfan Tamim, Chief of Dubai Police, explained that the department will be constructed at Dubai Police General Headquarters and cover a total area of 36,759 square metres.

The department will consist of four floors with a goal of reaching 700 employees by the year 2025, and will be built by Al Naboodah Construction Group.

via gulfnews : New Department of Forensic Science and Criminology.

A TEAM of experts in forensics, pathology and ballistics, will today start analysing evidence from the scene where the bodies of Scott Maitland and Cindy Masonwells were believed to have been dumped.

Two bodies, thought to be those of the missing couple, were recovered from bushland beside Lake Morris Rd at the back of Kanimbla yesterday.

The discovery marks a turning point in the case but is heartbreaking news for the relatives of the couple.

Far Northern Region regional crime co-ordinator Det Insp Bruno Asnicar said the team of experts was likely to remain at the site until about lunchtime today before “regrouping” to study the

evidence.

via Forensics, evidence analysis to commence after two bodies found in Cairns alleged double murder- Local Cairns News | cairns.com.au.

SURAT: Surat District Legal Service Authority Board and Surat District Bar Association (SDBA) organized a seminar on ‘The aspect of forensic science relating to chemical analysis report, examination of documents and postmortem’ here on Saturday.

At least 800 criminal lawyers practising in the district and sessions court took part in the seminar held in the presence of Justice A L Dave, principal district and sessions Judge B U Joshi.

Forensic science experts from Surat and Gandhinagar such as Hitesh Sanghavi, assistant director, FSL, Gandhinagar, R N Guna, assistant director (documents), FSL, Gandhinagar and forensic and medico legal expert Dr Vinesh Shah were also present.

SDBA president Ashit Mehta said, “The seminar was aimed at spreading legal awareness among the lawyers about forensic science and its legal aspects. There are many aspects in the field of forensic science that are still untouched and the lawyers need to understand them closely in order to deal with criminal cases in courts.”

Dr Shah said, “Most of the lawyers consider postmortem only to know the cause of death. But there are many other aspects to be looked for in the postmortem, which the lawyers miss during legal proceedings in the courts. The aspects are time of death, mode of death, position of the body at the time of death, weapon of assault, type of injury, age of injury etc.”

via Seminar on forensic science held – Times Of India.

Law enforcement officials in Tajikistan have announced the arrest of a suspect in the murder of Kholmumin Safarov, the brother-in-law of Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon.

via Suspect Detained In Rahmon Relative Murder Case.

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/428134/the-future-of-medical-visualisation/

The ‘CSI Effect’: Does It Really Exist?

by Honorable Donald E. Shelton

Crime and courtroom proceedings have long been fodder for film and television scriptwriters. In recent years, however, the media’s use of the courtroom as a vehicle for drama has not only proliferated, it has changed focus. In apparent fascination with our criminal justice process, many of today’s courtroom dramas are based on actual cases. Court TV offers live gavel-to-gavel coverage of trials over the Internet for $5.95 a month. Now, that’s “reality television”!

via The ‘CSI Effect’: Does It Really Exist? | National Institute of Justice.

Scientific evidence is one of those rare areas of law upon which every lawyer agrees: we are all certain that everyone else is wrong.

 

Defense lawyers think judges too easily allow in “junk science” from plaintiffs, citing the silicon breast implant litigation, which resulted in over $3 billion in settlements and compensation for autoimmune injuries that most scientists now agree weren’t caused by the implants. Plaintiff’s lawyers, in turn, think the silicon implant case is the exception that proves the rule, and that courts these days more frequently use Daubert and Frye to destroy plaintiffs’ cases by wrongly excluding from trial valid scientific and medical testimony (here’s an example involving vinyl chloride and cancer, and another involving Tylenol and liver damage, and don’t forget Kumho Tire’s indefensible exclusion of an eminently qualified tire tread separation expert), while allowing defendants to bring in all kinds of unscientific nonsense (like the natural forces nonsense in shoulder dystocia lawsuits that’s allowed everywhere except New York).

(In the criminal context, prosecutors complain about the “CSI Effect,” the claim that jurors today expect forensic evidence in every case, while criminal defense lawyers counter that the forensic evidence offered is often garbage and speculation from people with a diploma mill degree.)

 

via The Difference Between Scientific Evidence And The Scientific Method | Litigation.

Essex Police roll out scanner that can make 360° view of crime scene and play it back in 3D

Scanner can reduce police time at the scene by 50% – especially useful in the aftermath of motorway accidents

25 forces plan to roll out technology over next few years

Evidence can be used in courtrooms

via Essex Police roll out scanner that can make 360° view of crime scene and play it back in 3D | Mail Online.