CSI On Trial

As a young sailor Keith Harward was convicted of a vicious assault based on bitemark analysis. After 33 years in prison DNA testing exonerated him and proved the bite evidence was junk. The bitemark analysis field has seen intense in-fighting and government investigations.

Firearms Analysis is one of the most common forensic science practices in the US but recently the science behind it has come under fire. The national battle over whether to allow firearms analysis evidence in court is not just theoretical.

Suburban mom Audrey Edmunds was convicted of shaking a neighbor’s baby to death. But she was freed after 11 years when the pathologist who testified against her admitted he was no longer sure about Shaken Baby Syndrome.

The shoe print at the grisly Idaho crime scene seemed to match Charles Fain’s shoe– both showed a small nail hole in the sole. Based on that physical evidence he was convicted and sentenced to death.

David Gavitt served almost 27 years in prison before new arson investigation science exonerated him. Anthony Kyles and countless others are still behind bars. What happens when the science behind crime scene investigations moves forward but legal precedent only looks backward?