Vincent Bugliosi’s book “Outrage; the five reasons why O.J. Simpson got away with murder” is an excellent book that in my humble opinion should be required literature for anyone who wishes to understand the adversarial system, trial preparations and analysis, and most of all, the art of listening. From page one it is clear that […]
Archives for 2010
Adding more to Grits’ Breakfast
Adding more to Grits’ Breakfast because it is an interesting post on what role victims should play in plea bargains. When I read that I said to myself: none. The prosecution does not represent victims but the Constitutional State. I do not condone crime and acknowledge that victims’ rights were violated but as Grits for Breakfast states, those […]
Do you know me?
Do you know me? Orange County (NC) authorities unveiled a three-dimensional facial reconstruction of a boy found dead near Mebane more than a decade ago. The sculpture was made by forensic artist Frank Bender who has worked with “America’s Most Wanted” and the FBI. The boy’s skeletal remains were found on Sept. 25, 1998, near the Buckhorn […]
Manchester building site skeleton
Manchester building site skeleton could date to 1960, according to a BBC article. A woman’s skeleton was found at a building site in Manchester city centre. It may have been there for the last 50 years. The remains were found by workmen at the site on Miller Street, near the CIS Tower. It was treated as […]
Lucely “Lily” Aramburo
Lucely “Lily” Aramburo disappeared on June 1, 2007, and has not been seen since. “Chances are you’ve probably never met Lily but if you did, you would understand why we’re so determined to find her. Lily was a girl of peace, a young mother who loved her baby boy very much. She was a humble […]
Shawn K. Simmons
On December 7, 1995, between 6 and 7 pm, Shawn K. Simmons’ neighbour heard shouting next door. Considering that Mr. Simmons led a quiet life, the shouting was unusual. In fact, it was so unusual that it made her open the bi-fold door to the furnace area to hear what was being said in the […]
Too many wrongful convictions
Today, Innocence Project’s client Freddie Peacock became the 250th person exonerated through DNA evidence in the United States of America. Peacock was convicted in New York in 1976 of a rape he didn’t commit based on an eyewitness misidentification and a false confession that police claimed he made during an interrogation. Peacock, who has severe […]
No government bodies regulate forensic labs
No government bodies regulate forensic labs, that should make you wonder. If DNA plays such a huge role in criminal court, why is it that there is no federal oversight? Even the best labs can make mistakes. The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology landed at the center of the high-profile case of Cynthia Sommer, a […]
Identifying the Lost Soldiers of Fromelles
Identifying the Lost Soldiers of Fromelles is a great BBC Magazine article on another use of DNA: to identify the remains of World War I soldiers found in mass graves in France. “The remains of 250 British and Australian soldiers had lain undiscovered for 93 years since falling on the Western Front.Boots, purses, toothbrushes and […]
New tip in Teekah Lewis case
New tip in Teekah Lewis case has police exploring Tacoma Park. Teekah Lewis was 2 years old when she disappeared from the now-defunct New Frontier Lanes in Tacoma on Jan. 23, 1999. Teekah was with her family in a bowling alley late in the evening. Her mother kept an eye on her except for one moment […]