Texas Forensic Science Commission Asks For AG Opinion on Bite-Mark Evidence
A state commission is asking Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to weigh in on their finding that bite-mark testimony used to convict people of crimes constitutes junk science.
The Texas Forensic Science Commission in February recommended a moratorium on the use of the controversial method. That's because a six-month study of forensic dentists who were asked to analyze photographs of 100 injuries showed that the dentists couldn't even tell which injuries were bite marks, according to the Innocence Project.
The commission, which is a watchdog over forensic testimony and analyses in Texas, calls the method negligent. But there are two authorities governing expert testimony in the Lone Star State and the Texas Forensic Science Commission wants Paxton to decide which one supersedes the other. The commission itself, which was created by the Legislature in 2005, won't accredit bite-mark analysts for trial testimony because it believes the practice is unreliable. However, the Texas Rules of Evidence allow experts to testify as long as they are "qualified by knowledge, skill, experience, training or education if scientific, technical or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact," which currently legally covers forensic dentists who testify at trials.
The commission is also looking for clarification of the legal requirements forensic labs have in reporting negligent practices. In Texas, there are forensic crime laboratories that practice in accredited forensic sciences, like DNA analyses, and in unaccredited analyses, like bite-mark practitioners. According to the Texas Forensic Science Commission, the labs, which are required to report negligence, don't consider it a legal obligation to report bite-mark negligence to the commission because the method isn't accredited. That's because there's not a single entity that exists in Texas to accredit practitioners and the commission won't do it because they believe it's unreliable, according to the AG opinion request.
http://www.sacurrent.com/the-daily/archives/2016/07/22/texas-forensic-science-commission-asks-for-ag-opinion-on-bite-mark-evidence?mode=print
