A Report issued by that National Academies of Science found that evidence without proper scientific basis – also known as junk science — is routinely admitted in courts across the country in criminal prosecutions. With the exception of nuclear DNA analysis, the report found that the evidence to support the reliability of many techniques is [...]
Criminal Law Answers, Assistance and Commentary by NYC Criminal Lawyer Howard Weiner
Category Archives: Junk Science
Up to 90% of U.S. Currency Contains Cocaine Residue
In the largest study to date of cocaine contamination in currency, scientists report that cocaine is present in up to 90 percent of paper money in the United States, particularly in large cities. Scientists found traces of cocaine in 95 percent of the banknotes analyzed from Washington, D.C., alone. The results were presented at the [...]
Chemists Must Testify, Supreme Court Says
A lab chemist must be called to testify in order to admit a lab analysis as evidence at trial, the Supreme Court recently held in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, 07-591 (June 22, 2009). This case effectively ends the government’s routine practice of entering into evidence one sided, conclusory reports prepared by government lab technicians for the sole [...]
Daily Headlines
NORML.ORG US CA: City To Pot Shop: Move
July 28, 2010