I have a few articles I want to link to.

In keeping with my ongoing obsession with evidence storage, the first is to a Newark Star-Ledger article by Guy Sterling and Rick Hepp titled, N.J.’s lack of rules for storing forensic evidence hinders convicts. It begins:  

“In 1991, two years after the first DNA exoneration of a jailed criminal in the United States, Jim McCloskey visited a prosecutor he knew in Philadelphia to talk about a convicted murderer and rapist he believed had been wrongly imprisoned for a quarter-century. The prosecutor agreed to have the evidence checked but called back in a few weeks with disheartening news.

‘A month before I came into the case and 27 years after the crime, the evidence custodian had petitioned the district attorney to destroy the evidence in 100 old cases, including our guy’s,’ said McCloskey, whose Centurion Ministries program in Princeton has worked to free 43 prisoners over the years.”

The second is a Los Angeles Times article by Joel Rubin and Richard Winton about the LAPD’s fingerprint unit.  Follow-up article is here. Since fingerprints seem to be used more than DNA as evidence, I continue to be concerned about the lack of statistical evaluation, and oversight about fingerprint analysis and analyzers. From the Wikipedia entry about fingerprints:

The few tests of validity of forensic fingerprinting have not been supportive of the method:

Despite the absence of objective standards, scientific validation, and adequate statistical studies, a natural question to ask is how well fingerprint examiners actually perform. Proficiency tests do not validate a procedure per se, but they can provide some insight into error rates. In 1995, the Collaborative Testing Service (CTS) administered a proficiency test that, for the first time, was “designed, assembled, and reviewed” by the International Association for Identification (IAI).The results were disappointing. Four suspect cards with prints of all ten fingers were provided together with seven latents. Of 156 people taking the test, only 68 (44%) correctly classified all seven latents. Overall, the tests contained a total of 48 incorrect identifications. David Grieve, the editor of the Journal of Forensic Identification, describes the reaction of the forensic community to the results of the CTS test as ranging from “shock to disbelief,” and added:

Errors of this magnitude within a discipline singularly admired and respected for its touted absolute certainty as an identification process have produced chilling and mind- numbing realities. Thirty-four participants, an incredible 22% of those involved, substituted presumed but false certainty for truth. By any measure, this represents a profile of practice that is unacceptable and thus demands positive action by the entire community.

What is striking about these comments is that they do not come from a critic of the fingerprint community, but from the editor of one of its premier publications.

Ever since writing my book I’ve been a little obsessed with evidence storage, and when I saw that the LAPD was live-streaming a recent dig I started looking around the LAPD TV section of their website and found a small promotional fill called Inside the LAPD Property Room .

It’s not objective, but it’s still interesting to get a peek inside.  I would love to write a book about evidence rooms in police departments across the country, but what an obstacle-ridden project that would be. Hmmm.  Still.  It might be worth a try.

And again I am cutting and pasting from one blog to another because I have been talking about it in both place. But if you’ve been following the story you know that the dig for Roger Dale Madison ended without finding his body. You can read an account in the Pasadna Star-News [link no longer active] here. Weston DeWalt described the scene to me. “A Ventura County Sheriff’s Department chaplain said a few words and the sister went around and shook the hands of the 50-60 detectives, dog handlers, volunteers” and Weston himself.

I wonder how many people had to fight tears when Roger’s sister shook their hand. It wasn’t ended because they didn’t think Roger had been buried there, but the dig had moved close enough to the highway to become dangerous to the recovery workers and the dogs. But “all three cadaver dogs on scene were continuing to alert in the pit and upon the last of the dirt taken from the pit and upon the equipment which had been in use.” Everyone believes Roger is in there.

His sister does. And in spite of the outcome, I could see her being extremely grateful to everyone who clearly tried as hard as they could to find her brother. Whenever anyone has tried to help me when I’ve needed it, it meant the world to me that they did what they could, even if they didn’t succeed. I could definitely see how this might be, in its own way, enough for Roger’s sister. And when she shook their hands, even if she felt disappointment, it wouldn’t have been with a single one of them. They must have been like angels to her.

Also, DeWalt said that because of all the media coverage, people “came forward and offered extremely important information. One individual had personal knowledge of how Mack Ray Edwards attracted victims, the methods he employed to gain their trust, and offered details about other criminal activity in which Edwards was involved.” This will be an enormous help to Det. Vivian Flores and others who continue to investigate Edwards for other cases of missing children. Maybe other families, who never got the answers they needed, will find similar comfort from the work of all these people (and the dogs) who are still out there trying.

I can’t believe it. In fact, I didn’t believe it when I heard this was going to happen, but you can watch law enforcement in California conducting the dig for Roger Dale Madison right now, live.  Mind blowing.  To see for yourself go here and click on the picture of the dig.  You’ll then be asked to register, which is free.

I’m listening to the engine of the backhoe now, as I type.  I can hear that “beep beep beep” every time it backs up.

Way to use new technology LAPD.  I’m impressed!!