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May 2, 2016 20 min

Fail the Testimony

from We Have Concerns Hosted by Jeff Cannata/Anthony Carboni

The Justice Department and FBI have formally acknowledged that nearly every expert scientific witness gave flawed testimony in almost all trials in which they offered evidence against criminal defendants over more than a two-decade period before 2000. Specifically, cases where hair samples, fingerprints, and other scientific evidence led to conviction, almost every single expert witness misled the jury. Jeff and Anthony unpack what it means to misuse science on such a large an important scale. We Have Concerns is entirely listener supported! To keep us ad-free and get early episodes/bonus content, check out our Patreon: http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Get all your sweet We Have Concerns merch by swinging by http://wehaveconcerns.com/shop Hey! If you’re enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate/review it on whatever service you use to listen. Here’s the iTunes link: http://bit.ly/wehaveconcerns And here’s the Stitcher link: http://bit.ly/stitcherwhc Jeff on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jeffcannata Anthony on Twitter: http://twitter.com/acarboni Today’s story was sent in by Alik Evans: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2015/04/fbi_s_flawed_forensics_expert_testimony_hair_analysis_bite_marks_fingerprints.html If you’ve seen a story you think belongs on the show, send it to [email protected] or leave it on the subreddit: http://reddit.com/r/wehaveconcerns Support the show and get bonus episodes, videos, Discord community access and more! http://patreon.com/wehaveconcerns Jeff on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/jeffcannata.bsky.social Anthony on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/acarboni.bsky.social

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The Justice Department and FBI have formally acknowledged that nearly every expert scientific witness gave flawed testimony in almost all trials in which they offered evidence against criminal defendants over more than a two-decade period before 2000. Specifically, cases where hair samples, fingerprints, and other scientific evidence led to conviction, almost every single expert witness misled the jury. Jeff and Anthony unpack what it means to misuse science on such a large an important scale.

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Fail the Testimony

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