You can't rely on firearms forensics

Another nail in the coffin of the death penalty.--Dictynna

Public release date: 23-Nov-2005

Contact: Claire Bowles (London)
claire.bowles@rbi.co.uk
44-207-611-1210

Kyre Austin (Boston)
kyre.austin@reedbusiness.com
617-558-4939
New Scientist

You can't rely on firearms forensics

Tyrone Jones is serving a life sentence, in part because of a microscopic particle that Baltimore police found on his left hand. At his trial for murder in 1998 the crime-lab examiner gave evidence that the particle was residue from a gunshot. He claimed Jones must have held or fired a gun shortly before his arrest. Jones denies this and still protests his innocence. His defence team is appealing the conviction, claiming that the science of gunshot residue (GSR) analysis is not as robust as the prosecution claims.

Now, a New Scientist investigation has found that someone who has never fired a gun could be contaminated by someone who has, and that different criminal investigators use contradictory standards. What's more, particles that are supposedly unique to GSR can be produced in other ways.