Posts Tagged News

Blood from babies: filling the DNA databases Anna Sandiford Mar 15

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The state of forensic science in the USA has caused concern for some time and was even given centre stage at the recent American Academy of Forensic Sciences annual conference entitled, “Putting Our Forensic House in Order: Determining Validation and Expelling Incompetence” (see earlier post).

Unfortunately, until things get into gear, trouble will continue. Not least in places like Oklahoma where bodies stack up at Oklahoma examiner’s office where eleven bodies at the Oklahoma mortuary are unclaimed and taking up valuable storage space, one of which has been there for 11 years! Mondays in particular are a problem because the number of bodies coming into the office exceeds storage capacity and there is a need to stack people on the floor.

Perhaps more disturbing is the story that between 2003 and 2007, Texas authorities gave hundreds of blood samples from new born babies to a U.S. Armed Forces laboratory for use in a database (Texas Supplied Newborn Blood Samples to Forensic Database) without telling anyone they were doing it, including the parents of the babies. Collection of blood samples from new born babies is commonplace and allows the children to be screened for various diseases, thus allowing early intervention and also data collection for statistical purposes. The blood spots are usually collected by way of a pinprick to the heel and blotting the blood onto what is termed a blood spot card. Texas law was changed in 2009, the new legislation expressly authorising the storage and specified uses of the samples. The state said it had destroyed all the blood spot cards for samples collected before May 2009. However, what about the DNA information that was obtained from the blood spots (given that they screen 800,000 samples per annum)? If the DNA profile has already been established from the blood spots and entered into a database then there’s no great problem with destroying the cards, is there (although I accept that no new information can be obtained once the card are destroyed)?

I have no real issues with collection of samples for scientific research. For example, I am not opposed to collection and storage of DNA profiles from people who are not convicted of criminal offences; as I have mentioned in past blogs I have given DNA reference samples on several occasions. I do however feel that collection and use of samples without informed consent is the wrong way to go about promoting confidence in scientific research and developing trust between scientific researchers/the corporations or governments that fund them and the general public.

Underwater CSI: I feel a spin-off coming.. Anna Sandiford Mar 09

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The Cayman Islands. Just the name is enough to make me want to pop on a wetsuit and hop on a plane, which is handy because the Cayman Islands is running an underwater CSI training course, for all those underwater crime scene investigations.  I have to ask the question at this point, who knows an underwater crime scene examiner?  If anyone does, it would make a great article for a Sunday supplement or a BBC documentary.
Although it sounds decadent to attend a training course in the Cayman Islands, underwater crime scene investigation is something that exists and, as with all other crime scene examinations, should adhere to certain protocols and procedures. Think of all the crimes in which evidence is dumped at sea or in other water bodies; the first case that springs to mind is the murder of Jeanette and Harvey Crewe in 1970, whose bodies were found in the Waikato River, Harvey’s body in particular having been weighted down by a vehicle axle. Or the bombing of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland Harbour in 1985. Or the case of Jason Dark, whose body was also found in the Waikato River and was recently the subject of a Sensing Murder episode…

The application of CSI techniques to underwater areas is being recognised by a range of specialised personnel such as marine enforcement officers, environment assessment agencies, coral reef researchers, natural resource managers as well as Police and Coastguards.  As more than 40% of coral cover on the world’s reefs has already been lost (according to the article) and two thirds of the Caribbean’s reefs remain at risk, it makes sense to prosecute the people who threaten the existence of reefs and marine ecosystems.  The specialist knowledge required for underwater crime scene investigation is as wide-ranging as it is for those on terra firma but also should include not only SCUBA knowledge but scientific understanding of the issues affecting different environments.  Without a basic scientific knowledge of the issues being investigated the correct samples of the correct size might not be collected.  As with any other crime scene examination, the scientist who reports the findings relies on the skills of the crime scene examiner to collect good samples.  Rubbish in, rubbish out.  The way to avoid this problem of course is for the reporting scientist to attend the scene and collect their own samples.  Which brings me back to the Cayman Islands.  The underwater CSI skills taught in the Cayman Islands will be directly applicable to all sorts of underwater activity, although for my money I’d rather work in the Caribbean Sea than the North Sea.

To be honest, I’m not really going off to the Cayman Islands for a training course but if CBS gets a whiff of underwater crime scene examination, there’ll be another spin-off series, CSI Cayman, faster than you can say SCUBA.  I will watch and learn, as always.

Pilots on the pop Anna Sandiford Mar 04

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Air New Zealand pilots having drinking problems, eh? Doesn’t really instill a sense of safety in us air travellers. It was interesting to hear the CEO say that if pilots have a drink (or drug) problem then they should go to Air New Zealand and ask for help rather than keep it covered up. Personally, I think it unlikely that an employee is going to approach its employer and ask for help with a problem that could cause them to be fired.
All of that aside, I am interested to know whether or not the government would consider establishing a drink-fly limit for pilots and crew, as is in place in other countries. The breath testing equipment is available that can detect breath alcohol levels lower than the mandatory UK limit for flying a plane of 90 micrograms of alcohol per litre breath (such as lionlaboratories.com) – compare that with the NZ/UK drink driving limit for adults of 400 micrograms of alcohol/litre breath [the blood equivalent being 20 milligrams alcohol/100 ml blood for flying compared with 80 in blood for driving a motor vehicle]. Catching pilots over the limit for flying but below the legal limit for driving has occurred and in one of the most recent cases the pilot was given a suspended sentence for having a breath alcohol level of 310 micrograms of alcohol per litre breath. When the blood test was done, the pilot’s blood alcohol level was 50 mg alcohol/100 ml blood. This is a level capable of causing impairment. Blood alcohol levels in the range of 30 to 120 can cause effects including mild euphoria, sociability, talkativeness, increased confidence, decreased inhibitions, reduced attention and judgment, some sensory-motor impairment, reduced rate of information processing. Although these effects cover a range of blood alcohol levels, the most appropriate approach might be to avoid the chances of any pilot experiencing any of these effects by introduction of an appropriate breath/blood alcohol limit for flying.

Presumably Air New Zealand may look at the sponsorship of the Wine Awards?

Charity payments for drug cases Anna Sandiford Mar 02

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The Police and court system in Ireland have decided that rather than clog up the court system with minor drug offenders, they’re going to get them pay money into the court box, which, in turn, gets distributed to charities: Festival drug cases will boost charities’ coffers. I’ve seen court boxes in English courts before but they’re usually decorative affairs rather than ever receiving any serious cash; the idea for filling the Irish court boxes came as the result of last year’s Oxegen festival. Anyone who has ever been to a music festival will know that drugs are easy to acquire and the Police have long been aware of this. Glastonbury festival for example has an on-site drug testing laboratory – there used to be a bit of an argument amongst the scientists about whose turn it was to “work” at Glastonbury for the weekend (incidentally, this year’s festival at the end of June has already sold out of tickets). The Irish Garda (Police) now also agrees that on-site drug testing is a good way to go. A presumptive testing device is used at Oxegen that detects the possible presence of cannabis, Ecstasy, cocaine, amphetamines and BZP. Presumptive drug testing kits have been used in the field for many years. They’re also used at forensic science laboratories to establish what drug or drugs may be present in a sample in order to determine the most appropriate analytical scheme. Although a presumptive test would not be sufficient for prosecution of a serious crime, the modern tests are sufficiently good that they are accepted by the courts for lesser offences such as possession of enough cannabis for one joint or, as at the Oxegen festival, up to 80 Euro (about NZ$155) of cocaine. The arrested persons were still required to attend court but instead of all those drug samples being sent off to a forensic science laboratory for confirmatory tests to be conducted, the defendants were dealt with on the day and most of them were required to make a charity contribution of 1,000 Euro (approx. NZ$1,950). With 100,000 Euro being pledged, that’s a lot of charity money for a couple of days’ work. Plus, as Garda Inspector Patsy Glennon explained, this system “cuts down on the amount of painstaking examination and certification normally required and so saves time, money and effort”. Which sounds jolly good all round.

Hair, science and crims Anna Sandiford Feb 28

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Analysing hair for criminal casework purposes has had some new developments recently, as reported in Forensic Science International. For your delectation and delight, and as the journal has a log in, I have decided to share some of the papers that deal with day-to-day issues to which we can all relate: In Sweden, if someone is convicted of either drug crimes (described as “petty”, presumably referring to possession only) or drug driving, their driving licence can be revoked. In order to regain their licence the driver must prove that they have been drug-free for a given period time. As anyone working with drug offenders knows, it is relatively easy to pass a drug urine screening test: either abstain for a relatively short period or cheat the results by using someone else’e urine (there’s a black market for ‘clean’ urine – think Gattaca). When drugs are consumed, the pattern of use is recorded in hair, particularly in head hair. A Swedish study has looked at the viability of using hair analysis instead of urine analysis when assessing whether or not to return someone’s driving licence to them. Interpretation has several issues (including understanding and knowledge of the screening method limitations) but the people being tested apparently approved of hair sampling “considering it a better means to prove their drug abstinence. In addition, both the clients and the clinicians thought hair sampling easier than urine sampling.” (Hair analysis for drugs in driver’s license regranting. A Swedish pilot study, Pages 55-58, Robert Kronstrand, Ingrid Nyström, Malin Forsman, Kerstin Käll). As with all cases where people have to prove drug abstinence by providing a sample of hair for analysis, it’s always interesting when they turn up to have their sample taken but have just come from the hairdressers where they had a Number 1….. In Italy, a study has been completed to “investigate acute and chronic exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in a cohort of young adolescents using urinary cotinine and hair nicotine testing after recent implementation of Italian smoke free legislation,” which has implications for everyone. The overall conclusions were that “due to the implementation of smoke-free legislation and information campaign against smoking, a significant trend toward low exposure to ETS was observed in this study cohort with no association between exposure to ETS and respiratory illnesses.” What I did find interesting was this: “Hair nicotine was inversely related to educational level of the adolescents’ parents” – not just the comment itself but the way it was phrased. It must have taken a while to phrase that appropriately… (Assessment of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in young adolescents following implementation of smoke-free policy in Italy, Pages 97-100, M. Pellegrini, M.C. Rotolo, S. La Grutta, F. Cibella, O. Garcia-Algar, A. Bacosi, G. Cuttitta, R. Pacifici, S. Pichini) Finally, a French study investigated something that I find to be utterly fascinating: “Heroin markers in hair of a narcotic police officer: Active or passive exposure?” I think the Abstract just says it all without any need of assistance from me: In “March 2007, a police officer (46-year-old man) and a clerk (37-year-old woman) were arrested and subjected to investigation on the charges of drugs of abuse trafficking. The loving couple was exploiting their administrative positions to make money with the resale of seized drugs. The laboratory was requested to analyse their hair for drugs of abuse. Hair of the 2 subjects tested positive for heroin by GC–MS. A few days later, analysis of hair obtained from 11 other police officers of the same unit was requested, in order to compare the results, as external contamination was proposed to account for the positive results. The aim of the investigations was to demonstrate that passive contamination could not occur for persons dealing every day with drugs of abuse with minimal caution and hygiene, and that the measured concentrations in the arrested subjects correspond to personal abuse. All the narcotic team tested negative, irrespective of the compound.” And that’s this month’s round-up of Forensic Science International….

Burglary science Anna Sandiford Feb 23

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Burglars are apparently more likely to wear Reebok Classic trainers than other brands of training shoe. This is one of the findings of a recent scientific study of the running shoes of choice used by burglars in the English county of Northamptonshire. These results tie in nicely with my own (professional) experiences of burglary cases in England & Wales and also confirm my comments on misc.ience’s post If I was a running shoe manufacturer, I would be worried… The study also found that burglars from poorer areas tended to wear more expensive trainers, which follows many people’s observational experiences, and the average cost of trainers worn by unemployed burglars was greater that those worn by burglars with jobs. Understandably perhaps, the study had no knowledge of whether or not said trainers were bought or stolen…..

DNA, Peter Gill and the CSI Effect Anna Sandiford Feb 17

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I’ve been preaching for some time now about the problems that programs like CSI cause regarding the general perception of the capabilities of forensic science – and look, here is one of the world’s foremost DNA scientists and pioneers of DNA in forensics saying exactly the same thing, specifically about DNA: CSI no relevance to real DNA profiling. Dr Gill also mentioned that although TV programs have highlighted science (which is a good thing), they do hinder the Expert when it comes to presenting evidence in court. I wholeheartedly agree. Dr Gill said, “(CSI) doesn’t really represent the way in which forensic science works. My concerns with programs like that it gives the impression that if there is a DNA profile found at a crime scene and you have a suspect that it doesn’t necessarily follow that a suspect is guilty of that crime. There are a lot of other things which must be considered.” – this is so true.  Forensic Scientists shouldn’t necessarily just report (or review) the science in isolation – the framework into which that science fits is crucial for the proper understanding of what the science is telling the Trier of Fact (usually a jury and/or a Judge). It is then for the Trier of Fact to decide what weight to apply to that evidence when deciding on the Ultimate Issue, which is usually down to two choices: guilty or not guilty. Forensic Science can of course also be used for investigative purposes – and it may take an investigation down a different track from the one that the investigators were expecting. The important thing is that the investigators should take that scientific information into account when deciding what to do next – just sticking with their previous track of thought may be neither appropriate nor correct. “The scientist is not there to prosecute anyone. Whether the individual is found guilty or innocent has no bearing on the science.” Dr Gill makes an extremely valid point in this last sentence.  ALL forensic scientists should be impartial and unbiased in their reporting – no exceptions.

Forensic science: validation and incompetence Anna Sandiford Feb 12

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U.S. academics at UCLA are being granted funds to consider error rates in latent fingerprint evidence.  Some would ask whether or not this sort of exercise should have been completed loooong ago.  As with any other area of applied science, regular review should be undertaken.  Unfortunately, this is not something that necessarily occurs in forensic science, partly because some agencies aren’t keen on their databases being examined (see Crime DNA databases should be independently examined). Last year, the United States National Academy of Sciences issued a damning report on the state of forensic science in U.S. crime laboratories.  The report basically stated that the accuracy and reliability of practically all forensic science methods, ranging from glass to fingerprints, had not been established adequately through rigorous scientific scrutiny.  At the end of this month (Feb 2010), the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) is holding its annual scientific meeting, which is tellingly entitled, “Putting Our Forensic House in Order: Determining Validation and Expelling Incompetence.” So, not only is forensic science in the States being shaken upside down until the grotty bits drop out of its pockets, someone somewhere is getting paid to do the work that should have been done long ago, on an ongoing basis. Let’s hope one of the resolutions that arises from the AAFS meeting is that forensic science techniques should be reviewed regularly. The problem is of course that most people working for the prosecution don’t really want any technique investigated too deeply in case problems are found. Once that happens then other convictions might be called into question, which could throw the whole system into disorder, incurring enormous expense and all the obvious associated problems. To my mind, that’s not a good enough reason not to do it.  If people are going to be sent to prison based, even in part, on scientific findings then the science must be robust and reliable (as well as other legal issues such as relevant and repeatable).  If science is reviewed regularly and the law takes that into account then it should be possible to work out a system whereby the courts can be sure that the science is up-to-date, which in turn adds to the strength of science in court.  It also might present the current stink that’s going on in Texas over the inadequate forensic science presented in the case of Cameron Todd Willingham (Wikipedia link), who was executed for allegedly killing his children in a house fire he was supposed to have set.  The science has since been shown to have been wrong. The other thing to remember is that if the overall outcome of the US review and the work being carried out to address those issues identifies some real problems, the implications could be felt throughout court systems worldwide – including New Zealand.

Veneer to the rescue! Anna Sandiford Feb 11

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There’s a man in China who’s very glad about varnish and veneer. Despite his fingerprints being found at the scene of a theft, he was discharged by the judge who was presiding over his trial for said theft (Driver nearly convicted for incidental fingerprints). The reason was because the fingerprints were beneath a veneer on a deity altar and had been deposited by the freed man more than ten years previously, at a time when he had been working for a company that made such deity altars. The altar was then bought by the victim of the theft, who took it home and from where it was later stolen. The Court also believed the discharged man’s alibi – he was working as a truck driver at the time of the crime. The presiding judge thought it unlikely that he would have abandoned his truck on the side of the road to commit a random theft. Case circumstances are so varied – no two are ever the same….

DNA evidence causes case to be dropped SciBlogs Feb 10

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Peter Williams QC topped off a successful legal career last week by successfully applying for the case of Zion King to be discontinued.  The Crown supported Mr Williams’ application and the Judge granted it.

Zion King was charged with the murder of Chattrice Maihi-Carroll in March 2008  after the deceased was found with stab wounds on 21 January the same year.

Key points that resulted in the dismissal of the case were problems with the statements of Crown witnesses about when Mr King had told them he knew about the death – it seems the first statements indicated he had known about it before news had been released to the general public, which meant that he must have been involved with it.  Further investigations showed that he had actually not known about it before everyone else.

Also crucial to the dismissal of the charges was the DNA evidence – or lack of it.  Mr Williams pointed out evidential matters that supported his application for the case to be discontinued, as follows:

a) Reasonable possibility DNA excludes accused;

b) No forensic evidence against accused;

c) Accused had no relationship with deceased;

d)  [not related to DNA];

e) Deceased suitor’s blood on pillow;

f) Unidentified male DNA on glass on kitchen bench;

Considerable effort was put in by the Defence team to investigate matters so that the above points (as well as others) could be supported.  To quote Hawke’s Bay Today (because it’s not clear from the article who said it), “The case had [sic] revealed “how essential it is for defence to investigate independently”.  I couldn’t agree more.

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