Bad science and ruined lives

James Driskell:

Hair microscopy evidence was a crucial component in the Crown’s case against Winnipeg resident James Driskell, who was convicted in 1991 of the firstdegree murder of his friend Perry Harder. At Driskell’s trial, an RCMP laboratory testified that three hairs found in the back of Driskell’s van were “consistent with” Harder’s hair, according to a report on his wrongful conviction. In 2002, mitochondrial DNA testing in the U.K. found that the three hairs did not, in fact, belong to Harder. Other pillars of the case crumbled, and Driskell was released from prison in 2003, after spending 13 years behind bars.

Charles Smith cases:

Charles Randal Smith worked as a pediatric pathologist at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children from 1981 to 2005. Smith became the go-to expert in suspicious child death cases. However, as an inquiry into flawed pediatric forensic pathology in Ontario concluded, Smith had no formal training in this area, and believed his role was to “advocate for the Crown,” and “to make a case look good.” He testified outside his area of expertise, offered unsubstantiated opinions and, in some cases, “made false and misleading statements to the court,” the inquiry found. The fallout was catastrophic: Smith’s flawed evidence led to 13 wrongful convictions.

Michael West cases:

Levon Brooks and Kennedy Brewer were each convicted of murdering a young girl in Mississippi in the 1990s, based largely on the testimony of prominent forensic odontologist Michael West. In 2007, both men were exonerated after DNA testing linked the killings to a third man, Justin Albert Johnson. According to forensic experts who examined the Brewer case, the marks on the victim were likely caused by crawfish and insects. Despite video evidence that appeared to show West jamming the dental mold of a suspect into the corpse of an alleged victim, he is still viewed as a reliable expert by the Mississippi Supreme Court, the Washington Post reported in February.

Anthony Ray Hinton:

When Anthony Ray Hinton received the death penalty for the 1985 murders of two restaurant managers in Alabama, virtually the only evidence against him was ballistics testimony. The bullets from both scenes had been purportedly linked to a gun that belonged to Hinton’s mother, found in the house they shared. After Hinton was granted a new trial, the state’s experts were unable to link the bullets to the gun, and prosecutors asked that the case be dropped. Hinton was released in April. He said the case against him was “built around racism and a lie,” BBC reported.

Leighton Hay:

A haircut was at the crux of the Crown’s case against Leighton Hay. Hay was convicted along with his roommate in 2004 of murdering Colin Moore in a Scarborough nightclub. After finding hair clippings in a newspaper in Hay’s home, prosecutors argued that he had shaved his hair to mislead eyewitnesses. Hay’s trial lawyer believed the hair was facial stubble but it took a Supreme Court order in 2010 to make the evidence available for further testing on appeal. The tests confirmed Hay’s trial lawyer’s suspicion, and Hay was released last year, after more than a decade in custody.