Bad science, bogus results in hair forensics undermine cause of justice

The number of near absolutes in a new nationwide review of shabby forensics used to secure convictions is devastating: Formorethantwodecadesprior to 2000, nearly every examiner in an elite FBI forensic unit presented flawed evidence in almost every trial in which hair-comparison testimony was provided.

We’re talking bad science and bogus results — all of it now officially acknowledged by the Justice Department.

It’s unfathomable that hair examiners operated until 2000 without written standards about what constituted scientific validity. They simply backed up their claims by citing incomplete or inaccurate statistics to prove a point.

Of 28 examiners with the FBI Laboratory’s microscopic hair comparison unit, 26 overstated matches in favor of the prosecution in more than 95 percent of the 268 trials reviewed so far.

Translate that into human lives, and you’ll find 32 defendants sentenced to death. Of those, 14 already have been executed or died while serving time.

In Texas, forensic flaws were found in 21 state and federal cases. That number includes five defendants now on death row and five who have been executed.

The feds have advised defendants and prosecutors in all the tainted cases to consider whether grounds for appeals exist. Keep in mind that the hair testimony was not necessarily the only evidence in every case.

Not long after the federal review began, the Texas Forensic Science Commission stepped up to do its own examinations of state convictions involving microscopic hair analysis. While the national review’s focus is FBI training, the Texas panel is looking at practices in state, county and municipal labs. Its review is ongoing.

The so-called science behind hair forensics went under the microscope after the National Academy of Sciences labeled the evidence unreliable in a searing 2009 report.

The FBI review, in partnership with the New York-based National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Innocence Project, is looking at 2,500 cases involving hair matches nationwide. The report released over the weekend is just the first of many still to come.

The government’s admissions, which could force retrials in hundreds of cases, are most concerning in instances in which the bad science was used in death-penalty cases.

The erroneous evidence uncovered in this review is a painful reminder of the aftermath of the ghastly murder of 7-year-old Ashley Estell, abducted in 1993 from a Plano, Texas, park. Authorities thought they had the right suspect, but after Michael Blair spent 14 years on death row, the case against him came apart.

The weak link? Supposed expert testimony based on hairfiber analysis produced damning trial evidence, but the findings were later discredited by newly developed DNA technology.

Whether you favor capital punishment or oppose the death penalty you want to get it right. It’s important to be sure that the actual perpetrator is not on the loose.

Junk science has no place in the criminal justice system.