Office of Defender Services
TRAINING BRANCH
- Video: Challenging Laboratory Reports Received in Discovery
by Marc Scott Taylor, President and Laboratory Director, Technical Associates, Inc., Ventura, CA
- Video: Discovery and Challenges to Crime Labs
by Christopher McKee, Esq., Adjunct Professor, Colorado University School of Law at Boulder, Former Special Counsel, Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia
- Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward
by Committee on Identifying the Needs of the Forensic Sciences Community, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences
(Click above link for free online access to content, and pdf version of executive summary.)
- Video: Understanding the NAS Report and Filing Pre-Trial Motions to Attack the Government's Use of Expert Testimony
by Melinda Sarafa, Esq., Sarafa Law, LLC, New York, NY
- The National Academy of Sciences Report on Forensic Sciences: What it Means for the Bench and Bar
by The Honorable Harry T. Edwards, Senior Circuit Judge and Chief Judge Emeritus, United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Co-Chair, Committee on Identifying the Needs of the Forensic Science Community, The National Academy of Sciences
(This speech, given at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia Conference on The Role of the Court in an Age of Developing Science & Technology, is useful in addressing the limits on admissibility of the government's forensic examiner testimony.)
- Forensic Science Exposed as Non-Science: National Academy of Sciences Issues Critical Report
by Robert Epstein, Assistant Federal Defender, Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- Some Forensic Evidence Resources in a Criminal Fact Investigation
by Gary Eldredge, Gary Eldredge & Associates, Criminal Investigations
- Reasonable Doubt in the Age of CSI: Experts and Science in the Court Room
by Ed Ungvarsky, Special Counsel to the Director, Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia
- Identifying, Locating and Preparing Experts and Science in the Courtroom
by Ed Ungvarsky, Special Counsel to the Director, Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia
- Video: Attacking and Understanding DNA
by Larry Tipton, Attorney-in-Charge, Committee for Public Counsel Services, Norfolk County Superior Court Office, Dedham, MA
- DNA for the Defense Bar
NIJ guide designed specifically for criminal defense lawyers offering a primer on foresnic DNA, working with expert witnesses, trial issues, and post-conviction DNA testing.
- DNA
Materials Compiled by Ed Ungvarsky, Special Counsel to the Director, Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia,Washington, DC
- The Fingerprint Sourcebook
by Scientific Working Group on Friction Ridge Analysis, Study and Technology (SWGFAST), et al.
(Published by the National Institute of Justice, this book covers topics such as the anatomy and physiology of friction ridge skin; techniques for recording exemplars from both living and deceased subjects; the FBI's Automated Fingerprint Identifications Systems (AFIS); latent print development, preservation and documentation; equipment and laboratory quality assurance; perceptual, cognitive and psychological factors in expert identifications; and legal issues.)
- Video: Fingerprints: Understanding & Challenging Science
by Robert Epstein, Assistant Federal Defender, E.D. PA
- Finger Prints Meet Daubert: The Myth of Fingerprint “Science” is Revealed
by Robert Epstein, Assistant Federal Defender, E.D. PA
- Video: Attacking Trace Evidence Such as Fingerprints, Toolmarks and Firearm Matches
by Jack Cunha, Cunha and Holcomb Attorneys at Law, Boston, MA
- Video: Firearm and Toolmark Identification
by Jack Cunha, Cunha and Holcomb Attorneys at Law, Boston, MA
- Video: The ABC's of Computer Crimes' Forensics
by Rick Lavaty, Computer Systems Administrator, D. AZ, and Troy Schnack, Computer Systems Administrator, W.D. MO