Autopsy of a Crime Lab: Exposing the Flaws in Forensics

The Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School hosted a talk with author Brandon Garrett on his new book “Autopsy of a Crime Lab: Exposing the Flaws in Forensics.” This book exposes the imperfect forensic evidence that we rely on for criminal convictions. He was joined by Dr. Itiel Dror, University College London, and Maneka Sinha, University of Maryland Carey School of Law.

Autopsy of a Crime Lab is the first book to catalog the sources of error and the faulty science behind a range of well-known forensic evidence, from fingerprints and firearms to forensic algorithms. Garrett poses the questions that should be asked in courtrooms every day: Where are the studies that validate the basic premises of widely accepted techniques such as fingerprinting? How can experts testify with 100 percent certainty about a fingerprint, when there is no such thing as a 100 percent match? Where is the quality control in the laboratories and at the crime scenes? Should we so readily adopt powerful new technologies like facial recognition software and rapid DNA machines? And why have judges been so reluctant to consider the weaknesses of so many long-accepted methods?

Taking us into the lives of the wrongfully convicted or nearly convicted, into crime labs rocked by scandal, and onto the front lines of promising reform efforts driven by professionals and researchers alike, Autopsy of a Crime Lab illustrates the persistence and perniciousness of shaky science and its well-meaning practitioners.