Pseudo Science in the Courtroom: Bullet Lead Analysis

The FBI crime lab in Quantico conducted bullet lead analysis for federal, state, local and foreign law enforcement agencies from the early 1980s to 2005 in over 2,500 criminal cases. They claimed to be able to match a bullet recovered from a crime scene to the exact box of ammunition from which the bullet originated. However, the technique was never scientifically tested until 1998 when the former chief metallurgist for the FBI retired and conducted his own tests. In 2002, the National Academies of Sciences evaluated the technique and found it to be unreliable. In 2005, the FBI issued a press release announcing they would no longer conduct bullet lead analysis. However, as of 2007, hundreds of people in the United States remained incarcerated on convictions based on this debunked forensics technique.

#innocenceproject
#Crimelabscandal
#forensics
#bulletfingerprinting
#bulletleadanalysis

[TheEarthCreature]

Thanks Dr. Jon... Fun fact: My name is also Jon. Your videos are always enlightening and wonderful to watch. You are a smart man and your calm demeanor in being able to explain these complex topics is very refreshing. Thanks as always!

[tomjackson]

I commented in one of your earlier videos about the so-called bite expert and hoped you would cover him and here it is. I remember one case that put an innocent man in prison and his, dare I say it, rabid defense of his flawed technique. The ridiculous efforts he made to get his cast of the accused man's teeth pattern to fit was insulting to watch and I wondered how a jury fell for it. I think this so-called expert is still trying to defend himself and his accuracy. He practices in Mississippi, where I grew up, and the attitude there is the arrest is the conviction. They will even claim that if a man is found not guilty he tricked the system. "Hit wuz all them damn lawyer tricks, ah gettn' that feller off. I shudda been on that jury, ah tell ya. You wunt kech me fallen fur that." Justice is blind there for sure, blind drunk.

[currawong]

Your presentation is very interesting but even more, it is deeply disturbing....I sense that the lack of forensic rigor was knowingly applied...if not, what was the supposed scientifically based crime lab at Quantico thinking...or not thinking? This must have been willful fraud, and it should be prosecuted.

[JoseSilveira-newhandleforYT]

It's appalling to realize how easily questionable "science" gains enough status, to interfere with people's lives. In this case, people being sent to jail, because they bought ammo from the same store as a killer, is a scary prospect. Good to know the method flaws stopped its use, but that realization should have immediately brought under review all cases based on the flawed method.

[nbrown]

I thought bullet matching was to the barrel, each barrel is supposed to leave a unique signature then I heard that was shot down lol.

[jayjayquest]

This is frightening to think of going through. I feel awful for those who've suffered such indignity. No innocent person deserves this. I think the second president of the U.S. summed it up best:
“It is more important that innocence be protected than it is that guilt be punished, for guilt and crimes are so frequent in this world that they cannot all be punished." - John Adams

[billweasley]

It still seems like this is useful evidence, even if it isn't conclusive. Knowing that the bullet found at the crime scene is consistent with ammunition found in the possession of a suspect would just be part of the case brought against the person. It wouldn't be any different from saying that the weight, brand, and caliber of a bullet matched.

[ArthurTheLibraryDetective]

Woe and Wow...the boxes of bullets..Yikes.

[michaelpettersson]

Junk forensics used in TV shows could effect real courtrooms. If someone seen something on TV they may belive it to be true. As such they may not question such junk forensics in a real court.

[milesobrien]

One of the reasons I stopped watching all the CSI shows. Glib pseudoscience that _solves_ the crime. All in 42 minutes! This has affected the jury pool in such a way as to negate factual evidence because "I seen on TV that forensics is unpossible to defute!" So prosecutors load up their witness lists with endless, droning _experts_ that jurors are bedazzled with and duped into thinking that _scientific_ testimony is proof absolute. Lazy prosecutors, lazy police detectives and lazy lawyers combined with downright stupid, lazy jurors makes for a lot of bad convictions.

[neilhales]

Not completely useless: analysis could show that it was very unlikely that a bullet fragment had come from a specific pack of bullets. This would be even more convincing if all available bullets from the pack were analysed to show the mean and distribution of the analysis. But that evidence would tend to acquit so it is hardly useful as forensic science, at least to the police.

[Paladin]

Are you familiar with attempts to prove empty shell case markings can be matched to specific firearms? It appears to be more junk science. Another one is matching bullets to rifling marks. While this is a well established and accepted practice, it can be abused or defeated. And let's not forget blood splatter analysis and questionable DNA results. The list goes on.

[KarlDMarx]

The Phantom of Heilbronn, often alternatively referred to as the "Woman Without a Face", was a hypothesized unknown female serial killer whose existence was inferred from DNA evidence found at numerous crime scenes in Austria, France and Germany from 1993 to 2009. The six murders among these included that of police officer Michèle Kiesewetter, in Heilbronn, Germany on 25 April 2007.