Forensic Memory Detection Tests Less Effective in Older Adults

 

Julia Bazinet 

Mr. Ippolito

Forensics

Current Event  10/21/21 
            For my current event, I chose to read about how Forensic memory tests are not effective on adults. The article claims that “Findings show that concealed information tests relying on the electrical activity of the brain (electroencephalography [EEG]) are ineffective in older adults because of changes to  recognition-related brain activity that occurs with aging.” EEG-based forensic memory detection is based on the belief that given any guilty suspect, they will contain knowledge about the crimes they have committed. So, when confronted, “their brains will elicit a recognition response in the EEG when confronted with reminders of their crimes.”            A study was done, and participants of the study ( 30 participants who were under the age of 30and 30 participants who were over the age of 65) underwent a concealed information test. They were asked if they “recognized details from a mock crime they had just committed.” If any participant recalled any details told to them, that would indicate they were guilty. Yet, something intriguing happened in the study; only young adults showed a strong EEG recognition response to reminders of the crime. Responses were absent from the older group of people participating in the study. This is interesting because the older group of participants had thesame knowledge about the crime as the younger group. Additionally, the younger and older groups had just as good general recognition memory ability.     

This was an impactful finding because the research by Cortex claimed and then went on to announce that EEG-based forensic memory detection tests have limited practical applications with less validity in older adults than younger populations. It is now known that EEG-based forensic memory detection in older age is impaired.        The article I chose was very organized and well written. I like how they described and explained the experiment they did; the way the author wrote it made the study easy to understand. Yet, I wish that the author provided some visuals from the study or any studies like it done in the past. To visually be able to see the difference of EEG recognition response among age groups was something I was looking for. I also wish the author explained what exactly is EEG testing, as well as included some details about it. For example, maybe like how long it has been around, crime cases that it helped solve, or maybe list some famous cases the EEG was sued in.

 However, I enjoyed reading this article and it reminded me that even though technology can be great, it does have its flaws. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/05/210520133724.htm “Forensic Memory Detection Tests Less Effective in Older Adults.” ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily, 20 May 2021, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/05/210520133724.htm. 

New Evidence Presented in Texas Death Row Inmate's Hearing

Kelly Baclija
Mr. Ippolito

Forensics

October 21, 2021

“New Evidence Presented in Texas Death Row Inmate's Hearing.” AP NEWS, Associated Press, 19 Oct. 2021, https://apnews.com/article/austin-texas-forensics-377416e8cf8a7613b2cd159fc8b6ef4f.

An attorney for a Texas death row inmate has told a judge that new evidence suggests the 19-year-old woman his client was convicted of killing may instead have been strangled by her jealous boyfriend. Rodney Reed was convicted in the 1996 rape and murder of Stacy Stites in Bastrop, a rural community about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of Austin. Reed’s attorney argued Monday before state District Judge J.D. Langley that new witnesses and forensic evidence support theories that Stites and Reed were having an affair and that Stites could have been killed by her fiancé, former police officer Jimmy Fennell, according to the Austin American-Statesman. Reed, 53, has long said he believes Fennell killed Stites because he was angry about their relationship. Prosecutors said none of the new evidence changes the facts of the case that led to Reed’s conviction. Fennell has denied any involvement in Stites’ killing. New witnesses included Arthur Snow Jr. who said Fennell told him during a prison-yard conversation that he had to kill his fiancée. Fennell had been imprisoned at the time for an unrelated kidnapping and sexual assault conviction. New forensic evidence from multiple scientists who took the stand suggested Stites could have died during times that Fennell testified he had been with her. “A new jury, hearing this evidence, would have a reasonable doubt in this case,” said Jane Pucher, one of Reed’s attorneys with the Innocence Project, a criminal justice advocacy group. Langley said he hopes to make his recommendation to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals before the end of the month. The state’s highest criminal court will decide whether Reed’s conviction should stand, he should go free or deserves a new trial. It halted Reed’s scheduled execution in 2019, after his conviction was questioned by new evidence that his supporters said raised serious doubt about his guilt.

In the field of forensic science, the discoveries shown in this article indicate that even though a case may have been solved and closed, there is always new evidence that can surface and alter the outcome of a trial, whether it be the remains of a body discovered, or a new witness. It is incredibly important to consider the new evidence to ensure that the person accused is actually guilty of the crime; in this situation, it could be the matter of life and death of an innocent person. Although the new findings do not immediately incriminate Fenell, it should definitely be reexamined by a jury since it may indicate his involvement in Stites’ rape and murder. The effect on society of this case is that no matter how long a trial may have ended or been solved, there can always be new evidence that requires a court to look at the case with a new perspective. 

I believe this article is well-written; the author provides a strong background to the reader and explains all the necessary details in understanding this case. They also state at the end the current standings of both Reed and Fenell and how this may change based on what a new trial can determine. Furthermore, they include several quotes from people involved in this case, which can strengthen the author’s credibility. Something that would have improved the article is possibly explain both of the relationships between Stiles and Fenell and Reed, respectively. If there was a history of abuse or assault in one of them, for instance, it could prove that there was a stronger likelihood that one of them were involved in the murder. 

 

We Trained AI to Recognise Footprints, but It Won't Replace Forensic Experts Yet

 

Donna Napolitano

Forensics, E/F Block Odd

Current Event

9-27-21

Article Link: 

Matthew Robert Bennett Professor of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, and

Marcin Budka Professor of Data Science. “We Trained Ai to Recognise Footprints,

but It Won't Replace Forensic Experts Yet.” The Conversation, 18 Aug. 2021,

https://theconversation.com/we-trained-ai-to-recognise-footprints-but-it-wont-replac

-forensic-experts-yet-161686. 

Matthew Robert Bennett’s article explains how and why forensic scientists have trained an AI to detect and analyze footprints from a crime scene. As a result of bloody footprints being an extremely common sight and piece of evidence at crime scenes, investigators typically analyze these prints in an attempt to reconstruct events and to sometimes profile a suspect. Additionally, as stated above, shoe prints are one of the most common types of evidence as their traces are typically found near window sills, doors, floors, etc...and the size of these footprints are often used to figure out a suspect’s height, weight, and even gender. In a recent study, a group of scientists created a neural network (which is a form of AI) and asked the AI to analyze a set of footprints and to determine the person’s gender through its analysis. The AI guessed the gender of the person with 90% accuracy. Furthermore, because analyzing footprints is a tedious process, experts created the AI in an attempt to increase the process’s accuracy. For instance, in one experiment, a footwear investigator was given 100 randomly selected shoe prints to analyze, yet the investigator’s accuracy only ranged from 22% and 83%. While the AI was given the same set of data and had an accuracy ranging from 60% and 91%, therefore the AI seemed to be a good substitute for a footprint specialist and, in the end, can help to increase an analyst’s accuracy. All in all, the AI had been created to aid forensic scientists in reducing the amount of work they need to do when solving a case, helping them to focus on other aspects of the crime while the AI can be used to analyze footprints.

As a result of shoe prints being one of the most common types of evidence found at crime scenes, the creation of this new AI that can help investigators analyze footprints in a more accurate manner. This AI seems to be the type of technology that could take the burden off of investigators’ chests, aiding them in focusing on more complex cases, rather than the analysis of crime scene footprints. For instance, because the size of footprints can help investigators figure out a suspect’s height, weight, and even gender, the AI can be used to do the same, while investigators can analyze different aspects of a case, helping to move it along quicker than before. To add to that, when comparing an AI and a footprint investigator, the AI’s footprint analysis accuracy was higher than that of the investigator, proving how important the AI can truly be throughout forensic investigations and why this method needs to be utilized across the globe. Furthermore, the article also mentioned how there are fewer than thirty footwear experts in the UK today, therefore the AI can also serve as a replacement for these types of experts and help to increase their productivity. Overall, because analyzing footwear is fairly challenging, the work of these investigators often needs to be looked over by another expert and the AI can be the one to do so.

After reading Bennett's article, I noted a variety of strengths and weaknesses. First off, I enjoyed how he started off the article with examples of why footprints are common to see at crime scenes and why they are so crucial to the investigation as his examples and explanations aided readers in truly understanding the importance of footprint analysis and why creating an AI to analyze these prints would be so useful. I also enjoyed how Bennett was able to back all of his claims with evidence and explain the importance of footprint investigators when working on a case. However, I did feel as if his article was a bit repetitive at times as he seemed to state the same few things about the importance of footprints and why the AI had been made in a variety of ways, instead of bringing up new points. Basically, I wish Bennett had altered the wording he had utilized in the article, adding a few more interesting details in order to make his writing more engaging and maintain a range of things he was talking about.

How Indirect DNA Transfer Is Challenging Forensics and Overturning Wrongful Convictions.

 

Bethany Lee

Mr. Ippolito

Forensics//EF Odd

October 3, 2021

Lucchesi, Emilie Le Beau. “How Indirect DNA Transfer Is Challenging Forensics and

Overturning Wrongful Convictions.” Discover Magazine, Discover Magazine, 15 Sept. 2021, https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/how-indirect-dna-transfer-is-challenging-forensics-and-overturning-wrongful. 

Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi’s September 15, 2021 article titled” How Indirect DNA Transfer Is Challenging Forensics and Overturning Wrongful Convictions” discusses recent findings that are very important to ensure that justice is brought to a crime’s victim(s) and perpetrator(s). The article outlines indirect/secondary DNA transfer, which occurs when an individual’s DNA spreads to objects and places via other human carriers. Depending on the material where it settles, it can be indirectly transferred as many as six times, according to Cynthia Cal, an independent forensic consultant who specializes in secondary DNA transfer. The author goes on to discuss the 2012 wrongful arrest of Lukis Anderson, a 25-year-old homeless man in San Jose, California who was accused of murdering a wealthy investor who lived more than 10 miles away. At the center of this case was the revelation that DNA evidence and secondary transfer had misled the police and prosecutors at the time of Anderson’s arrest. 

The case involved three intruders who broke into the investor’s home and then bound him and his wife. As a result, the investor died from asphyxiation while gagged. Police found two perpetrators’ DNA at the crime scene and then Anderson’s DNA on the victim’s fingernail. Santa Clara County public defender Kelley Kulick was assigned to the case. Her office’s investigator found that Anderson had been detoxing in the hospital the entire time the crime was committed; he was held in the hospital on 15-minute bed checks all night, so there was no way he could committed the homicide. Through further investigation, her team traced Anderson through the night of the crime: he had been publicly intoxicated and a store owner called the paramedics. It was discovered that the same ambulance that brought Anderson to the hospital picked up the homicide victim just hours later, the same paramedics who treated Anderson later responded to the homicide victim, and their equipment, including the finger pulsometer, was used in both cases. Consequently, Anderson was cleared of the crime, and three men were later convicted in the investor’s murder. This made it clear to the world that yes, indeed secondary DNA transfer is possible. Prior to this case, there was much speculation over whether DNA could actually attach to an object from a secondary, not a primary transfer. The case against Anderson was unique because the shared ambulance provided a timeline and Kulick was able to convince prosecutors to drop charges against her client. Nevertheless, because there is no precise timeline yet determined, it is likely that prosecutors will not be persuaded, and defense attorneys will have to try to educate and convince a jury for the foreseeable future. 

Overall, Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi did a great job of outlining what the discovery that secondary DNA transfer does occur will have on generations to come. As a burgeoning idea that is coming into the radar of more and more police and forensic scientists, any wrongful convictions will soon be overturned. As Americans, it is of utmost importance that each and every individual be granted due process under the law and that people are convicted on the basis of substantiated, corroborating evidence. As we move forward, we strive as a nation to seek justice wherever there is a lack of it. Some weaknesses of Le Beau Lucchesi’s article are that she did not provide enough detail about any other factors that may have led to the conviction of Lukis Anderson. It would also have been interesting to learn how those two men who were later convicted in the investor’s were found and prosecuted years after the fact.  

Can Ancient DNA Methods Be Used to Improve Success Rate of Forensic Id?

 

Amelia Koenig

Forensics

Current Event 3

October 1, 2021

Taylor, Michelle. “Can Ancient DNA Methods Be Used to Improve Success Rate 

of Forensic Id?” Forensic®, 1 Oct. 2021, https://www.forensicmag.com/579779-Can-Ancient-DNA-Methods-Be-Used-to-Improve-Success-Rate-of-Forensic-ID/.

Elena Zavala, a graduate student at Maxstudent Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, completed a Ph.D. in ancient DNA after a master’s in forensic sciences in order to deeper understand the significance of ancient DNA testing and its relevance in modern forensics. Anthropologists use 300,000-year-old ancient DNA (aDNA) in order to assist their studies and identify human evolution and population. “By virtue of time, this aDNA arrives at the lab highly degraded,” and Elena Zavala has proposed a new technique that can be used for forensic sciences braised on this idea (Taylor 2021). According to a 2015 case study performed by the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL), their attempts at identifying degraded mtDNA from victims of the Korean was only 44 percent; when Zavala was granted access to the unsuccessful fragments, she was able to identify “between 2 and 37x as many DNA fragments that mapped to the human genome than any of the other extraction protocols” (Taylor 2021). Demonstrating its potential long-term benefits on the world of forensic sciences. 

This article and the ideas that it presents in the world of forensic sciences are potentially revolutionary. Although this article does acknowledge that this technology is still being tweaked in order to be more accurate and preservepreserves as much DNA as possible, it is incredible to think that this new method of extraction could allow scientists to access more than twice the amount of genetic material previously thought possible. This case study was performed on victims of war tragedies and scientists being able to identify the individuals lost would allow thousands of families closure that they are currently lacking due to modern science. I also think that it is really interesting how we have been able to convert a method of DNA extraction from historic remains to be applicable to modern crimes and forensic cases. Zavala said she and her team will continue working on the project to test the impacts of this method and trace how much mtDNA canmtDNA that can be recovered.

Overall I found this article not only very well written but also educational and interesting to read. I liked how the author chose to write the article without expressing her one opinion allowing the reader to clearly understand the science behind the extraction and the revolutionary shifts that we can expect to see. I wish, howeverwish however that she included more information about the case study and what other studies they have planed in order to incorporate this new/ remodeled technology into modern forensic practices and labs.