DNA is on trial yet again; the battle gets nastier and the stakes, higher

Article Abstract:

Two leading expert witnesses on DNA fingerprinting are accused of obfuscation by defense attorneys seeking to overturn a conviction based on the controversial method. Attorneys Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck are asking for a retrial of US v Yee, in which three alleged Hell's Angels were convicted of weapons charges. The defense claims scientists C. Thomas Caskey and Stephen A. Daiger failed to reveal their DNA fingerprinting grant applications with the National Institute of Justice, a branch of the Justice Department. The defense also claims the government is ignoring debate in the scientific community over the accuracy of DNA fingerprinting in its effort to get the technique accepted in courts.

DNA testing, DNA identification

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'Junk science' rule used broadly; judges learning Daubert

Article Abstract:

Federal decisions issued since Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals indicate judicial willingness to apply the decision broadly to all expert testimony, not just to novel scientific evidence. Experts subjected to the Daubert test since the decision in June 1993 include an accountant, two economists and a clinical physician. However, the cases which have applied Daubert standards since June were all pending when that decision was handed down, so it is still not clear what use plaintiffs and defendants will make of Daubert in the future.

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Supreme Court eases admissibility of experts; Justices abandon Frye in favor of more liberal Federal Rule 702

Article Abstract:

The US Supreme Court ruled on Jun 28, 1993 in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals that the new Federal Rules of Evidence mandated a more liberal rule for admitting scientific evidence than the 70-year-old Frye rule. The Rules require that scientific testimony be reliable and relevant to the case under consideration. This decision should augur easier acceptance of expert evidence from both sides by the courts.

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