The Federal Bureau of Investigation recently found itself forced by the exoneration of a wrongfully convicted man to admit its hair analysis slanted for decades in favor of prosecutions, even in several capital cases.
Four months after a Washington, D.C. man was cleared by DNA when the hair analysis used to convict him was found to be wrong, his conviction was vacated Monday. Kevin Martin’s exoneration comes nearly one year after the Innocence Project and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) announced its partnership with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the U.S. Department of Justice to review microscopic hair analysis cases.
Martin was convicted of the 1982 rape and murder of Ursula Brown based largely on the claim that his hair was found at the scene of the crime. He spent more than 26 years behind bars before he was paroled in 2009 and settled in San Francisco.
The Washington Post reported that after DNA testing pointed to Martin’s innocence earlier this year, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. joined defense calls to overturn his conviction. http://www.innocenceproject.org/news-events-exonerations/d-c-man-exonerated-after-hair-analysis-reviewNine defendants whose cases included erroneous testimony have been executed and
five died of other causes while on death row.
http://www.innocenceproject.org/files/FBIHairReview_1pager_FINAL.pdf
Sucks to get perhaps wrongfully executed. No do overs, huh?
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