N.J. Murder Case Reversed Over FBI Bullet Tests

The Washington Post ^ | March 8, 2005 | NA

[neverdem]

Associated Press

A New Jersey appeals court overturned a 1997 murder conviction yesterday, ruling an FBI crime lab technique that prosecutors relied on to link the fatal bullets to the defendant was based on "erroneous scientific foundations."

The decision is believed to be the first to overturn a conviction based on a challenge to the FBI analysis of the lead content of bullets since the National Academy of Sciences last year raised new questions about the technique the FBI has used for decades to match bullets to crimes.

FBI Lab Director Dwight E. Adams asked for the academy study in 2003 after retired bureau metallurgist William A. Tobin questioned the validity of the science that matches bullets by comparing the chemical composition of their lead content. Adams has estimated that the technique has been used in about 2,500 cases since 1980, and has been mentioned in court testimony about 500 times.

Tobin's sworn statement in the New Jersey case resulted in a new trial for Michael S. Behn, who was sentenced to life in prison after his 1997 conviction in the shooting death of a coin dealer.

The FBI is the only law enforcement agency that analyzes the metal content of bullets. It is done when bullet fragments are too small or damaged to compare the marks left on the slug by the barrel of the firearm. The goal is to determine whether the bullet from the crime matches other bullets found in the suspect's possession or weapon.

In a technique known as chaining, researchers compare the amounts of trace elements in bullets. If they find that bullet A is like bullet B and B is like C and C is like D and so on, they then conclude that A is the same as E because they are part...

[GSlob]

And what to do if the perp loads the weapon with a mixture of different bullet batches, even from different manufacturers? Say, Sierra - Barnes - Hornady - Black Hills - Black Talon - Cor-Bon - Remington - Speer (in order of loading). If the bullet weights are similar, so would be short-distance ballistics, and there could be no 2 bullets from the same batch in perp's firearm.

[montag813]

Sounds like rather a suspect technique, frankly.

[af_vet_1981]

Did he have the stolen coins or not ?

[Sonny M]

You give me one minuit, tops, and I'll make sure no bullet already fired can match the gun it originally came from.

[neverdem]

Did he have the stolen coins or not ?

I don't know. I posted it because the technique the FBI used and the assumptions that were made seem so lame.

[Ibredd]

Reminds me of a trial I heard about regarding a stolen watch and the jury found the suspect not guilty, but he kept sitting there and the judge kept telling him he was free to go, so findly he could not help himself as he just had to know. He said but judge do I gets to keep the watch.

[Coleus]

FBI Lab Report Raises Specter of National Scandal

 

FBI Lab Work Under Serious Scrutiny | April 16, 2003

 

Forensic Justice Project: Tainting Evidence

[TC Rider]

Mixed bullets are probably not that uncommon on the street.

I sat on a jury where the perps had a mossberg 12 gauge. The 4 shells recovered were all different makes, colors and shots.

I doubt it was intentional, probably stole the shotgun and found the loose rounds nearby.

[neverdem]

Thanks for the links!

[af_vet_1981]

Reminds me of a trial I heard about regarding a stolen watch and the jury found the suspect not guilty, but he kept sitting there and the judge kept telling him he was free to go, so findly he could not help himself as he just had to know. He said but judge do I gets to keep the watch.

This is injust. The court should discover the truth, liberate the innocent, comfort and aid the victim, and hang the guilty.