The Myth of Fingerprints

From the New York Times:

Future historians of science and law may well date the beginning of the end of fingerprinting to the opening night of the third season of "The Sopranos." Coked to the gills, Christopher Moltisanti, Tony Soprano's nephew, brings Livia Soprano's wake to an absurd anticlimax as he muses on the claim that no two fingerprints are exactly alike. For scientists to know this, Christopher reasons, they would have to get everyone in the world together in one room to check. And not just everyone in the world, but everyone who ever lived. Since this would be impossible -- even using computers -- he concludes, "They got nothin."'

He's right, as it turns out. The claim that no fingerprint has ever appeared twice was first popularized more than a hundred years ago, and by dint of analogy (with other natural objects like snowflakes), lack of contradiction and relentless repetition, this bit of folk wisdom became deeply enshrined. By extension, it lent the technique of forensic fingerprint analysis an aura of infallibility. More than just a useful tool, it came to be regarded as a perfect system of identification, and examiners' testimony at criminal trials came to be practically unassailable.

Until now, that is. In 1998, in Delaware County, Pa., Richard Jackson was sentenced to life in prison for murder based largely on a fingerprint match to which three experts had testified. The defense argued, unsuccessfully, that it was a bad match. But after Jackson spent more than two years in prison the prosecution conceded the error, and he was freed. In Scotland a murder case was upended when detectives found a fingerprint at the scene of the crime that belonged to a police officer -- who claimed she'd never been there in the first place. To verify her claim, she brought in two fingerprint analysts who attested that not only had her fingerprint been misidentified, but so had the print, found on a tin at the home of the accused, originally attributed to the victim.

As these cases suggest, the relevant question isn't whether fingerprints could ever be exactly alike -- it's whether they are ever similar enough to fool a fingerprint examiner. And the answer, it's increasingly, unnervingly clear, is a resounding yes. A recent proficiency test found that as many as one out of five fingerprint examiners misidentified fingerprint samples. In the last three years, defendants in at least 11 criminal cases have filed motions arguing that fingerprinting does not meet even the basic requirements for scientific and technical evidence. The first such challenge -- filed on behalf of Byron Mitchell, who was being tried for robbery -- involved five full days of testimony on the credibility of the technique by leading fingerprint examiners and academic critics, including myself. There's no way to say how these cases, some of which are still on appeal, will be decided, but it is clear that puncturing the myth of fingerprinting's infallibility and scientific validity poses a grave threat to its century-long reign.

But ultimately, the most dangerous threat to fingerprinting may be cultural, not legal. Much of the public's faith in fingerprinting has derived not from law but from culture: from the ubiquitous use of the fingerprint as a metaphor (think of chemical and electronic fingerprints); as an icon (think of advertisements, mystery novels and the Court TV logo) of truth, science and most of all, individual identity. Our fingerprints were unique, and, therefore, so were we. As it happens, a new metaphor has arisen just in time to fill the breach. These days we are increasingly apt to believe that our individuality is vouched for by the unique arrangement of genetic material in our cells. And DNA can now do nearly everything that fingerprinting does. Forensic scientists can recover identifiable DNA samples from ever-smaller traces of biological material, even the stray cells left by the smudge of a finger. Forensic DNA profiling, which has notably shed the early nickname of "DNA fingerprinting," is a perfect match for high-tech millennial sensibilities. Old-style fingerprinting, with its reliance on human observation and its correspondence to a romantic notion of our place in the universe looks . . . well, just so last century.

Full article here.

Interesting Case out of the 9th Circuit on Rules for Computer Searches

En banc, the 9th Circuit, in an opinion by Kozinski, issues a major ruling on how the government is to go about obtaining and executing warrants for computer searches.

http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2009/08/26/05-10067eb.pdf

IN RE: SEARCH WARRANTS EXECUTED ON APRIL 8, 2004 AT CDT, INC., In Re, No. 05-55354 ý D.C. No. SEAL 1, CV-04-02887-FMC Plaintiff-Appellant, OPINION v. SEAL 2, Defendant-Appellee.

Argued and Submitted December 18, 2008—Pasadena, California Filed August 26, 2009 Before: Alex Kozinski, Chief Judge,

Here's Kozinski's summary of the new rules:

We accept the reality that such over-seizing is an inherent part of the electronic search process and proceed on the assumption that, when it comes to the seizure of electronic records, this will be far more common than in the days of paper records. This calls for greater vigilance on the part of judicial officers in striking the right balance between the government’s interest in law enforcement and the right of individuals to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. The process of segregating electronic data that is seizable from that which is not must not become a vehicle for the government to gain access to data which it has no probable cause to collect. In general, we adopt Tamura’s solution to the problem of necessary over-seizing of evidence: When the government wishes to obtain a warrant to examine a computer hard drive or electronic storage medium in searching for certain incriminating files, or when a search for evidence could result in the seizure of a computer, see, e.g., United States v. Giberson, 527 F.3d 882 (9th Cir. 2008), magistrate judges must be vigilant in observing the guidance we have set out throughout our opinion, which can be summed up as follows:

1. Magistrates should insist that the government waive reliance upon the
plain view doctrine in digital evidence cases. See p. 11876 supra.

2. Segregation and redaction must be either done by specialized personnel or
an independent third party. See pp. 11880-81 supra. If the segregation is to
be done by government computer personnel, it must agree in the warrant
application that the computer personnel will not disclose to the
investigators any information other than that which is the target of the
warrant.

3. Warrants and subpoenas must disclose the actual risks of destruction of
information as well as prior efforts to seize that information in other
judicial fora. See pp. 11877-78, 11886-87 supra.

4. The government’s search protocol must be designed to uncover only the
information for which it has probable cause, and only that information may
be examined by the case agents. See pp. 11878, 11880-81 supra.

5. The government must destroy or, if the recipient may lawfully possess it,
return non-responsive data, keeping the issuing magistrate informed about
when it has done so and what it has kept. See p. 11881-82 supra.

Picking Cotton: New Memoir Tells the Story of the Human Costs of Mistaken Eyewitness Identification

Most people who follow the work of the Innocence Project have heard the tale of Ronald Cotton and Jennifer Thompson-Cannino. Mr. Cotton was wrongfully convicted and spent eleven years in prison after Ms. Thompson-Cannino mistakenly identified him as her attacker. Exonerated by DNA, Mr. Cotton and Ms. Thompson-Cannino have become allies and activists in the Innocence and Eyewitness Identification reform movement. In February, their memoir was published. The memoir focuses on how Mr. Cotton was picked, the journey through court twice, and what came after Mr. Cotton was exonerated. Mr. Cotton and Ms. Thompson-Cannino are currently touring around the country speaking about innocence and eyewitness identification. For more information on the case, click here.
Here is is a video that examine some of the flaws of Eyewitness Identification:

Interpol-U.S. National Central Bureau

The Interpol-U.S. National Central Bureau (USNCB), a component of the U.S. Department of Justice, serves as the United States’ representative to INTERPOL, the International Criminal Police Organization. The USNCB is the central point of contact for all INTERPOL matters in the United States, including secure communications with police authorities in INTERPOL’s 187 member countries and access to INTERPOL’s various databases containing information on wanted persons, terrorists, missing persons, stolen and lost passports and travel documents, stolen vehicles, and other law enforcement information. On a daily basis, the USNCB coordinates and transmits requests for criminal investigative and humanitarian assistance between American federal, state and local law enforcement authorities and their foreign counterparts.

Arson Investigation

InterFIRE.org, is the complete resource for fire services, fire insurers, law enforcement and others whose duties involve arson investigation, fire investigation safety and fire scene training.

Their online training center provides interactive tutorials on critical fire and arson investigation procedures. Their latest topic is First Response from an Investigative Perspective. This interactive tutorial will allow you to view the same incident from the experiences of fire, police and EMS professionals.

Girl Taken in 1991 Surfaces; Couple Held

A 29-year old woman walked into a northern California police station, saying she was abducted 18 years ago, authorities said Thursday. Two people are being held in connection with the case.

Jaycee Dugard is in good health, el Dorado County sheriff's office said in a statement, but provided no further details.

Meanwhile, in Contra Costa County, another sheriff's spokesman confirmed that that a man and a woman have been arrested in connection with the case but could provide no other details.

CNN affiliates have reported that Phillip Garrido, 58, and his wife, Nancy Garrido, have been charged.

Phillip Garrido is a registered sex offender and listed on the Department of Justice's Megan's Law page because of a previous forcible rape charge. Watch an update on the investigation

An officer at the Contra Costa County Jail in Martinez, California, told CNN that the two had been at the jail and both were ordered held on $1 million bail. The officer said the pair was no longer in the jail but that Phillip Garrido had been booked on charges of kidnapping, conspiracy and related offenses. Nancy Garrido was booked on charges of kidnapping and conspiracy.

Earlier Thursday, Carl Probyn, Dugard's stepfather, told CNN that an FBI agent had called his wife, Terry, on Wednesday afternoon to tell her that Dugard had been found.

The blond-haired, blue-eyed 11-year-old was last seen walking to her bus stop in South Lake Tahoe, California, on June 10, 1991, according to the FBI. She was wearing a pink windbreaker and pink stretch pants.

At the time, "it was reported that a vehicle occupied by two individuals drove up to Jaycee Dugard and abducted her in view of her stepfather," the El Dorado County sheriff's office said on Thursday.

Despite extensive investigations, no sign of her or her possible abductors was ever found, authorities said.

Full article at CNN.com here.

Over 500 Organizations Demand White House End Flawed State And Local Immigration Enforcement Program

The American Civil Liberties Union and 520 other local and national organizations sent a letter to President Obama this week demanding that the administration terminate the 287(g) program that allows certain state and local law enforcement agencies to engage in federal immigration enforcement activities. The fundamentally flawed program has been associated with serious civil rights abuses and public safety concerns.

"The 287(g) program encourages racial profiling, diverts scarce police resources and puts everyone's safety at risk," said Omar Jadwat, a staff attorney with the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project. "State and local police should not be transformed into federal immigration agents – particularly through a program known for cursory oversight and insufficient training. President Obama should end the program immediately."

Local organizations that signed the letter will host vigils, marches and other activities across the country today and tomorrow condemning the administration's decision to expand the 287(g) program and asking that the administration terminate the program.

Since its inception, the 287(g) program has drawn sharp criticism from federal officials, law enforcement and community groups because it has led to illegal racial profiling and civil rights abuses, including the unlawful detention and deportation of U.S. citizens and permanent residents, while diverting scarce resources from traditional local law enforcement functions and distorting immigration enforcement priorities.

This past April, the Police Foundation, a leading nonpartisan, research and training nonprofit organization dedicated to improving public safety, reported that many sheriffs and police chiefs across the country disapprove of the local immigration enforcement program. According to the Police Foundation study, law enforcement executives believe that "immigration enforcement by local police undermines their core public safety mission, diverts scarce resources, increases their exposure to liability and litigation and exacerbates fear in communities already distrustful of police."

"State and local police do not pull drivers over for tax law violations; likewise, they should not pull drivers over for immigration law violations," said Joanne Lin, ACLU Legislative Counsel. "The 287(g) program has proven to be a failure – resulting in rampant illegal profiling by local police under the cloak of federal immigration enforcement power. Department of Homeland Security needs to terminate the 287(g) program."

ACLU affiliates across the country have reported problems and complaints about local law enforcement agencies with 287(g) agreements engaging in profiling and harassing Latino communities. Some of the most serious complaints regard abuses by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office in Arizona, which has one of the largest 287(g) programs in the country. These massive abuses have been fueled by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's federal authority under the program and the absence of ICE monitoring. In July 2008, the ACLU filed a class action lawsuit, Ortega v. Arpaio, against Arpaio and his department challenging the illegal racial profiling of Latinos in Maricopa County.

International Tribunal Takes Up Case Of Innocent Victim Of CIA Extraordinary Rendition Program

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has accepted a petition filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Khaled El-Masri, an innocent victim of the CIA's extraordinary rendition program. The U.S. government has two months to respond to allegations of kidnapping and torture summarily rejected by U.S. courts in 2007.

"The United States has an opportunity to reverse one of the most shameful legacies of the Bush administration and finally give an innocent victim of the extraordinary rendition program his day in court," said Steven Watt, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Human Rights Program. "The State Department should fully engage in this process and comprehensively address the gross violation of El-Masri's human rights, including his forcible disappearance and torture. To date, the United States hasn't so much as acknowledged its involvement in El-Masri's extraordinary rendition."

In 2003, El-Masri, a German citizen, was kidnapped and flown to a CIA-run "black site" in Afghanistan, where he was secretly detained and tortured for months. Although his innocence was clear soon after his detention, the CIA continued to hold El-Masri for four months before flying him to Albania and abandoning him on a hillside in the dead of night. El-Masri has never been charged with a crime.

In 2005, the ACLU sued former CIA Director George Tenet and three U.S.-based aviation corporations that owned or operated the aircraft used by the CIA to render El-Masri to Afghanistan. The lawsuit charged Tenet and others with violating the U.S. Constitution and universal human rights laws. In March 2007, a federal appeals court dismissed the lawsuit because of the government's assertion of the "state secrets" privilege. The U.S. Supreme Court let that decision stand when it refused to hear the case in October 2007.

"The United States, which has historically been a leader in ensuring access to justice for human rights violations around the world, has effectively closed the courtroom door to all victims of the Bush administration's torture regime," said Ben Wizner, staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project. "To date, not a single victim of torture by the U.S. has had his day in court. A review of Mr. El-Masri's case by the IACHR will shed much-needed light on the abuses perpetrated against him and will finally offer a victim of the U.S. torture and rendition program a venue in which his claims can be meaningfully addressed."

The Obama administration recently announced that it will continue to render individuals it suspects of involvement in terrorism to detention in other countries, but that it will monitor all cases to ensure that suspects are not mistreated.

"Any transfer of detainees in U.S. custody to other countries must fully comply with domestic and international human rights law," said Jennifer Turner, researcher with the ACLU Human Rights Program. "Examining the Bush administration rendition program and holding accountable those who broke the law will help to ensure that the same mistakes aren't repeated by the Obama administration."

The IACHR is an autonomous body created by mandate of the Organization of American States to promote and protect human rights in the Americas. The ACLU petition asks that the IACHR declare that the extraordinary rendition program violates the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man; to find the U.S. responsible for violating El-Masri's rights under that declaration; and to recommend that the U.S. publicly acknowledge and apologize for its role in violating El-Masri's rights through forcible disappearance, arbitrary detention and torture.

Attorneys filing the petition on El-Masri's behalf are Watt, Turner and Jamil Dakwar of the ACLU Human Rights Program and Wizner and Melissa Goodman of the ACLU National Security Project.

The ACLU's petition is available online at: www.aclu.org/safefree/torture/34837lgl20080409.html

Dirty Martinis for Clean Water

For People Who Like Their Martinis Dirty and Their Water Clean.

To purchase your ticket
call: 509-835-5211
online: www.cforjustice.org/events

Thank you to our sponsors!
Mosaic SalonSpa
Dry Fly Distilling
The Pacific Northwest Inlander
Spokane's River 99.9 FM

All proceeds benefit the Center for Justice's
Spokane River Program.

The Profiles Series - Association of Certified Fraud Examiners

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners is dedicated to fighting fraud globally. http://www.acfe.com

Sherry Peel Jackson Ex IRS Agent on Income Tax (1 of 2)

Sherry Peel Jackson Ex IRS Agent on Income Tax (2 of 2)

For Group of Skeptics, the Truth Is Out There

From the Wall Street Journal:

Corporate conspiracy theorists, whistle-blowers and suspicious financial minds long have struggled to get an audience for accusations of business fraud.

But on the heels of the Bernard Madoff scandal and a host of smaller Ponzi schemes and misdeeds, these skeptics are enjoying newfound appreciation.

"We're suddenly on Broadway, on the tip of everyone's tongue," said Lewis Freeman, who has a forensic-accounting firm in Miami. "Before it was off-Broadway, or even in Boston."

Last month, more than 2,000 accountants, auditors and attorneys who run their own investigative firms met in Sin City to compare tips for rooting out wrongdoing and to identify fertile ground for future scandals. Mortgage workouts and corporate espionage were top candidates.

The group, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, said it has 47,000 members, up more than 25% in the past few years. They feted Harry Markopolos, a Boston investigator who for years tried in vain to persuade regulators that Mr. Madoff was a scam artist.

He received the organization's annual award and a standing ovation from the group, whose outlook might be summed up this way: "There are only two types of people: the caught and the uncaught," Mr. Freeman said.

Now attention is switching to Mr. Markopolos's fellow fraud examiners, as the recession shows new tales of corporate abuse and presents temptation for other would-be fraudsters. Examiners are busier than ever, they said.

"It's an exciting time in my life, I feel I might actually get somewhere," said Thomas Gober, an attendee who has been chasing alleged improprieties he sees in the insurance industry for decades, often in frustration.

For two years, Mr. Gober said he wore a hidden tape recorder to help authorities gather evidence in an insurance probe. He said he also has taken on health-care fraud, sometimes working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Justice Department. The FBI and Justice Department didn't comment.

Among the tips he shared at the conference: When hired by a company to unearth internal problems, cozy up to information-technology directors who can access all kinds of incriminating emails.

Most fraud examiners share a suspicion that criminal activity is rampant within companies, and regulators are incapable of stopping it. Between sessions, attendees chatted about ways to encrypt electronic files or foil snoops.

Full article here.

Drug Money?

Interesting story posted this week from CNN that 90% of all United States currency contains trace amounts of cocaine. A study, conducted by Yuegang Zuo, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth presented his findings at the American Chemical Society meeting this month.

Money can be contaminated with cocaine during drug deals or if a user snorts with a bill. But not all bills are involved in drug use; they can get contaminated inside currency-counting machines at the bank.

"When the machine gets contaminated, it transfers the cocaine to the other bank notes," Zuo said. These bills have fewer remnants of cocaine. Some of the dollars in his experiment had .006 micrograms, which is several thousands of times smaller than a single grain of sand.

This information could be useful when dealing with a case in which there is a claim that there are trace amounts of controlled substances found on an item of evidentiary value.

False Positive Drug Tests Exposed

Ever have a case with the infamous field test kits? Check out this video, and this report "False Positives Equals False Justice".

Need Gang Advice?

The FBI website has a Gang Website where one can find information from the perspective of the FBI on street gangs including statistics, photos, news, and intelligence. Worth checking out if dealing with a case involving alleged gang activity. Quite a bit of focus on MS-13 Mara Salvatrucha. Who are the MS-13, you say?

Members of Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13, who are mostly Salvadoran nationals or first generation Salvadoran-Americans, but also Hondurans, Guatemalans, Mexicans, and other Central and South American immigrants. And according to our recent national threat assessment of this growing, mobile street gang, they could be operating in your community...now or in the near future.

You can also try Know Gangs.com. For a less law enforcement perspective, try Criminologist Lewis Yablonsky who has spent his career studying gang members; here's what is said about him:

Yablonsky most recent, Gangs in Court (Lawyers & Judges Publishing Company Inc., 2008, second edition), discusses “active” and “non-active” gang member statuses that he coined as a result of his long-term research. Active gangsters include “veteranos,” longtime gang members who have committed a crime to gain their high status; “G’s,” the “troops” of a gang; and “wannabes,” or aspiring gangsters. Non-active gangsters include “gangster groupies,” youth who do not participate in criminal gang activity but hang out and are intrigued by gangsters; “residents in a G neighborhood,” young men who have grown up with gangsters and identify with them as a means for survival; and former gangsters.

“This research has proven useful to defense attorneys because gang members who commit crimes are subject to more stringent sentences under gang enhancement laws,” Yablonsky says. “Many of the cases I’ve been involved with have shown that the defendants are not connected to a gang, but they’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. They may have committed a crime, but that crime did not enhance the status of a gang, and, therefore, the defendant should not be held to more stringent discipline.”

UN World Drug Report

In "Myths About High Times in America" that appeared in the Washington Post, Ryan Grim discusses the 5 myths of drugs and drug use. Perhaps most interesting is number 4:
4. In foreign countries, legalization has been disastrous.

First, no country has ever completely legalized drugs, not since global treaties were signed a century ago ushering in prohibition. In Holland, drug laws are still on the books, but a social pact between the government and the people keeps shops from getting busted.

Portugal became the first European country to abolish drug laws when it repealed criminal penalties for pot, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine in 2001. The world freaked: The United Nations suggested that the new law could be a treaty violation and would lead to crime, a spike in addiction and a rise in "drug tourism." But the country didn't fully legalize. People caught with drugs still had to go to a magistrate and face a small penalty. But they wouldn't go to jail.

Now the United Nations is lauding Portugal. In its most recent World Drug Report, it says, "These conditions keep drugs out of the hands of those who would avoid them under a system of full prohibition, while encouraging treatment, rather than incarceration, for users." The report also noted that the policy had not led to an increase in drug tourism and that "a number of drug-related problems have decreased."

The UN World Drug Report (available here) gives a full overview of the International Drug Market since 1909 when the international community met to discuss the Shanghai Opium problem. Given that Congress has several bills to consider how we are dealing with drugs in America, the report has some interesting charts and statistics.

National Legal Aid & Defender Association Library

On top of being a great resource for both civil legal aid and indigent defense with a wide membership base, the NLADA has a very developed forensic library with documents on such topics as accident reconstruction, DNA, blood spatter, controlled substances, and false confessions. In addition to that library, the NLADA has a very complete e-library with documents, briefs, articles, and studies on such diverse topics as the death penalty, management, and the aforementioned forensic library. They also accept document submissions.

The E-Library@NLADA.org is designed to serve as a versatile, Web-based information clearinghouse for civil and defender members of the equal justice community. The E-Library was launched in September 2001, and is being built by your submissions everyday. We hope that it will soon contain documents relating to the work of civil and defender advocates, including a lot of information about organizational, management and delivery issues, as well as substantive law, and a wide variety of other useful areas such as technology, training and conferences, government relations, communications, etc. It is a new and powerful tool for the equal justice community.

Locking Up Lawful Immigrants Indefinitely

Lawful Immigrant Detention video from the ACLU

AG Eric Holder's Remarks to ABA Conference

AG Eric Holder delivered a speech Monday at the ABA conference calling for us to be not just tough on crime but smart on crime. He called for an overhaul of federal sentencing. The highlights of the highlights (full speech here):

In doing so, we must move beyond the narrow parameters that have constrained our nation’s debate about criminal justice policy over the last several decades. There is no doubt that we must be "tough on crime." But we must also commit ourselves to being "smart on crime." And we must realize that these approaches complement, rather than contradict, each other. In the six months that I have served as Attorney General, I have worked to advance this fundamental truth: it is time to move past politics and ideology, and to move forward to a criminal justice system that is predicated on the fact that we need it to be fair and effective. In sum, we need to adopt what works.

Getting smart on crime requires talking openly about which policies have worked and which have not. And we have to do so without worrying about being labeled as too soft or too hard on crime. Getting smart on crime means moving beyond useless labels and catch-phrases, and instead relying on science and data to shape policy. And getting smart on crime means thinking about crime in context – not just reacting to the criminal act, but developing the government’s ability to enhance public safety before the crime is committed and after the former offender is returned to society.

and...

We will not focus exclusively on incarceration as the most effective means of protecting public safety. For although spending on prison construction continues to increase, public safety is not continuing to improve. Crime rates appear to have reached a plateau beyond which they no longer decline in response to increases in incarceration. Indeed, since 2003, spending on incarceration has continued to rise, but crime rates have flattened.

Search Warrants and Digital Evidence

From DFI News:

In a recent case scenario, an adult female victim indicated to the police that she had just been sexually assaulted by an adult male subject in his apartment. She stated that the subject forcibly removed her clothing and photographed the sexual assault. A rape kit was collected from the victim along with her clothing. Investigators obtained a search warrant for the subject’s premises and it was executed later that day. The warrant identified the location to be searched, the subject’s apartment, and the property to be seized: the clothing the subject was wearing at the time of the allegation, sheets from the bedroom, and cameras. The apartment was also to be processed for latent fingerprints and potential trace evidence. At the scene, the subject was arrested and advised of his rights. He indicated that no assault occurred and that he and the alleged victim had consensual sex. He further stated that when the alleged victim asked for fifty dollars before leaving, he refused to pay her the money. He claimed an argument pursued and that the alleged victim stated she was going to get him for not paying her the fifty dollars.

Investigators seized clothing, sheets, a digital camera, and processed the apartment for latent fingerprints. In the bedroom, investigators observed an operating laptop computer displaying a picture of the subject and alleged victim engaged in a sexual act. Although the computer was not listed in the warrant, it was seized by the investigators. All the evidence was submitted to a forensic laboratory for analysis. Due to backlogs in the laboratory, the analysis took six weeks to complete. The results were as follows:


(1) The subject’s DNA was identified on swabs from the rape kit.

(2) Fibers consistent with those from the victim’s blouse were found on the subject’s jeans.

(3) Cotton threads on one of the straps on the victim’s bra appeared to be torn.

(4) Two aluminum foil packets containing cocaine were discovered in one pocket of the subject’s jeans.

(5) Dried stains found on the sheets contained a mixture of DNA from the subject and the victim.

(6) Latent fingerprints found in the bedroom were identified as being those of the victim.

(7) Sweepings from the sheets contained fibers which were consistent with those from the victim’s jeans, blouse, and bra.

(8) The digital camera’s memory card contained several pictures of the subject and victim engaged in sexual acts.

(9) No additional pictures of the victim were found on the laptop computer’s hard drive. However, hundreds of other pornographic pictures and movies were found, many of which appeared to depict underage children.

After reviewing the forensic results, investigators additionally charged the subject with possession of a controlled substance and possession of child pornography.

Full article here.

New Tool could Help Computer Forensics Move off the Disk and into Memory

From Government Computer News:

By examining traces of memory resident on a computer, researchers can find evidence of malicious activity.

Tools such as Metasploit’s meterpreter for the automated delivery of stealthy payloads are making it more difficult for researchers to find out after the fact exactly what happened to an exploited computer.

Meterpreter can let an attacker upload malware files to a computer that do not touch the disk, which is where traditional forensics tools look to find evidence of malicious activity.

“Meterpreter breaks all disk forensics,” said Peter Silberman, an engineer at Mandiant Inc. So researchers now are looking into memory for evidence of wrongdoing. “This is a new frontier in forensics analysis.”

Silberman and Stephen Davis, a Mandiant security consultant, demonstrated a new memory analysis tool Wednesday at the Black Hat Briefings security conference. By examining traces of memory that can remain resident on a computer for surprisingly long times, they can find evidence of malicious activity that is not visible elsewhere.

“What this allows us to do is to determine what meterpreter did while it was resident on the system,” Davis said.

The tool, which works with Mandiant’s Memoryze memory analysis software, is not yet a full production product. “It’s a proof-of-concept that hopefully other people will latch onto,” Davis said. The first target of the tool is Metasploit because that is the de facto standard for creating exploits against security vulnerabilities in computers.

Full article here.

Fairness in Cocaine Sentencing: House of Representatives 3245 Moving Right Along

Good news on the Fairness in Cocaine Sentencing Act (House of Representatives 3245). The bill has made it out of committee and was ordered to be presented to the whole House of Representatives by a 16-9 vote in committee. The Bill would eliminate the 100:1 ratio in mandatory minimum sentencing for cocaine base aka crack cocaine. It is recommended that if you currently are defending crack cocaine cases that involve a mandatory minimum sentence, you defer trial/sentencing until the bill is voted on. For an overview of all bills pending before Congress involving mandatory minimums, check out FAMM, Families Against Mandatory Minimums. There, you can check out the bills to eliminate mandatory minimum sentencing and restore some fairness and justice to the sentencing process.

FAMM had this to say about the House Committee's vote: “Justice won today. Today’s vote represents another step to restoring basic fairness to our sentencing laws and to fulfilling the Constitution’s promise of equal justice under the law. We urge the full House to act quickly on this measure.” Read full press release here.

To keep track of bills in general, check out GovTrack. There you can search and view bills by Representative, subject, or number as well as follow the process and register to track events with email updates or news feeds. For the official government site, check out Thomas.