Admitting fault as a nation, as cold cases persist, ‘Potentially tens of thousands’ of cases gone wrong - Thirty years in jail for a single hair: the FBI's 'mass disaster' of false conviction by Ed Pilkington in New York - The Guardian
A review found that microscopic analysis of hair is virtually worthless as a method of identifying someone. Photograph: Steven Puetzer/Getty Images Thirty years in jail for a single hair: the FBI's 'mass disaster' of false conviction by Ed Pilkington in New York Tuesday April 21 st , 2015 at 8:04 PM Network Front | The Guardian 1 Share A ‘dirty bomb’ of pseudo-science wrapped up nearly 268 cases – perhaps hundreds more. Now begins the ‘herculean effort to right the wrongs’ George Perrot has spent almost 30 years in prison thanks to a single hair. It was discovered by an FBI agent on the bedsheet of a 78-year-old woman who had been raped by a burglar in her home in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1985. Perrot, then 17, was put on trial, despite the absence of physical evidence tying him to the crime scene. There was no semen. There was no blood. And so there was no way to conduct a conclusive DNA test. Continue reading...