post conviction

This virtual event will bring together representatives from prosecution, law enforcement, innocence efforts, conviction integrity units, defense lawyers and other stakeholders to discuss the needs and challenges faced by each stakeholder in addressing potential wrongful convictions. The goal is to develop concrete strategies and next steps to advance efforts to prevent and correct wrongful conviction.

On July 20, 2016, NACDL presented a webinar on conducting state and local laboratory level reviews of microscopic hair comparison evidence for the purpose of determining whether the statements provided in criminal cases are scientifically valid. Under the Microscope: Examining Strategies for Implementing State & Local Microscopic Hair Comparison Reviews, a 1.5 hour program, provided an overview of the FBI MHCA Review, best practices for state and local reviews, an update on review efforts around the country, and specific examples from Iowa and Massachusetts.

On June 23, 2016, NACDL presented the live streaming webcast, Bite Marks: Litigating the Change in American Board of Forensic Odontology Guidelines with speaker Dana Delger of the Innocence Project. The webcast provided essential information on a type of problematic forensic evidence that has led to wrongful convictions. In March 2016, the American Board of Forensic Odontology changed its Guidelines for bite mark analysis, significantly limiting the testimonial conclusions of board-certified experts.