This podcast episode features a conversation between host James Dawson, David Stoney, and Greg Dutton about the converted effort in many forensics fields to improve the science underlying forensic evidence in the wake of the 2009 National Research Council report that was critical of forensic science.
In this Justice Today episode, host James “Jim” Dawson sits down with David Stoney, the chief scientist and head of Stoney Forensics in Chantilly, Virginia, and Greg Dutton, the program manager and physical scientist with the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Office of Investigative and Forensic Sciences to discuss how ballistics, trace evidence, and fingerprint forensics, and other fields, have been impacted by the 2009 National Research Council report. The three podcasters discuss the long transition to more reliable forensic science practices, focusing on issues surrounding specific types of forensic evidence, such as fingerprints. The three also discuss changes to courtroom procedure regarding judgments on what constitutes quality forensic evidence, using the example of fingerprints, and the forensic science community’s plans for improving how research is done and how it is assessed.