Report Writing
and the drafting of standards by
the National Commission on
Forensic Science
Reporting and Testimony
Subcommittee
Inaugural Meeting
Conference Call
April 30, 2014
Membership
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Ms. Rebecca Brown, The Innocence Project
Mr. Mike Cariola, CEO & President, Bode
Technology**
Dr. Jamie Downs, M.D., Forensic Pathologist,
forensX LLC**
Mr. Jules Epstein, Professor of Law, Widener
University
Mr. Paul Giannelli, Professor of Law, Case
Western Reserve University
Hon. Barbara Hervey, Judge, Texas Court of
Criminal Appeals
Ms. Susan Howley, Director of Public Policy,
Nat’l. Center for Victims of Crime
Ms. Linda Jackson, Director, Virginia
Department of Forensic Science**
Dr. Larry Kobilinsky, Professor & Chair, Dept.
of Sciences, John Jay College**
Mr. John Kacavas, United States Attorney,
District of New Hampshire
Ms. Pam King, Assistant State Public
Defender, State of Minnesota
Mr. Gerald LaPorte, Acting Director, Office of
Investigative and Forensic Services, NIJ,
OJP**
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Ms. Julia Leighton, General Counsel, Public
Defender Service, District of Columbia
Mr. Thomas McShane, President, Guidepost
Solutions, LLC
Mr. Peter Neufeld, Co-director, Innocence
Project
Mr. Phil Pulaski, Chief, Detective Bureau,
NYPD (ret’d.)
Hon. Jed Rakoff, U.S. District Judge, Southern
District of New York (Co-Chair)
Mr. Matt Redle, County and Prosecuting
Attorney, Sheridan County, Wyoming (CoChair)
Ms. Shannan Williams, NIST
Ms. Charlotte Word, Consultant in Human
DNA and paternity testing**
Ms. Paula Wulff, Office of General Counsel,
FBI Laboratory, USDOJ
Working Groups within the SubCommittee
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Legal Issues
Terminology
Probabilistic Statements
Evidence Preservation
Report Content
Members of the Report Content
Working Group
• Julia Leighton, General Counsel, Public
Defense Services, Washington, D.C.
• Phil Pulaski, Chief of Detectives (ret’d.), NYPD,
New York, New York
• Peter Neufeld, Attorney and Co-Director, The
Innocence Project, New York, New York
• Linda Jackson, Director, Virginia Department
of Forensic Science
Sources Examined
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Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure [Rule 16]
National Academy of Sciences Report
ISO/IEC 17025
Accrediting Bodies
– A2LA
– ASCLD-LAB
– FQS
• LAB
Sources Examined [con’t.]
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ASTM E620
ASTM E2327
DAB QAS
SWGANTH
SWGFAST
SWGFEX
SWGDRUG
SWGMAT
Sources Examined [con’t.]
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NIST NIJ
NAME Checklist
NAME Standards
NY Standards
Issues
• Contents of Report v. Contents of Case File
– Items required to be contained in the case file
• Report Comment re existence of case file and it
contents
• Reporting of Condition of Items Received
• References used to Augment or Formulate
Opinions and Conclusions
Report Format and Organization
• Administrative information – Personnel,
Tracking
• Requests of Submitting Agency
• Summary of the work performed
• Methods Employed
• Data, Observations and Results
• Conclusions and Opinions
• Reference Material cited and/or considered
Speed Bumps
• Some aspects require coordination with OSAC
et al.
– E.g., Efforts at formulating uniform terminology
• “Interpretation” v. “Conclusion” v. “Opinion”
• Declarations of “match” and limitations
• Declarations of “consistency” and limitations
The Discussion Points
• Uniformity - Big Differences Exist in Ways Information
Reported by Disciplines
– Consistent terminology across disciplines
• Report Content – What Information Should be
Included?
– What Information is appropriate for Bench Notes/Case
File?
• What information should be written down?
– Should it be recorded contemporaneously
– Is this distinction important as long as there is a means of
gaining access?
• Should there be some form of disclaimer in the report regarding
existence of other data or information?
The Discussion Points
• Report Content – What Information Should be Included?
(continued)
– Is Rule 26 (a)(2), Fed. Rules Civ. Procedure, a good model for
report content and testimony?
• Requires:
– Disclosure of identity of any expert witness.
– Contemporaneous with the disclosure, provide a written report, signed and
prepared by the witness, which contains:
1. A complete statement of all opinions the witness will express.
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The basis and reasons for them;
b. Facts or data considered in forming the opinions, bases or
reasons;
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Any exhibits to be used to summarize the opinions, bases or
reasons.
2. The witness’s qualifications
a.
Including all publications authored during the previous 10 years.
The Discussion Points
• Report Content – What Information Should be
Included? (continued)
– Is Rule 26 (a)(2), Fed. Rules Civ. Procedure, a good
model for report content and testimony?
• Requires:
– Disclosure of identity of any expert witness.
– Contemporaneous with the disclosure, provide a written report,
signed and prepared by the witness, which contains (con’t.):
3. A list of all other cases in which the witness has testified as
an expert during the previous 4 years.
4. Statement of compensation paid.
• Provides for:
– Timing of Disclosure by parties.
– Supplementation of Disclosure.
– Experts retained as consultants only.
– Should we consider two tiers of reporting detail
requirements? Preliminary Reports and Trial Reports.
Discussion Points
• Concluding Points
– Need to Train Examiners and Analysts
• Ethical Issues relating to Reports
• Due Process issues such as Brady
– Note: Is it more effective to approach these issues from a
scientifically based culture which values a peer review process rather
than a legally based culture of advocacy balanced by due process?
– Requests for Reports and Reporting Standards
• NIST/NIJ, Latent Print Examination and Human Factors (2012)
http://www.nist.gov/oles/upload/latent.pdf
• WH-OSTP-SoFS, Reporting Document – Laporte Document
(Unfinished)
• Reporting Standards ISO 17025
• ASCLD-LAB International Supplemental Requirements for
Accreditation for Forensic Testing Laboratories (2011)
• ASCLD-LAB policy: Reporting Uncertainty of Measurement
(2013)
• ABA Standards for Criminal Justice, 3rd Edition – DNA Evidence
OtherResources
• Spreadsheet of Report Requirements or
Recommendations (20 bodies including Federal
Rules, NAS, ISO, ILAC Guide 19, [Accrediting
bodies] A2LA, ASCLD-LAB, FQS, LAB, ASTM E620,
ASTM E2327, DAB QA, SWGANTH, SWGFAST,
SWGFEX, SWGDRUG, SWGMAT, NIST-NIJ, NAME
Checklist, NAME Standards
• A draft Analysis of Reporting for the SoFS
containing sample content for Autopsy Reports;
Firearms report, Latent Fingerprint Report,
Nuclear DNA report
Moving Forward
• Committee (and Commission) members
– Submit reports or materials they believe useful.
– Circulate ideas and substantive suggestions that
we might wish to adopt even early on.
– Judge Rakoff and myself, intend to circulate a plan
of attack by the end of the month.
• Questions? Comments?
Reporting and Testimony
Subcommittee
Inaugural Meeting
Conference Call
April 30, 2014
Reporting and Testimony
Subcommittee
Inaugural Meeting
Conference Call
April 30, 2014