FROM THE DIRECTOR’S DESK... Carol Henderson

Happy New Year from the NCSTL! This issue of It’s Evident is the second consecutive issue which focuses on the Future of Forensics and reflects the activity of the very busy NCSTL staff during the last quarter of 2008. Here’s some of what’s new:

• NCSTL.org's “one-stop-shop” database has grown to over 76,000 records and continues to develop and consolidate forensic-based information including the addition of webcasts, podcasts, vodcasts, blog links, and training materials which focus on science, technology and law topics;
  
  
• The NCSTL receives regular media coverage. On October 31, 2008, WMNF interviewed NCSTL Guest Lecture panelists, Judge Robert Russell and Stetson College of Law professors, Rebecca Morgan and Michael Allen, on Emerging Issues: Returning Veterans, PTSD and Other Injuries, and Their Impact on the Criminal Justice System, WMNF News Story. I was interviewed on December 4, 2008, by Steve Simms of the Chicago Tribune and on December 15, 2008 I was interviewed by Baufield & Ford Courtside for Tru TV about Caylee Anthony Case. NCSTL’s Director of Outreach, Anjali Swienton, was interviewed on the Scott Farrell Radio Show about DNA with specific references to the Caylee Anthony case on December 17, 2008 and on December 19, 2008, Anjali was interviewed on the Bud Hedinger Radio Show about Caylee Anthony Case;
  
  
• I participated on the panel Fire Setters & Investigating Experts at the 39th annual meeting of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, Seattle Washington, October 22-27, 2008; on November 19-20, 2008 I participated in the NIJ General Forensics TWG meeting in Largo, Fl; in early December travelled to Colorado Springs and Denver, Colorado in my capacity as President of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and on December 6-8, I participated in the Council of Scientific Society Presidents Symposium, Washington, DC;
  
  
• To inform NCSTL’s constituency, which includes law enforcement, legal professionals, scientists, engineers, educators, and technologists, NCSTL representatives make presentations and offer training on a multitude of topics. This quarter, I presented Science, Technology and the Law at the International Convention on Legal Medicine and Forensic Science, San Remo Italy, October 1-4, 2008. On October 10, 2008, Director of Technology & Distance Education, Dr. Susan Zucker, presented NCSTL: Its Function and Impact, at the annual meeting of the Federal Judges Secretaries Association, Albuquerque, NM.

The next issue of It's Evident will be published in April, 2009.

Best regards,
Carol

RESEARCH FOCUS
Cutting Edge “Spoof Proof” Biometrics
Brittan Mitchell, Esquire, is a former NCSTL staff member

With increasing frequency, individuals experience biometric technology for security and authentication in all sectors of society. Examples include: using fingerprint and palm scanners to clock employees in and clock out; identifying frequent travelers through iris scans stored on smart cards ... Full Paper

RESEARCH EXTRA
The 4nscs of Txt Msgs
Catherine G. Bailey, Research Attorney

Text messaging: it may have its critics but there is no denying its popularity. The appeal of this form of digital communication is primarily the speed at which information can be transmitted – after all who doesn't like a little instant gratification? However there is now another, newly discovered benefit; busting alibis and catching criminals. Full paper

SPOTLIGHT
Electronically Stored Information: A Primer - A Litigator's Guide

Jules Epstein, Esquire, is Associate Professor of Law at Widener University School of Law, where he teaches Evidence and subjects in criminal law and procedure.

In less than a decade, the judicial attitude toward and the litigator’s reliance on electronically stored information (ESI) have changed dramatically. In 1999, judicial resistance to webpage evidence that might have been ‘hacked’ was so great as to exclude it outright; yet by 2007 its authenticity was deemed to be presumptively correct. Now there is a concern that the costliness of discovery might limit access to the courts ... Full paper

FROM THE RESEARCH DESK...
Diana Botluk, Director of Research

Happy New Year! NCSTL has exciting plans to upgrade our database to provide more user-friendly search experiences. Find out more ...

NCSTL's BOOKS & SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
Visit the NCSTL's Book Collection @ Stetson College of Law and the NCSTL's Special Collections. Borrow from the collections.

TECHNOLOGY AND DISTANCE EDUCATION NEWS
Dr. Susan Zucker, Director Technology & Distance Education and Publisher and Editor of It's Evident

The biggest news to report is that www.ncstl.org is undergoing a facelift as this issue of It's Evident is published ... Find out more

NCSTL ACTIVITIES and PRESS: Find out where NCSTL staff has been and what we’ve been doing, as well as information about our publications, professional associations, and the press coverage we have received.