FROM THE DIRECTOR’S DESK... Carol Henderson

2010, a new year with many new challenges. We, at the NCSTL, are enthusiastically up to the task. We accomplished much in 2009 and look forward to more achievements this year.

This issue of It's Evident features articles related to "Technology and Government - A Year After the National Election". Here's a look back at the last quarter of 2009 and some of what is new:

• http://www.ncstl.org’s “one-stop-shop” database currently holds over 93,000 records, and almost 3000 of those are multimedia records. We continue 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;
  
  
• NCSTL receives regular media coverage. NCSTL receives regular media coverage: In October, 2009 an interview on the NCSTL given by Director of Technology & Distance Education, Dr. Susan Zucker, and Director of Research, Diana Botluk, was published by the Maddox Business Report. On October 3-9, 2009, I did educational outreach for FTCoE and NCSTL on IACPtv at the IACP Annual Conference in Denver, CO. I also did a websedge interview at the 116th International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Annual Conference and Exposition. The interview was recorded by IACP TV and was broadcast throughout the Denver Convention Center and five main convention hotel systems in Denver, CO on October 3-7, 2009;
  
  
• NCSTL’s 2009 Guest Lecture Series continues in fall and spring. On October 5 and 6, NCSTL co-sponsored the Judicial Seminar on Emerging Issues in Neuroscience along with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Center for State Courts, and the Dana Foundation. The seminar was held at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, FL. Other talks will be announced shortly;
  
  
• 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. On October 20, 2009, I gave a workshop on "HOW LAWYERS OBTAIN IMPEACHMENT ON EXPERTS" at the Society of Forensic Toxicologist, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Kevin Paget, Science and Law Fellow, spoke about "DIGGING UP DIRT ON EXPERTS" at SAFS Joint Forensics Meeting in Orlando, FL on October 23, 2009; Director of Research, Diana Botluk, presented "TEN WAYS TO USE THE NCSTL WEBSITE" at the Northeastern Forensic Scientists (NEAFS) Conference in Long Branch, NJ on November 4, 2009. NCSTL had a booth at the NEAFS Conference and it was manned by Director of Outreach, Anjali Swienton, and Director of Research, Diana Botluk, in Long Branch, NJ on November 4-5, 2009; Director of Outreach, Anjali Swienton, presented DNA" and "DIGGING UP DIRT ON EXPERTS" at the Capital Litigation Training in Phoenix, AZ "on November 19, 2009. Director of Technology & Distance Education, Susan Zucker, and Director of Research, Diana Botluk, presented "RESEARCH RESOURCES" at the Capital Litigation Training, Phoenix, AZ on November 20, 2009. I just returned from Hong Kong where I presented “International Issues Facing Digital and Multimedia Sciences” at the Sixth Annual IFIP WG 11.9 International Conference on Digital Forensics University of Hong Kong on January 5, 2010 and “Presenting Expert Evidence” at the to the Hong Kong Forensic Society on January 7, 2010.

The next issue of It's Evident will be published in April, 2010. The theme will be “Terrorism and the Evolving Intel-Driven Society”.

Wishing you all the best in this new year,
Carol

SCIENCE
Manufactured DNA
Kevin Paget, NCSTL Law & Science Fellow

This past February the National Academy of Sciences released its report Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward, sending shockwaves throughout every forensic discipline. The findings of this massive report cast wholesale doubt upon the many forensic sciences and the disparate conclusions drawn by different forensic analysts.

Nucleix reports that it has perfected a way to manufacture artificial DNA, claiming they have the ability to frame someone for a crime using the basic building blocks of human life.² Normal genotyping yielded no differences between the manufactured DNA and the natural unaffected DNA, showing the two as virtually identical.⁶ This shocking revelation poses an abundance of problems to the legal community ... Full paper

TECHNOLOGY
Technology A Year After the National Election
Susan Zucker, Ph.D., NCSTL Director of Technology & Distance Education

I preface this short article on technology a year after the national election by discussing some interesting issues associated with the election of Barack Obama. President Obama is reportedly a technophile and the most tech-savvy president ever. He uses the latest technological devices and won’t be without his Blackberry - rumored to be the 8830 World Edition. (http://www.wired.com/ gadgetlab/2009/01/ obama-my-blackb)

It is no wonder that he established an elaborate technology plan for the U.S. government and for Americans. President Obama’s technology plan is available on the website: http://www.barackobama.com. Full paper

LAW
Barack Obama, Sir Walter Raleigh and Forensics
Jules Epstein, Associate Professor, Widener Law School (Delaware)

Mr. Epstein has written and lectured on forensics-related issues, and was one of the presenters at the 2009 training for capital case litigators sponsored by NCSTL and the Bureau of Justice Assistance, where he spoke about the implications of the NAS.

For the Court in Crawford v. Washington, the historic roots of the right of Confrontation were a rejection of such procedures, and a mandate that “testimonial” hearsay be inadmissible unless the original declarant was now in court or was now unavailable to testify and there had been the opportunity for cross-examination when the statement was made. The relevance of Crawford (and Raleigh’s travails) to forensics can be found in the 2009 Melendez-Diaz decision ...

What does this, and Sir Walter Raleigh, have to do with Barack Obama? Full paper

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

Happy New Year! 2009 brought exciting changes to NCSTL with the midyear launch of our new website. This upgrade brought with it an improved database with three search options for research flexibility and an easier, more user-friendly search experience. More

Visit the NCSTL's Selected Books Added to the NCSTL Collection in the Stetson Library 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 new NCSTL website is enjoying increased traffic as many thousands of people search the growing database, read most current forensic-related news in the Spotlight section and It's Evident, listen to talks given by forensic experts featured in the Multimedia area of the homepage, locate events on the NCSTL Calendar, explore Education & Training resources, and subscribe to NCSTL's RSS Feeds. More