Audit examines alleged fraud by employee of Forensic Science Department [Austin]
The former forensic services manager for the city’s Forensic Science Department allegedly misused his city credit card to purchase $3,000 worth of gift cards and firearm accessories for his personal use, according to a report issued by the Office of the City Auditor.
NOPD’s new crime lab now not expected to fully open until 2027, despite testing backlog
With the New Orleans Police Department’s new crime lab still years away from being ready to analyze DNA evidence, the number of untested samples has piled up despite millions of dollars in federal and local dollars devoted to shrinking the backlog.
Early last year, about 73,000 DNA samples from crime investigations sat in the NOPD's Central Evidence and Property warehouse. That figure has risen to more than 96,000 unprocessed samples.
That leaves the majority of the work to the already overwhelmed Louisiana State Police crime lab in Baton Rouge lab now not expected to fully open until 2027, despite testing backlog.
Kathleen Folbigg Exonerated
In 2003, Kathleen Folbigg was convicted of killing her four children. She has now been released from prison, 20 years later, after being pardoned by the Attorney General of New South Wales. Ms Folbigg has maintained her innocence the entire time. She was pardoned in May after an inquiry into her convictions found that there was reasonable doubt about her guilt.
The Folbigg case is a particularly tragic case, but it’s not unprecedented. The criminal justice system carries an inbuilt risk of wrongful conviction. Ad hoc commissions of inquiries like the Folbigg inquiry are inefficient and expensive. The system needs reform.
The report is definitely worth reading.
Few Australians have been exonerated or pardoned, so we know more from cases in the United States. Being released from prison comes with unique and significant psychological and practical challenges. Here’s what the research tells us.