Amicus Brief: Jerad Gourdin
CIFS, New York University School of Law Forensic Defense Clinic, and the Utah Indigent Appellant Defense Division filed this amicus brief in the Utah Supreme Court in Jerad Gourdin’s case to argue that Gourdin’s trial attorney was constitutionally ineffective for failing to request the DNA case file. Nine pieces of DNA evidence were tested in this case. All but one excluded Gourdin. Only one item possibly implicated Gourdin, but even that was improperly analyzed by the lab. Indeed, the DNA evidence was far from inculpatory—at best, it was inconclusive.
Amicus Brief: Tyler Scott Johnston
Kate Judson of CIFS and 40 other scholars of evidence and forensic science filed this amicus brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Tyler Scott Johnston’s case to ask the court to affirm the District Court’s grant of Johnston’s motion to preclude the DNA analysis in this case. In our brief, we argue that the government’s laboratory has not done validation testing on samples of the degree of complexity at issue and, thus, the analysis of the samples at issue cannot be demonstrated to meet the requirements of admissibility under Federal Rule of Evidence 702.
Amicus Brief: Daniel Gissantaner
Katherine Judson of CIFS participated in this brief signed by 41 other scholars of forensic science in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Daniel Gissantaner’s case to argue that the district court elevated the Daubert standard when evaluating the admissibility of STRmix. Thorough examination of the evidence more than satisfies the applicable abuse of discretion standard.