The Frontal Cortex  Bad Jury Verdicts  A truly depressing
analysis of the justice system (Times $elect):   “A few types of
unreliable trial evidence predictably supported wrongful
convictions,” Professor Garrett concluded in his study, “Judging
Innocence,” to be published in The Columbia Law Review in
January.  The leading cause of the wrongful convictions was
erroneous identification by eyewitnesses, which occurred 79
percent of the time. In a quarter of the cases, such testimony
was the only direct evidence against the defendant.  Faulty
forensic evidence was next, present in 55 percent of the cases.
In some of those cases, courts put undue weight on evidence with
limited value, as when a defendant’s blood type matched evidence
from the crime scene. In others, prosecution experts
exaggerated, made honest mistakes or committed outright fraud.
Most of the forensic evidence involved problems with the
analysis of blood or semen. Forty-two cases featured expert
testimony about hair, an area that is, Professor G