One Bite...

The case against Steven Barnes in the rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl seemed circumstantial, at best.  Two hairs that looked like the victim's; some dirt on a truck like that taken from the crime scene; a pattern on the bumper that resembled a design on the victim's popular brand of jeans, and that was enough.

He spent the next 20 years in prison before DNA testing exonerated him, becoming one of hundreds of people convicted in whole or in part on forensic science that has come under fire during the past decade.

Some of that science, analysis of bite marks, latent fingerprints, firearms identification, burn patterns in arson investigations, footwear patterns and tire treads, was once considered sound, but is now being denounced by some lawyers and scientists who say it has not been studied enough to prove its reliability and in some cases has led to wrongful convictions.

Two reports by scientific boards have sharply criticized the use of such forensic evidence, and universities that teach it are moving away from visual analysis  essentially, eyeballing it and toward more precise biometric tools.  Hope we use it right.   Just a thought.

Scheme...

German prosecutors have charged a man accused of bombing Borussia Dortmund's team bus in April with attempted murder.  Prosecutors said they filed the indictment at the city's state court.

The 28-year-old suspect, who has been identified only as Sergej W. in line with German privacy laws, is charged with 28 counts of attempted murder, two counts of bodily harm and setting off an explosion.

Dortmund defender Marc Bartra and a police officer were injured in triple blasts as the bus headed to the soccer team's stadium for a Champions League game.

Investigators have said the suspect took a five-figure loan to bet that the club's shares would drop, then bombed the bus in an attack he tried to disguise as Islamic terrorism in a scheme to net millions.

Pathetic...

Success...

Pummeled...

Problem...

Bickering...

    

Sunday School...

Dega's...*

A nine-year-old girl accidentally shot her gun instructor dead with an Uzi. She pulled the trigger of an automatic gun and the recoil sent the gun over her head, shooting the instructor. 

The shocking recording, taken by the girl's parents and released by police, shows the instructor standing closely next to the girl when the gun recoiled as she fired on full automatic mode.

It is crazy to put that gun into a little girl's hands. Many own guns, trained in various safety classes, competed etc., but this is a child for God's sake.   Just a thought.

Storm...

Deport...

A woman accused of beating and starving a woman she brought from China to work as a nanny in Minnesota will be deported after she spends a year in jail.

Authorities said the 58-year-old nanny was found wandering in the street in July 2016, battered and malnourished. She weighed less than 90 pounds, had several broken bones and bruises and on her face. She told police she fled Huang's home after being threatened with a kitchen knife.

The woman was treated well when she worked for Huang in China but the abuse began after they immigrated to Minnesota, court documents said. Investigators said she was forced to work up to 18 hours a day doing child care, cooking and cleaning, for less than $2 per hour.   Huang lived in Woodbury, a suburb of St. Paul.

Lili Huang, 36, pleaded guilty to charges of forced labor and third-degree assault. She was sentenced  to a year and a day in jail. U.S. District Judge David S. Doty also ordered her to forfeit her home and pay nearly $100,000 in restitution. Losing money, that hurts!!!