NCIP Spearheads Statewide Coalition to Review Microscopic Hair Analysis Cases
NCIP continues to prioritize its review of California hair microscopy cases and is organizing a statewide coalition made up of California innocence organizations and pro bono law firm partners to undertake the task.
The hair microscopy case review comes in the wake of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s acknowledgment that many FBI hair examiners improperly testified regarding the reliability of microscopic hair analysis and that the FBI also improperly trained state and local analysts, including many in California, to do the same.
Photo by FBI
The goal of NCIP’s review is to identify those cases where experts testified improperly regarding the reliability of hair microscopy and then to challenge the convictions where inmates may have been wrongly convicted as a result.
NCIP has already completed a preliminary review of hair microscopy cases identified through Westlaw appellate record searches. After screening nearly 1,000 cases, researchers identified approximately 70 California cases in which experts may have improperly testified regarding hair comparisons. However, these cases are likely the tip of the iceberg. NCIP’s largest source of hair microscopy cases will undoubtedly come directly from California state, county and local crime labs that conducted hair comparisons, and whose experts provided inaccurate testimony. NCIP is working with coalition members to seek cooperation from these labs to acquire the names of experts who attended FBI hair trainings, the cases in which they testified, and hair microscopy lab reports associated with the cases. With more than 35 state, county and local labs in California, a coordinated outreach effort will be of the utmost importance. NCIP is also maintaining frequent communication with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and the Innocence Project, as they undertake a comprehensive review of FBI hair cases and refer California cases to NCIP for further investigation and potential litigation.
Read more about hair microscopy here.
Habeas Petition Filed Challenging Conviction of NCIP Client
On July 6, 2016, NCIP volunteer lawyer Karyn Sinunu-Towery and pro bono counsel Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging the murder conviction of Jeremy Puckett. This filing followed a 2 1/2 year reinvestigation of the case. A Sacramento County jury convicted Puckett in 2002 for the 1998 murder and robbery of Anthony Galati. Puckett was sentenced to life without possibility of parole. NCIP has uncovered evidence of Puckett’s innocence, including an admission by the actual perpetrator, hundreds of pages of withheld evidence that would have supported Puckett’s defense, and a witness recantation establishing that someone else had committed the murder. The court is expected to rule within 60 days as to whether Puckett’s challenge to his conviction should proceed.
