Category Archives: Law, Evidence and Technical

Poisons in Crime Fiction

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For certain, we can agree on the Golden Age of Detective Fiction as a term that applies to stories written mainly in the 1920s and 1930s that tended to be about light-hearted ‘cosy’ crimes, within which you could reliably expect to find upper-class characters in a secluded country estate, where at least one of them usually died. Leading the pack of Golden Age writers was Agatha Christie. Poison Expert Speakers and … Continue reading →

Meet an actual FBI Profiler

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…and other goodies, like Join an online presentation with best selling authors Lisa Jackson and Nancy Bush. See what happens when you love a-maze-ing mystery books. Meet FBI Special Agent Julia Cowley:Inside the Behavioral Analysis Unit (Virtual) TUESDAY, AUGUST 22 at 7:00—8:00 PM Join Special Agent Julia Cowley for a look inside FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit. Cowley will discuss how and why she became an FBI profiler, what profiling is … Continue reading →

Mystery Readers – Let’s Do Our Part by Recognizing That Even Our Favorite Authors (or Screenwriters) May Have Gotten Forensics Wrong

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I have posted about this issue previously in pieces (like here), but this is a nice overall summary. I believe we need to know this stuff so that we are not unwittingly believing junk science in the novels we read, and then supporting it when we hear or read of its use in real trials in current events. This story was originally published by ProPublica. Republished here by following their … Continue reading →

Junk Science and Junk Justice

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There is a new article in ProPublica today about yet another bit of junk science resulting in junk justice for many people. In this case, it revolves around one self-appointed expert who has taught his seminar to hundreds of law enforcement personnel around the country. His claim: the words used by those calling for help via 911 can determine whether they are lying about the crimes they are calling to … Continue reading →

Special Circumstances in the Law, Crime Fiction, and Daily Life

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First of all, some definitions, taken and slightly adapted from Wikipedia: Special circumstances in criminal law are actions of the accused, or conditions under which a crime, particularly homicide, was committed. Such factors require or allow for a more severe punishment. Special circumstances are elements of the crime itself, and thus must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt during the guilt phase of the trial. As such, they are formally … Continue reading →