Read Aloud the Text Content

This audio was created by Woord's Text to Speech service by content creators from all around the world.

Text Content or SSML code:

Brandon Mayfield An incorrect fingerprint match led to the false detention of Brandon Mayfield, a Muslim-American convert from Washington County, Oregon, in connection with the 2004 Madrid train bombings. Mayfield was detained by the FBI on May 6, 2004, after being identified as a material witness in connection with the Madrid attacks. He was detained for two weeks before being released with a public apology after another suspect was named by the Spanish authorities. Following the 2004 Madrid train bombing, fingerprints on a bag containing detonating devices were found by Spanish authorities. The Spanish national police shared the fingerprint to the FBI through the interpol. Twenty possible matches for one of the fingerprints were found in the FBI database and one of the possible matches was Brandon Mayfield. The FBI concluded that it was a 100% match and despite Spanish authorities informing the FBI of a new suspect they've found. Few weeks later, Brandon was arrested. It was later discovered during the case trial that the FBI's records show that this fingerprint, despite the sworn testimony of FBI and DOJ agents, in all reality not an exact match but only one of 20 prints "similar" to the ones retrieved from Madrid. He was arrested after several other biased factors were introduced such as his religion, he was a newly converted Muslim. Santae Tribble, 2012 Santae Tribble was 17 in August 1978 when Washington, D.C., police surrounded his mother's house and arrested him. The charge: murder. The evidence was a stocking mask containing 13 hairs that was found at the scene of the crime. Analysts claimed one hair matched Tribble's “in all microscopic characteristics,” the prosecutor told the jury at Tribble's trial, adding, “There is one chance, perhaps for all we know, in 10 million that it could someone else's hair.” And yet, after he spent more than 25 years in prison, court-ordered DNA testing found that none of the hairs matched Tribble's — and one belonged to a dog. George Rodriguez On the 29th of October, 1987, George Rodriguez was wrongfully convicted of Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child, Aggravated Kidnapping. Despite severe evidence pointing to other suspects that have been identified, Rodriguez was convicted. Rodriguez became the main suspect after false evidence was returned from the Houston Police Department Crime Laboratory, then under the direction of Jim Bolding. The laboratory tested the victim’s rape kit and clothing. A hair found in the victim’s underwear was said to be microscopically similar to the hair standard from George Rodriguez. He served 18 years before he was exonorated by postconviction DNA testing of the hair and further serological testing by the prosecution revealed that one of the other suspects was mis-typed at the time of trial and should never have been excluded as a potential contributor of the semen from the rape kit and the victim’s clothing. Forensic mistakes can have devastating effects on the lives of the wrongly convicted. To prevent further injustice and to ensure that evidence used against all defendants is valid, the federal government should evaluate the validity and reliability of forensic disciplines to ensure consistent application of evidence in courtrooms nationwide. To summarise it all, forensic science, when used properly is genuinely helpful but when mishandled, can incur serious, life damaging damages.