Forensic Science and Terrorism

Roles of Forensic Science

Dealing with terrorist cases requires absolute accuracy despite a charged political atmosphere, in which pressure to reach rapid conclusions is exerted from the public, the media (prone to making its own decisions if official statements are not made quickly enough), police investigators, and even supervisors. A classic case of error is the November 21, 1974, bombing of two pubs in Birmingham, in the United Kingdom. (A third bomb failed to detonate.) Based on erroneous forensic evidence, the “Birmingham Six” were convicted of the crime and sentenced to life in prison. After serving 16 years in prison, their verdict was finally overturned.

Another memorable case is that of the American lawyer Brandon Mayfield, who was wrongly detained after the FBI erred in linking his fingerprints to latents (undeveloped fingerprints) found on plastic bags that contained detonator caps from the March 11, 2004, Madrid train bombing.

When dealing with terrorism cases, forensic scientists have placed increased emphasis on proactive measures. One example is the suggestion made in 1992 by the Israel Police Division of Identification and Forensic Science (DIFS) to the government of Israel that, as a precautionary measure, all weapons given to the Palestinian Authority following the Oslo Accords be test-fired before transfer to the Authority. Such test-firings would aid future ballistics comparisons in the event that a weapon was misused. As events developed, the decision was fortuitous. Less than a month after the first shipment of weapons was transferred to the Palestinian Authority, an Israeli civilian was murdered in Jerusalem. Laboratory examination [Page 217]showed beyond a doubt that the murder weapon, an AK-47, was one of the weapons given over to the Palestinian Authority.

Brandon Mayfield with his daughter and son outside the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, after he was released from custody on May 20, 2004. Mayfield, who had been arrested two weeks earlier in connection with the Madrid terror attacks, was released soon after Spanish officials said fingerprints found on a bag near the bombing site in Spain were that of an Algerian. U.S. authorities previously said the prints were Mayfield's. Mayfield settled his lawsuit against the U.S. government for $2 million in November 2006.

(AP Photo/Don Ryan. © 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights

...