According to the Supreme Court of NSW, a magistrate’s order to determine the height of a suspected ATM thief doesn’t measure up against s 24(1) of the Crimes (Forensic Procedures) Act 2000 (NSW).In Coffen v Goodhart [2013] NSWSC 1018, the Court considered just how high the hurdle was to order a non-intimate forensic examination of …
Continue reading Ain’t this felon high enough? Coffen v Goodhart [2013] NSWSC 1018
This story in the paper yesterday caught my attention. It's about a burglar in Germany who has been identified by the distinctive earprint he has allegedly left behind when pressing it against doors to see if anyone is at home.Like a lot of these internet stories that do the rounds, it contains enough specifics that …
With the end of the year rapidly approaching I'm yet again caught with a pile of interesting (and possibly important) cases sitting in my inbox, and no time to properly digest them. An example is R v Smith (No 5) [2011] NSWSC 1459. Like many trial court decisions it's useful as an application of the …
Continue reading R v Smith (No 5) [2011] NSWSC 1459: relevant but weak evidence
The Crimes Amendment (Forensic Procedures) Bill 2010 was introduced to the lower house yesterday. The Explanatory Memorandum can be read here. A link to a government press release about the Bill is here. The Statement of Compatibility is here, and the Second Reading is here.There are two key changes that are likely to increase the …
Continue reading Legislation Watch: Crimes Amendment (Forensic Procedures) Bill 2010
New Zealand criminal lawyer Don Mathias runs a great blog both on Blogger and WordPress.Hat-tip to Don for Evidence of fingerprint matches, mentioning an article in New Scientist on 22 March 2010, Fingerprint evidence to harden up at last.Essentially, it's about the potential for human error in the process of comparing fingerprints and concluding they're …
Continue reading Fingerprint evidence a matter of impression?