Forensic seminar materials, roundtable

For those who couldn't attend the event, here's a link to all the power point presentations and handouts from the forensic science seminar sponsored Monday and Tuesday by the TX Court of Criminal Appeals Criminal Justice Integrity Unit and the Forensic Science Commission.

In addition, yesterday your correspondent participated in an all-day stakeholder "roundtable" sponsored by the Forensic Science Commission consisting of forensic scientists (half of the invited bunch), prosecutors, attorneys judges and a few advocates like myself. The goal was to identify strengths and weaknesses of forensic science in Texas and outline a path for reform.

Grits promised not to blog details so discussions could be open and probative, but I did want to congratulate the FSC and especially their staff on a useful and constructive event. I've been working on some of these issues for years and this was the first place I've been where a) all the various constituencies, or most of them, engaged in substantive, detailed conversation about forensic reform topics and b) it was possible to have honest and constructive conversation because nobody was speaking in front of legislators, the FSC, or somebody else they felt they needed to impress. Grits was pleasantly surprised, learned a lot, and hope some of the ideas and suggestions compiled become action items going forward.

This roundtable was originally scheduled nearly three years ago, but when Gov. Perry appointed John Bradley to chair the commission, canceling the event was one of his first acts. So finally, after all this time, it was good to see the project implemented, and IMO well done.