Hard Evidence: How Detectives Inside the Fbi's Sci-Crime Lab Have Helped Solve America's Toughest Cases - Hardcover

Fisher, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0671793691 ISBN 13: 9780671793692

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 1995

Synopsis

Provides an insider's view of detective work in a modern crime lab, detailing the facts associated with the most notorious cases in modern history, including the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 and the Kennedy assassination. 25,000 first printing.

About this title

From the Author:

a response to recent events concerning the FBI crime lab
While there has been considerable criticism of the FBI crime lab, I think it is important to inform readers that not a piece of evidence has been found to have been tainted in any way, there has not been a single trial reopened and much of the criticism has been dismissed. Since the accusations the lab has been accreditted by the National Association of Criminal Laboratories.It's easy to criticize the FBI crime lab. In my career I have had difficulty on several occasions with the bureau itself, but I was able to separate the bureau and the lab. Much of the criticism of the lab came from a former examiner, Dr. Frederick Whitehust, who was the main subject of the book Tainted Evidence. Although the authors of that book claimed they were allowed to interview Dr. Whitehurst because the bureau made a mistake, I also spent considerable time with him. And that was not by mistake. I found Dr. Whitehurst to be a brilliant and dedicated scientist, but also someone unable to tell the difference between a simple intellectual disagreement and a personal attack. I actually used very little information I learned from Dr. Whitehurst in this book as I found him to be overly intense. Generally I don't feel the need -- or have the desire -- to defend the FBI, but crime lab is quite different. In part because of Dr. Whitehurst's charges several excellent scientists and examiners were transferred out of the lab, and the criminal justice system is poorer for their absence.

From the Inside Flap:

vidence reveals, for the very first time in print, what goes on in the FBI's modern sci-crime lab--and it will dramatically alter your understanding of crime detection.  Here you will learn the behind-the-scenes stories of the truly remarkable work done in each of the lab's twelve units, told by the agents who actually conducted the investigations.

A sampling of the chapter titles will give you a sense of the readability of this riveting book:

--The Little Green Specks Of Death: The Chemistry/Toxicology Unit

--Putting The World Back Together: The Explosives Unit

--Threads Of Evidence: The Hairs and Fiber Unit

--Number One With A Bullet: The Firearms and Toolmarks Unit

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0671793691
• ISBN 13: 9780671793692
• Binding: Hardcover