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Old March 14, 2014, 10:47 PM   #9
44 AMP
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Join Date: March 11, 2006
Location: Upper US
Posts: 28,846
Quote:
Comparative lead analysis might be an investigative tool but probably cannot be admitted in court.
I'm sure a properly done comparative test would be admissible in court. HOWEVER, how much good it would do, and for who's side is the issue.

Again, let me point to the scene in My Cousin Vinnie where the FBI expert testifies how they took sample from the tire tracks, and samples from the defendant's tires, and the results were "identical" . The prosecutor emphasizes the word, "EYE-DENTICAL" for the jury.

Then the defense points out that the specific tires on the defendant's car are the most popular (and most common) size and make of tire sold in the US. And how the test would give an "eye-dentical" result with any Michlin XGV radial.....

SO, essentially, while a isotopic analysis of the lead in the shotgun pellets used in the crime might be able to say, for instance, the shell used was a Federal, because Federal ammo is loaded with this batch of lead, its application to a specific case is problematical, as the defense need only bring up how many shells loaded with that particular isotopic mixture Federal made, placing the burden back on the prosecution to prove that is was shells from the defendant's box of Federal ammo that were used in the crime, and not someone else's Federal ammo....

Again, the counter balance to this is the fact that the prosecution need not prove it, if they don't bring it up before the jury.
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