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Bullet-Lead Analysis: No Longer A Smoking Gun

Testing the chemical composition of bullets was thought to be a way to match bullets to their source, allowing the FBI to link bullets to suspects, much as it uses blood type to link evidence to an individual. Accepted as evidence for 30 years in criminal cases, bullet-lead analysis led to many convictions. However, scientific studies starting in 2001 have shown that FBI courtroom testimony about bullet lead is flawed:

Bullet-Lead Analysis: No Longer A Smoking Gun

SOURCE: National Academy of Sciences report, FBI documents, research of former FBI metallurgist William Tobin | By Laura Stanton The Washington Post - November 17, 2007

This Story FBI's Forensic Test Full of Holes Article \| Hundreds of defendants sitting in prisons nationwide have been convicted with the help of an FBI forensic tool that was discarded more than two years ago. But the FBI lab has yet to take steps to alert the affected defendants or courts, even as the window for appealing convictions is closing, a j... SILENT INJUSTICE A Twist to the Left: A Murder Conviction Torn Apart by a Bullet Graphic: Bullet-Lead Analysis The FBI's Response Lawyer Groups to Flag Cases Needing Review The End of a Failed Technique -- but Not of a Prison Sentence Evidence Of Injustice Graphic: 1995 Trial Evidence Unraveled FBI Emails Outline Internal Concerns Monday, Nov. 19, at noon ET: Silent Injustice		Network News X Profile View More Activity TOOLBOX E-Mail This Reprints		Related Document Archive More on washingtonpost.com • More Nation News » washingtonpost.com
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