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Houston Museum of Natural Science

The Real CSI: Getting Forensic Science Right by Sandra Guerra Thompson

Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020 – Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020

06:30 PM
US/Central

DNA evidence has uncovered that innocent people have been convicted of heinous crimes by jurors who have trusted the opinions of so-called "expert witnesses" in forensics. How could forensic science get it wrong if it is "science"?

How can judges distinguish good science from junk science to prevent miscarriages of justice? Sandra Guerra Thompson, director of the Criminal Justice Institute at the University of Houston Law Center will explain how our hometown lab has transformed to be the only forensic laboratory in the world where analysts can go to court armed with the statistical data to prove the scientific validity of the analyses they perform.

The Houston Forensic Science Center (HFSC), established by the City of Houston in 2014 to replace the scandal-ridden Houston Police Department Crime Lab, has established a program to test the scientific validity of all six forensic science disciplines practiced in the lab: forensic biology, latent prints, firearms, toxicology, digital and multimedia, and crime scene. Five years after its creation, the HFSC has risen to national and international prominence and ensures reaching accurate results in testing crime scene evidence by developing the statistical data necessary to calculate "error rates" of forensic disciplines like fingerprint and firearm identification.

Co-Sponsored by The University of Houston Law Center.

Early Bird pricing available until 2/4

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  • Parking is available in our 6-story garage located on Caroline just south of Hermann Drive. The parking garage is $10 for museum members and $30 for all others. Some free parking is available near the Museum entrance and in Hermann Park. Click here for details.

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