Congratulations to Drs. Max Guyll (PI) and Stephanie Madon (Co-PI) for receiving a National Science Foundation grant ($349,999) for their research titled “Assessing the Validity of Forensic Decisions Using Interrater Reliability”.
Project Summary:
Invalid or improper forensic analysis is a leading cause of wrongful conviction in the United States. Recognizing the seriousness of the problem, the federal government sought input from the National Academy of Sciences and the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Both bodies released reports that identified significant deficits in knowledge about the reliability and validity of commonly used pattern matching techniques and called for the federal government to prioritize research aimed at evaluating their scientific basis. The current research will assess the reliability and validity of forensic decisions based on the visual evaluation of microscopic toolmarks on fired cartridge cases. The grant is active from 2020 – 2022.