Quality in Forensic Science Flashcards
What are ISOs?
- requirement
- definition
- international organisation for standards
- requirements - those of law-enforcement and justice to produce a fair process and safe decision or verdict
- degree to which forensic science meets stakeholder needs (law enforcement, defence, justice, regulator, society)
IEC
- international electrotechnical comission
Define standard
- a document established by consensus approved by a recognised body
- that provides for common and repeated use, rules, guidance or characteristics for activities or their results
- aimed at achieving the optimum degree of order in a given context
What are current standards framework?
- ISO17025
- criminal procedure rules
- rules of evidence - admissibility and relevance
- common law
- professional codes (professional bodies - CSOFS, regulatory bodies - FSR)
What are three aspects of quality
- scientific
- legal
- ethical
What are the three aspects of scientific aspect of quality
- scientific method (observation, theory, test, peer review)
- objectivity (unbiased, impartial)
- logic and rationality
What are the three aspects of legal aspect of quality?
- law - common law
- rules of evidence - admissibility and relevance
- procedural rules - CPR
What are the two aspects of ethical aspect of quality
- professional codes (professional bodies, forensic science regulator)
- moral principles
What are the five requirements given by the CPS guidance
1 - comply with codes of conduct/practice set by FSR
2 - ensure quality standards and assurance processes are applied which are nationally consistent and compliant with appropriate ISO standards, united kingdom accreditation services (UKAS) accreditation, EU derivaties
3 - provide clear communication and interpretation of scientific processes, procedures, strengths, weaknesses and meaning
4 - engage with SFR process
5 - be fully aware of a compliant with CPIA disclosure and expert witness obligations
What is the importance of quality standards in forensic science?
- they are integral to criminal justice system
- without them:
- there may be greater risks that those guilty of crime may escape justice or that innocent people could be convicted
Adam Scott case
- innocent man spent 5 months in jail falsely accused of rape following DNA contamination error
- he was arrested after a plastic tray containing sample of his saliva was reused by forensic services provider
- his saliva was wrongly linked to violent attach on woman in Manchester when he was in Plymouth
- forensic science regulator found he was victim of avoidable contamination
- lack of records made it impossible to work out who lab tech behind this mistake was
- scott had been arrested after street fight and saliva sample was taken and held on NDNAD
What makes a method no good?
- even if it is rooted in scientific method, unless it is constantly applied in the same way every time it was used
- individuals who have no established approach or who do not use the same approach for each case are not following a reliable process
What are root cause analysis for error?
- method is reliable but analyst not qualified
- method is reliable analyst qualified but method not properly applied
- analyst is qualified but method is not reliable
- analyst is not qualified and method is not reliable
What makes a method unreliable?
- inconsistent of non-existent criteria for conclusions (e.g. based on my experience/education)
- not rooted in scientific process
- does not account for uncertainty
ISO17025
- when used and who by
- what are four aspects
- what is it
- first used in 1999 by ISO and IEC
- competent organisation, competent personnel, valid methods, impartiality
- single most important standard for calibration testing labs around the world
- labs that are predicted to this international standard have demonstrated that they are technically competent and able to produce precise and accurate test and/or calibration data
What are two overarching sections of ISO17025?
- management requirements- operational effectiveness of quality management system within the laboratory
- technical requirements - factors which determine the correctness and reliability of tests calibrations
What are five elements of ISO 17025 standard?
- scope
- normative references
- terms and definitions
- management requirements
- technical requirements
What is scope element of ISO 17025?
- to what extent do our lab activities extend
- if lab intends to extend its scope then new audit will be required
- a drugs lab cannot just expand into other areas
What is normative reference element of ISO 17025?
- rules prescribed by:
- customers
- regulations
- normative documents
- ISO/IEC guide 99, international vocabulary of metrology - basic and general concepts and associated terms
- ISO/IEC 17000 conformity assessment - vocabulary and general principles
What is terms and definitions element of ISO 17025?
- a standardised vocabulary
- ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardisation at the following addresses:
- ISO online browsing platform and IEC electropedia
What is management requirements element of ISO 17025?
- management systems and documentation
- control of records
- action to address risks and opportunities
- corrective actions
- internal audits
- management reviews
What is technical requirements element of ISO 17025?
- handling of test or calibration items
- technical records
- evaluation of measurement and certainty
- ensuring validity of results
- reporting opinions and interpretations
- amendments to reports
- complaints
- nonconforming work
What is accreditation?
- a voluntary, third-party reviewed, process
- as part of accreditation, laboratories quality management system is thoroughly evaluated on a regular basis to ensure continued technical competence and compliance with ISO/IEC 17025
What does ISO 17025 require?
- requires continual improvement
- regular audits are carried out to highlight opportunities for improvement
- the lab will be expected to maintain its knowledge of relevant scientific and technological advances
What is the definition of accreditation vs certification
accreditation:
- full recognition by an accreditation authority to the technical and organisational competence of a conformity assessment body to carry out a specific service in accordance to the standards and technical regulations as described in the scope of accreditation
certification:
- the process by which a third party gives written assurance that a product, process, system or person conforms to the specified requirement
UKAS
- when was it founded
- what is it
- founded in 1995 with Headquarters in Staines (others in Europe and around world)
- the sole national accreditation body recognised by British government to assess the competence of organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection and calibration
Quality management system is a system by which…
- an organisation aims to reduce and eventually eliminate non-conformance to specifications, standards, and customer expectations in the most cost-effective and efficient manner
SOPs
- standard operating procedures
Proficiency testing
- what is it
- purpose
- an assessment of the performance of laboratory personnel using samples where sources are known to proficiency test administrator but unknown to examinee
- to measure individual performance and provide demonstrative evidence of each examiners ability
What are two types of proficiency testing?
- internal proficiency test
- external proficiency test
- ensures examiner is compared against manufacturers validated results
What is another type of proficiency testing?
- blind proficiency test
- an agency may use this to verify the quality of work without the scientists knowledge
- agency may generate mock evidence and then assign it is a regular case
- case examiner may never know he or she worked on blind proficiency test unless quality of work produced was below standard
What is another type of proficiency testing?
- double blind proficiency testing
- where another agency submits mock evidence as if it were a regular case to another agency
- this evaluates the performance of the individuals completing the case and the agency’s overall performance within respect to that case
Type 1 error
- false positive
- where true result is negative but shows as positive
- incriminating the innocent
Type 2 error
- false negative
- where true result is positive but shows as negative
- person would be falsely exonerated
What are three reasons as to why a test is run on a stain and the results are negative?
- stain isn’t blood
- stain is blood but reagents used to conduct test are poor quality
- stain is blood but something in shirt is interfering with test (inhibitor)
ISO/IEC 17020
- international standard for organisations carrying out inspection activities
- deemed more appropriate than ISO/IEC 17025 for crime scene examinations
- it focuses on inspection bodies and police crime units
What does ISO/IEC 17020 cover?
- examination strategy, scene examination (exhibit - discovery, collection, enhancement, comparison, interpretation)
Forensic science regulator responsibilities?
- responsible for:
1 - standards that apply to national forensic intelligence databases and development of new standards
2 - identifying requirement for new/improved quality standards
3 - providing advice and guidance to ministers, CJS organisations and forensic science providers to help them demonstrate compliance with common standards
4 - ensuring good arrangements exist to provide assurance and monitoring of the standards (management of complaints/referrals about standards)
ISO 9001
- ‘standard for business processes’
- applies to processes that create products and services and organisation supplies in order to fulfil customer quality requirements
- sometimes aligned to fingerprint processes
ISO 17043
- associated with operation and management of proficiency testing schemes
ISO 18385
- what is it
- currently in UK?
- how
- standard for minimising risk of human DNA contamination in products used to collect, store and analyse biological material for forensic purposes
- in draft as of Nov 2015, current standard in UK is PAS 377 guidelines
- consumables used for DNA casework are treated with a single cycle of ethylene oxide in order to reduce/eliminate DNA contamination (toxic gas that splits of DNA helix into small fragments which are too small to deliver a DNA profile that can be loaded to national DNA database
- spiked swab is placed in batch with known quantity of donor DNA and is quality tested
- batch rejected if DNA is detected
PPE
- full overall
- hairnet - mob cap
- over sleeves
- over boots
- nitrile gloves
- facemasks
- eye protection
Other than PPE what do DNA staff do to reduce contamination?
- all staff DNA profiles are held on a UK supplier DNA database
ISO 14644
- standard which applies to clean rooms
17025
17020
9001
17043
18385
14664
- calibration testing
- inspection bodies and police crime units
- management and business processes
- proficiency testing
- consumables
- clean rooms
R v Smith
- Hilda Owen a 71 year old was murdered in her home in Skegby in 2007
- she had been attached, suffered grave injuries and left to die
- appellant, her next door neighbour found her body and reported to police in march
- he was at first treated as a witness but he was subsequently arrested and released on bail
- court quashed his conviction
- reliability of FP evidence used in 2008 was challenged due to fresh evidence from new experts
- court also criticised quality of reports provided (no notes made during examinations or reasons for conclusions)
- points of comparison were not identified contemporaneously on a separate chart
- court of appeal concluded by calling for enforcement of common quality standards in a robust and accountable system
What did Lord Justice Thomas raise a number of issues in relation to?
- training and quality of FP experts
- quality standards
- presentation of FP evidence in court
16 point standard
- originally no standards in proving a match
- 12 ridge characteristics would prove a match beyond doubt
- UK adopted higher threshold of certainty in 1953 using national standard of 16 similar characteristics in proving a match
- 1983: agreed that a fingerprint identification was certain with less than 16 points of similarity
- study commissioned by ACPO and the Home Office, concluded that there was no scientific, logical or statistical basis for the retention of a numerical standard
- 2001: change to a non-numerical standard
- from 2001: accepted practice was for print to be identified by fingerprint officer (may/not be a fingerprint expert and then checked by two qualified fingerprint experts
CPD
- what is it
- why is it needed
- what does CSFS say about it
- continual professional development
- any learning activity which promotes development of knowledge and skills applicable to ones role
- it provides direct route into competent practice because the necessity of keeping up-to-date with information, skills development and implication of forensic case law is a prerequisite to maintaining a best practice in many roles
- it is recognised that maintenance of skills and knowledge of the time and place plays an important part in ensuring that standards of practice current competence in the role is promoted
- chartered society of forensic science considers CPD to be a basic expectation of all its professional members
Brandon Mayfield case
- bombing in Madrid
- Brandon Mayfield was arrested by FBI saying his print was a match to print found on abandoned set of detonator caps inside plastic bag with single incomplete FP
- Mayfield was released when they found an Algerian national who’s print matched better
- FALSE POSITIVE (TYPE 1)
- contextual/CONFIRMATION information caused bias
Cameron Todd Willingham
- what happened
- flaws
- key recommendations
- condemned and put to death for suspected arson murder of his three young daughters in 1991
- house fire caused fire in home killing his three daughters
- accused of maliciously instigating the fire
flaws
- original fire investigation was heavily criticized for relying on outdated and unscientific methods, including the use of arson indicators that have since been debunked.
- investigators and experts involved in the case lacked proper training in fire investigation and relied on subjective interpretations rather than empirical evidence
- allegations were made that evidence that could have potentially exonerated Willingham was not disclosed during the trial
- Willingham’s defence was deemed to be inadequate, failing to challenge the flawed forensic evidence effectively.
- better training for investigators in handling and examination of evidence
- institution of better practices for collecting and preserving evidence
- commitment towards transparent investigations and leveraging technological advances in forensic science
- improved oversight and independent assessment of investigations are also suggested to combat investigative bias
