Episode 40

Debunking Courtroom Pseudoscience: A Conversation With the Innocence Project's Chris Fabricant

It’s a sense of outrage that gets him out of bed every morning, says M. Chris Fabricant, Director of Strategic Litigation at the Innocence Project.

Approximately 2.3 million people are incarcerated at any given time in the United States. Estimates put the number of wrongfully convicted at up to 5%, meaning tens of thousands of innocent people are behind bars for crimes they did not commit but were convicted of, often based on pseudoscience.

Chris, the author of Junk Science in the American Criminal Justice System, joins host Matt Adams to explain the history and evolution of forensic science. Emerging as a “field” in the latter half of the 20th century, forensic science was often developed without employing the scientific method. Bite marks and blood spatter have since been accepted as “evidence” by the courts and the media. The field also has underpinnings in systemic racial, social and economic justice issues that continue to impact convictions today.

Chris and Matt scientifically debunk certain elements of the field and share with listeners how they can support the critical mission of the Innocence Project.