Truth, Justice and Forensic Evidence

by Diane FanningWe all realize that statistics can be manipulated to prove points, that polls can be slanted by how a question is asked, that news reporting itself demonstrates bias by what the media chooses to cover, if nothing else. However, we expect forensic science to be the gold standard of truth--complete, objective, honest. We want to believe that. Learning that forensics, too, does not live up to its objective, TV-drama-polished image makes...

Read More

Jaycee Dugard: One Year Later

by Stacy DittrichThis past Thursday, August 26, 2010, marked the one year anniversary of Jaycee Lee Dugard’s (pictured left) return to her family. As most people know, Jaycee was eleven years old when she was viciously ripped from her family while walking to her bus stop in South Lake Tahoe, California, on June 10, 1991. This occurred as her step-father, Carl Probyn, watched helplessly. For the next 18 years, Dugard’s captors, Philip Craig Garrido,...

Read More

Poor Little Rich Girl?

by Kathryn Casey and Cathy ScottFlashback: Paris Hilton on "Larry King Live" in June 2007, two days after her release from jail: "I'm going to have a new beginning. I'm going to raise money for kids, for breast cancer, for multiple sclerosis."Sounded like the young Ms. Hilton had learned her lesson, didn't it? Apparently not. She's been busted again, this time in Las Vegas, at 11:30 Friday night, in a car. Her boyfriend, Cy Waits, was driving, but...

Read More

Keeping the "Most Dangerous" Locked Up Indefinitely

by Diane DimondWhen is the spread of AIDS criminal?You are the judge and jury on this one. There are a lot of number to take into account here, so read carefully.A man who knew he was HIV positive admitted to having unprotected sex with dozens of women and girls as young as 14. Health officials put the number of his potential HIV victims at 75. It was discovered that at least 13 of those females had been infected with the HIV virus, including...

Read More

Ronald Cummings's Enemies

by Pat BrownLots of speculation is swirling again now that Tommy Croslin and Misty Croslin are making more statements about the night that five-year-old Haleigh Cummings went missing. She has never been found.Tommy claims Joe Overstreet strangled Haleigh but, for some reason, Tommy helped him get rid of the little girl's body. Misty says she hid under a blanket while Tommy and Joe did something, and she doesn't exactly know what it was. Joe says,...

Read More

Arkansas Bombing Case & Verdict—For Now

by Andrea Campbell It is unusual that an individual is involved in a bombing, especially in Arkansas. A case that has captured the attention of crime followers nationally, this one has some strange elements to it. It BeginsThis story starts with an investigation, but one with another objective — sanctioning doctors. The Arkansas State Medical Board was looking into the conduct of a licensed physician in northern Arkansas named Dr. Randeep Mann....

Read More

Gilded Death

by Deborah BlumIn 16th century France, there lived a king with a beautiful and somewhat mysterious mistress.Diane de Poitiers was almost 20 years older than Henri II, but she looked like one of his contemporaries. She had skin of a near porcelain white and auburn hair as fine as silk thread.Famed for her intellect as well as her beauty, Diane was not only the king's lover but one of his closest political advisors. He even encouraged her to sign some...

Read More

New Orleans Disaster Shootings: The Aftermath

by Cathy ScottA story out of New Orleans, of police charged with the shooting deaths of six residents, is currently winding its way through the Louisiana criminal court system. So far, seven officers have been charged separately for conspiring to cover up the fatal shootings of unarmed residents Leonard Bartholomew, Susan Bartholomew, Lesha Bartholomew, Jose Holmes Jr., Lance Madison and Ronald Madison during the chaos that was Hurricane Katrina.The...

Read More