EP 79: Hair Of The Dog

On today’s episode, Kate and Paul head to 1978 Washington, D.C. where a cab driver is murdered while finishing his shift.  With the dual employments of ballistics and hair analysis, multiple suspects are found in this case that has a truly all-time epilogue. 

 Sources:

“For D.C. man, 28 years lost” by Spencer S. Hsu (Washington Post) 2012. 

https://www.pulitzer.org/files/finalists/2013/washpostps2013/washpostps03.pdf

“Tribble v. United States” (District of Columbia Court of Appeals) 1982.

https://casetext.com/case/tribble-v-united-states-1

“Santae Tribble, whose wrongful conviction revealed FBI forensic hair match flaws, dies at 59” by Spencer S. Hsu (Washington Post) 2020.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/santae-tribble-whose-wrongful-conviction-revealed-fbi-forensic-hair-match-flaws-dies-at-59/2020/07/04/eb953b40-bbbf-11ea-bdaf-a129f921026f_story.html

“Bad Hair: The Legal Response to Mass Forensic Errors” by Brandon L. Garrett

https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6581&context=faculty_scholarship

“The National Registry of Exonerations” (University of Michigan)

https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=3926

“How Santae Tribble’s Wrongful Conviction Prompted Review of the FBI’s Use of Hair Analysis and Inspired the Innocence Project’s Research” (Innocent Project) 2020.

https://innocenceproject.org/santae-tribble-inspired-hair-analysis-review-work/

“D.C. man petitions for innocence after DNA exonerates co-defendant in 1978 murders” by Spencer S. Hsu (Washington Post) 2013.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/dc-man-petitions-for-innocence-after-dna-exonerates-co-defendant-in-1978-murders/2013/08/26/02300852-0057-11e3-9a3e-916de805f65d_story.html

“Tribble motion to vacate conviction” (Superior Court for the District of Columbia) 2012.

https://archive.org/stream/336469-tribble-motion-to-vacate-conviction/336469-tribble-motion-to-vacate-conviction_djvu.txt

“Convicted defendants left uninformed of forensic flaws found by Justice Dept.” by Spencer S. Hsu (Washington Post) 2012.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/convicted-defendants-left-uninformed-of-forensic-flaws-found-by-justice-dept/2012/04/16/gIQAWTcgMT_story.html

“Forensic Science and Forensic Evidence 1” (Department of Justice) 2017.

https://www.justice.gov/usao/page/file/931366/download#:~:text=The%20FBI%20found%20that%2026,percent%20of%20the%20trials%20reviewed.

“FBI Admits Flaws in Hair Analysis Over Decades” by Spencer S. Hsu (Washington Post) 2015.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/fbi-overstated-forensic-hair-matches-in-nearly-all-criminal-trials-for-decades/2015/04/18/39c8d8c6-e515-11e4-b510-962fcfabc310_story.html

“Santae Tribble cleared in 1978 murder based on DNA hair test” by Spencer S. Hsu (Washington Post) 2012.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/dc-judge-exonerates-santae-tribble-of-1978-murder-based-on-dna-hair-test/2012/12/14/da71ce00-d02c-11e1-b630-190a983a2e0d_story.html

“FBI Testimony on Microscopic Hair Analysis Contained Errors in at least 90 Percent of Cases in Ongoing Review” (FBI) 2015.

https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/fbi-testimony-on-microscopic-hair-analysis-contained-errors-in-at-least-90-percent-of-cases-in-ongoing-review

“In the Crosshairs: Why the Forensic Science of Hair Analysis Isn’t Foolproof” by Jules Reich (Mental Floss) 2021.

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/645658/forensic-science-of-hair-analysis-flawed