Two years ago, the FBI agreed to review more than 2,000 cases processed between 1985 and 2000 in which hair samples helped secure convictions.

At the time, Peter Neufeld, of the Innocence Project, told McClatchy Newspapers, “The government’s willingness to admit error and accept its duty to correct those errors in an extraordinarily large number of cases is truly unprecedented.”

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Innocence Project are assisting the government with this unprecedented review and the initial findings are startling and may be far-reaching.

Since at least the 1970s, written FBI lab reports typically stated that a hair association could not be used as positive identification. For years, some agents went beyond the science and testified that their hair analysis was a near-certain match.

Although the FBI continued to support hair analysis, the method's accuracy came into question. A 2009 National Academy of Sciences report found no good studies of the technique’s error rates. The academy concluded that hair analysis had “limited probative value” and it can't pinpoint individual defendants. 

When the joint review was originally announced, FBI Special Agent Ann Todd said, “There is no reason to believe the FBI Laboratory employed ‘flawed’ forensic techniques,” adding that microscopic hair analysis is “a valid forensic technique and one that is still conducted at the lab” alongside DNA testing.

“The purpose of the review is to determine if FBI Laboratory examiner testimony, and reports, properly reflect the bounds of the underlying science,” Todd said.

The review's early results firmly challenge the validity of hair analysis and certainly the scope of the examiner’s testimony.

Last week, the Justice Department and FBI formally acknowledged that nearly every examiner in the FBI’s microscopic hair comparison unit gave flawed testimony in almost all trials in which they offered evidence against criminal defendants over more than a two-decade period.

According to The Washington Post, of 28 examiners in the unit, 26 overstated forensic matches in ways that favored prosecutors in more than 95 percent of the 268 trials reviewed.

The cases include those of 32 defendants sentenced to death. According to The Post, 14 have been executed or died in prison.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that one of the men executed was Missouri inmate Jeffrey Ferguson. He was executed March 26, 2014. The Missouri State Public Defender’s Office said that the FBI analyst, Michael Malone, made several errors in the cases against Malone “exceeded the limits of science” in claiming the hair “could be associated with a specific individual to the exclusion of all others,” reported The Post-Dispatch.

They also say Malone erred in assigning a statistical probability to his claim and in citing the number of other comparisons performed to bolster his conclusion.

Before one concludes that an innocent man has been executed because of faulty hair analysis, consider that although Ferguson originally claimed he was innocent, he later expressed remorse for the killing while behind bars. He acknowledged his guilt to a Post-Dispatch columnist, but said he was too drunk to remember the crime.

When complete, the hair analysis review will encompass about 2,500 cases in which forensic examiners have testified about hair matches drawn from over 21,000 federal and state requests to the FBI’s hair-comparison unit between 1972 and 1999, reported The New American.

Even if all of the federal cases are addressed, there are another 500 to 1,000 state and local crime-lab analysts who were trained by the same FBI examiners who gave the flawed testimony. 

The number of cases could be extraordinary. State and local government offices will have to decide if they will conduct reviews and who will pay for those reviews.

READ MORE

"The Executioner's Toll, 2010" is a meticulous examination of every execution (and the details surrounding the execution) carried out in a single year — and a thought-provoking exploration into the minds of 46 killers as each plays the role of predator, quarry and condemned.

The unsettling narratives begin with a murder on May 26, 1993, and end with an execution on Dec. 16, 2010. The book chronicles 63 murders, 44 trials, countless appeals, two suicide attempts, 41 last meals, 33 final statements and 46 executions.

Source: McFarland Publishing

Matthew T. Mangino is of counsel with Luxenberg, Garbett, Kelly & George. His book, “The Executioner's Toll, 2010: The Crimes, Arrests, Trials, Appeals, Last Meals, Final Words and Executions of 46 Persons in the United States," was released by McFarland Publishing.

You can reach him at mattmangino.com and follow him on Twitter @MatthewTMangino.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: MANGINO: Faulty hair analysis has far-reaching implications

I recently read the two articles written by Janice Lynn Crose regarding her experiences with local medical professionals.

I have empathy for the situation she outlines, as I am sure it is tremendously stressful. The cost of medical care, making of appointments, and communication with care providers and insurance can be very frustrating.

But, as always, there is a different perspective to be considered.

As the wife of a family medicine physician, I can tell you that general practitioners and family medical docs most often do what they do because they love people, feel great compassion when others are ill or injured, and genuinely desire to help.

They often choose the patient over their family, and we their spouses and children also often choose the patient over our family and our needs. We have to do so, as our spouses don't just have a job, they have a sacred vocation to help heal.

And, here is the part many people never see: many physicians and their families make these sacrifices gladly, because they care.

'SO PROUD OF HIM'

My husband was unable to be reached when my daughter was in the ER, because he was lovingly tending to other people's children.

He missed an entire weekend with his family on more than one occasion, because a long-term patient was ready to deliver. Another doc could cover for him, but he would never let a patient who trusted him be without him in their time of need.

When I have severe asthma episodes, it is me who he must tell "I have to go; I cannot stay and help you."

And, I tell him to go, I will be fine, and I am so proud of him.

He missed our initial obstetrician appointment when I found out we miscarried our second baby, because a doctor can't just take off; people depend on them. 

On a typical day, the kids may see him for an hour before bed; this often includes weekends. Often, they will not see him for a string of days. His last appointment is at 4 p.m., but he takes the time to answer all his messages from patients at the end of every day.

There are more messages than people realize each day.

I am proud of him for the work he does and the way he does it.

'WE JUST DON'T KNOW'

He is not alone — this is the way many doctors live their vocation: with compassion and care.

Some things simply cannot be diagnosed over the phone, or even managed over the phone, in the case of a standing diagnosis.

There may be a day when your doctor truly cannot pack one more appointment in. To do so, to over-schedule, would have a negative impact on all their patients.

It is also the case that antibiotics should rarely, if ever, be prescribed based on a phone consult.

Finally, it is the case that you ought to seek emergency attention if your illness is potentially life threatening.

I have no idea what the receptionist's tone was (for Crose) — it may have been short. I do know that my husband has come home many times and said something to the tune of, "A patient got very upset with me today. I just wish he knew that I am doing all that I can do. I wish I could do more, but I just can't."

I think it is important to realize that there is a person coming home in the evening, feeling truly saddened that a patient wasn't fully satisfied with their care, even though the physician gave it their all.

It is also important to realize that docs have more than one patient. They absolutely have to prioritize.

In this case, no one knows what the physician's day held — maybe a birth, a heart attack, or an extended appointment to consult a newly diagnosed terminal patient took precedent over a skin infection.

From the outside looking in, we just don't know.

SAYING 'THANK YOU'

As human beings, it is in our nature to be self-preservers, so all we hear is, "The doctor cannot help you with that."

When we hear that information conveyed, it is too easy to get angry and assume the physician is lazy, unkind or cold hearted.

Every time my daughters see a firefighter, police officer, librarian or any other community servant, they say thank you.

Their father works days and nights, seven days a week, to treat illness, save lives, offer consolation and provide compassionate care to his patients.

It would be nice for them if some people recognized his sacrifices and saw that most physicians really do care.

Even total self-giving care cannot make every patient happy, but that doesn't stop physicians from doing their best every day.

I certainly appreciate all doctors, nurses, PAs, medical assistants and techs. Their tireless work to care for others deserves our gratitude and praise.

Amy Saurey is the wife of a Crestview physician.

What's your view? Write a letter to the editor or tweet @cnbeditor.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Consider medical doctors' sacrifice — a wife's perspective