Koehler, J. J., & Saks, M. J. (in press).  The Coming Paradigm Shift in Forensic Identification Science.  Science.

ABSTRACT

Converging legal and scientific forces are pushing the traditional forensic identification sciences toward fundamental change.  The assumption of discernable uniqueness that resides at the core of these fields is weakened by evidence of errors in proficiency testing and in actual cases.  Changes in the law pertaining to the admissibility of expert evidence in court, in combination with the emergence of DNA typing as a model for a scientifically defensible approach to questions of shared identity, also are driving the older forensic sciences toward a new scientific paradigm.

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