Is Hair Reliable Forensic Evidence?

In 2009, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences published a report on the status of forensic science, identifying what they found to be disciplines of forensic science that lacked appropriate scientific basis. Those areas of forensic science, including fingerprints, firearms examination, crime scene reconstruction, bloodstain pattern interpretation, hair comparisons, odontology, and others, were characterized as subjective and lacking standardized procedures, proper validation, and error rate calculation. More recently, the FBI identified 2,500 cases that require review after finding experts of microscopic hair comparison overstated the value of evidence. A study to date showed that in 257 cases, 95% of those reviewed, examiners testified to “near certainty” of matches or unfounded statistics. At the time of the announcement many suggested elimination of this “flawed” technique. Recently, NIST and DOJ have established the national Commission on Forensic Science and subcommittees to review current standards and practice in various forensic disciplines, including methods for the examination of human hair.