Professor Kaye to speak on DNA evidence at D.C. Circuit Judicial Conference

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – David H. Kaye, Distinguished Professor of Law at Penn State Law, will deliver a talk on “DNA Evidence, Old and New” at the 2017 D.C. Circuit Judicial Conference on June 28 in Lancaster.

Kaye’s talk, which will address both legal and statistical issues, is part of a panel presentation from scientists and law professors asked by the judges to discuss “whether DNA testing is the epitome of credibility in the forensic analysis of evidence, or whether it will ultimately suffer the same fate as other kinds of analysis that were once thought to be reliably scientific but are now viewed with a degree of suspicion.”

Joining Kaye on the panel are Dr. John M. Butler, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); Dr. Robin W. Cotton, Boston University School of Medicine; and Professor Erin E. Murphy, New York University School of Law. The discussion will be moderated by Judge Reggie B. Walton of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The annual conference for judges in the D.C. Circuit considers matters important to the administration of justice in the federal courts for Washington, D.C. This year’s theme is “The History and Future of Forensic Science,” and covers topics including confessions and lie detection, eyewitness identification, and pattern matching evidence. Other speakers at the conference include John G. Roberts Jr., chief justice of the United States, and Merrick B. Garland, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Kaye is an expert on scientific evidence and statistics in law. He holds degrees from MIT, Harvard, and Yale universities. The author of The Double Helix and the Law of Evidence (Harvard University Press) and many other books on forensic science, statistics, and law, Kaye has served on committees of the National Academy of Sciences and national commissions and expert working groups established by the Department of Justice and NIST to improve the use of forensic science in the legal system.