Response from Dr. William J. Tilstone

In the July 2008 issue of Crime Lab Report, we alerted our readers to comments that appeared at a heavily visited Texas justice-website regarding a presentation  given by Dr. William J. Tilstone at an 'Actual Innocence" conference earlier in the year.  The following was a quote taken from the website:

"At the 'Actual Innocence' conference in Plano last month, former executive director of the National Forensic Technology Science Center Bill Tilstone told the audience that most 'pattern evidence' - handwriting analysis, shoe and tire print comparisons, etc., has no research-based foundation at all. Much of forensic science is 'soft' science, he said, that at best has not or even cannot be comprehensively tested for accuracy."

One of our editors contacted the website's author who maintained his confidence that the quote was a reasonably accurate representation of what was said.  But shortly after the publication of the July report, one of Crime Lab Report's readers wrote in strong disagreement with our decision to publish the above quote claiming that it was misleading and unsubstantiated. 

We subsequently contacted Dr. Tilstone to see if he would be willing to educate our readers about the Actual Innocence Conference and clarify his comments about pattern evidence.  He responded quickly and politely to our request.

As a courtesy to Dr. Tilstone and interested readers, we are publishing his unedited response.  Please click the link below.

Response / Editorial from Dr. William J. Tilstone

Subscribe to our free monthly report!
If you've received this report from a friend or colleague, you can subscribe now.  Information about our subscribers is kept private.