National Commission on Forensic Science Meeting #12 January 9-10, 2017 Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs Building 810 Seventh Street, NW, Washington, DC National Commission on Forensic Science Meeting #12 • January 9–10, 2017 National Commission on Forensic Science Meeting #12 January 9–10, 2017 Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs Building 810 Seventh Street, NW, Washington, DC 20531 Contents 1. Introduction 2. NCFS Meeting #12 Agenda 3. Meeting Summary 4. Voting Results 5. Attendee List 6. Transcript 1. Introduction The twelfth meeting of the National Commission on Forensic Science (NCFS) was held on January 9–10, 2017 in Washington, DC, at the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) building. The meeting began with opening remarks from Dr. Victor Weedn, Senior Forensic Advisor to the Deputy Attorney General; Dr. Willie E. May, Director Emeritus of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); and Dr. Kent Rochford, Acting Director of NIST, and new Co-Chair of NCFS. NCFS Co-Chair, Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates, was unable to participate in this meeting. On January 9, following the opening remarks, the Honorable Pam King, a member of the Subcommittee of Procedures and Operations (SPO), presented the SPO update, which focused on the draft NCFS Summary Report, Reflecting Back—Looking Toward the Future. Leadership from the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy discussed the Forensic Science Discipline Review (FSDR) and Uniform Language for Testimony and Reports, which was followed by two sessions on scientific foundations that provoked thoughtful discussion regarding the different perspectives of the issues surrounding scientific foundations of scientific practice. The first scientific foundations session was led by Dr. Christopher Palenik (Vice President, Microtrace), Dr. Michael Peat (Editor, Journal of Forensic Science), and Dr. David Allison (Professor and Associate Dean for Research & Science, University of Alabama at Birmingham). The presenters of the second scientific foundations session included Dr. Eric Lander (Co-Chair, President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology), Dr. Christophe Champod (Professor of Forensic Science, University of Lausanne, School of Criminal Justice, Faculty of Law, Criminal Justice and Public Administration), and Dr. Alan Leshner (Chief Executive Officer, Emeritus, American Association for the Advancement of Science). On January 10, Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) statisticians Matt Durose and Anthony Whyde provided an update on their forensic science survey activities. Following the BJS survey update, 1 National Commission on Forensic Science Meeting #12 • January 9–10, 2017 a research panel presented on the current status and landscape of the extramural forensic science research infrastructure. This panel included presenters NCFS Commissioners Gerald LaPorte (Director, Office of Investigative and Forensic Sciences, National Institute of Justice) and Rebecca Ferrell (Program Director, Biological Anthropology, National Science Foundation), as well as Jose Almirall (Director, International Forensic Research Institute, Florida International University) and R.E. Gaensslen (Professor Emeritus, Forensic Science, University of Illinois at Chicago). Dr. Cedric Neumann (Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics & Statistics, South Dakota State University) and Dr. William Thompson (Professor, Department of Criminology, Law & Society, University of California, Irvine) discussed jury interpretation of forensic evidence and how jury judgements are affected by testimony. A second research panel included presentations by Federal agencies to discuss their current forensic science research activities. Panelists included Julia Dolan (Chief, Forensic Science Lab–Washington, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives), Susan Ballou (Forensic Science Research Program Manager, National Institute of Standards and Technology) and Cary Oien (Senior Forensic Scientist, Federal Bureau of Investigation). Subcommittee reports from 4 of the NCFS subcommittees were provided on both Day 1 (January 9) and Day 2 (January 10) of Meeting #12. On Day 1 (January 9), (1) Accreditation and Proficiency Testing, (2) Medicolegal Death Investigation, and (3) Human Factors presented a total of 4 final draft work products to be voted on by the Commission. All 4 work products were adopted by the Commission by achieving the required two-thirds majority vote. The summary of the voting results are outlined in Section 4: Voting Results. On Day 2 (January 10), (4) Reporting and Testimony presented one final draft work product, which was sent back to the subcommittee for revision following Commission deliberations. No vote was taken on this Reporting and Testimony work product. Reporting and Testimony also discussed an initial draft work product, which was open for its second 30-day public comment period at the time of the meeting. On Monday, January 9, there was one (1) public comment. No public comments were made during the open public comment period on Tuesday, January 10. Meeting materials, including pdf files for presentations, initial and final draft work products, public comment adjudication summaries, and subcommittee reports, may be found on the NCFS website at https://www.justice.gov/ncfs/meeting-materials-term-2#m12. Archived videos from the webcast of the entire meeting are available for viewing at https://www.nist.gov/topics/forensic-science/ncfs-meeting-12-webcast. 2 National Commission on Forensic Science Meeting #12 • January 9–10, 2017 2. NCFS Meeting #12 Agenda NATIONAL COMMISSION ON FORENSIC SCIENCE January 9-10, 2017 Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs Building 810 Seventh Street, NW, Washington, DC 20531, Main Ballroom, Room #3101 AGENDA – MONDAY, JANUARY 9, 2017 9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Call to Order/Opening Remarks Victor Weedn, M.D., J.D., Senior Forensic Advisor to the Deputy Attorney General Willie E. May, Ph.D., Director Emeritus, National Institute of Standards and Technology Kent B. Rochford, Ph.D., Acting Director, National Institute of Standards and Technology 9:30 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. Subcommittee on Procedures and Operations (SPO): NCFS Summary Report Hon. Pam King, NCFS Commissioner, SPO Member 10:15 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. Accreditation and Proficiency Testing Subcommittee Report Linda Jackson and Patricia Manzolillo, Co-Chairs Final Work Products for Vote: Recommendation on Accreditation of Digital and Multimedia Forensic Science Service Providers 10:45 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. Medicolegal Death Investigation Subcommittee Report John Fudenberg and Randy Hanzlick, Co-Chairs Final Work Products for Vote: Views on Recognizing the Autonomy and Neutrality of Forensic Pathologists; Recommendation on Model Legislation for Medicolegal Death Investigation Systems 11:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. BREAK (lunch distributed) 11:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Human Factors Subcommittee Report Justice Bridget McCormack and Professor Jules Epstein, Co-Chairs Final Work Product for Vote: Views on Use of Checklists in Forensic Science 3 National Commission on Forensic Science Meeting #12 • January 9–10, 2017 12:15 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. Update on Forensic Science Discipline Review and Uniform Language for Testimony and Reports Office of Legal Policy, U.S. Department of Justice 1:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. BREAK 1:30 p.m. - 3:05 p.m. Scientific Foundations Session #1 1:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. David Allison, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor and Associate Dean of Research and Science, University of Alabama at Birmingham 2:00 p.m. – 2:20 p.m. Michael Peat, Ph.D., Editor, Journal of Forensic Science 2:20 p.m. – 2:40 p.m. Christopher Palenik, Ph.D., Vice President, Microtrace 2:40 p.m. – 3:05 p.m. Question and Answers for Scientific Foundations Session #1 3:05 p.m. – 3:20 p.m. BREAK 3:20 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. Scientific Foundations Session #2 3:20 p.m. – 3:40 p.m. Eric Lander, Ph.D., Co-Chair, President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology 3:40 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Christophe Champod, Ph.D., Professor of forensic science, University of Lausanne, School of Criminal Justice, Faculty of Law, Criminal Justice and Public Administration 4:00 p.m. – 4:20 p.m. Alan I. Leshner, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, Emeritus, American Association for the Advancement of Science 4:20 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. Question and Answers for Scientific Foundations Session #2 4:45 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Public Comment Period 5:00 p.m. Commission Meeting Adjournment AGENDA – TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2016 8:30 a.m. Call to Order 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) Survey Update Matt Durose, Statistician, Bureau of Justice Statistics Anthony Whyde, Statistician, Bureau of Justice Statistics 9:30 a.m. – 9:45 a.m. BREAK 9:45 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. PANEL #1: Research Panel I – Extramural Research 4 National Commission on Forensic Science Meeting #12 • January 9–10, 2017 R.E. Gaensslen, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Forensic Science, University of Illinois at Chicago Gerald LaPorte, M.S., Director, National Institute of Justice’s Office of Investigative and Forensic Sciences Rebecca Ferrell, Ph.D., Program Director, Biological Anthropology, National Science Foundation Jose Almirall, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Director, International Forensic Research Institute, Florida International University Nicholas Petraco, Ph.D., Professor, John Jay University 11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. BREAK (lunch distributed) 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. WORKING LUNCH: PANEL #2: Jury Understanding of Statistics Cedric Neumann, Ph.D.,