Comparative Bullet Lead Analysis

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Comparative Bullet Lead Analysis Some of the most credible evidence that is presented in criminal cases comes from the FBI crime laboratory in Quantico, Va. Part of their job is to test and analyze everything from ballistics to DNA for state and local prosecutors around the country. For years, the FBI believed that lead in bullets had unique chemical signatures, and that by breaking them down and analyzing them, it was possible to match bullets, not only to a single batch of ammunition, but to a single box of bullets. Expert testimony about bullet lead comparisons has been introduced into court without significant contest for nearly 40 years; however recent studies have exposed severe flaws in the basic theory, assumptions, and deductions of bullet lead experts. The FBI first used bullet lead analysis while investigating the assassination of John F. Kennedy, trying to match pieces of bullets with those found in Lee Harvey Oswald's rifle. By the 1980's, the FBI was routinely using this analysis to link bullet fragments found at a crime scene with bullets found in the possession of a suspect. While still working at the FBI, metallurgist William Tobin began questioning this practice. Tobin says the Quantico lab was the only place in the country that did bullet lead analysis, and the assertion that you could actually match a bullet fragment to a specific batch or box of bullets went unchallenged for 40 years until Tobin retired and decided to do his own study, discovering that the basic premise had never actually been scientifically tested. In 2002, confronted with Tobin’s study, the FBI lab asked the National Academy of Sciences to conduct an independent review of comparative bullet lead analysis. The National Research Council came out with a report calling into question years of FBI testimony. It found the model the FBI used for interpreting results was deeply

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