InvestigateTV+ Weekend: Forensic testing abandoned over flaws

(InvestigateTV) — This Week on InvestigateTV+ Weekend, forensic testimony in hundreds of trials abandoned over flaws in science. And as Chris Nakamoto found out, for some families, the fight for freedom isn’t over.

Plus, police are trained to spot impairment. But when the signs of a health crisis look the same, one call can change a life.

Tainted Testimony

For decades, FBI agents swore by it in courtrooms: bullet lead analysis. When the weapon was missing or a bullet was too damaged, agents claimed they could match bullets to ammunition through the lead alone.

Then in 2005, the FBI pulled the plug.

The FBI’s own review of this practice shows it was used in 2,500 cases with it being introduced in hundreds of trials nationwide. The Innocence Project calls it ‘junk science,’ and a leading attorney there believes half of all wrongful convictions stem from misused forensic science like this.

InvestigateTV traveled to Alabama to meet the first man released because of this discredited evidence after spending decades in prison. We also spoke with the wife of Kermit Parker, who has spent 40 years behind bars.

His final shot at freedom now rests with the Louisiana Supreme Court, after the FBI told prosecutors they could no longer stand behind their agent’s testimony.

Sober driver accused of DUI

A traffic stop can turn quickly when an officer believes a driver is impaired. But body camera footage out of Tennessee raises questions about what happens when the signs of a medical emergency look like a crime.

Jeremy Finley examines how a diabetic emergency led to an arrest, a mug shot, and months under suspicion for a former law enforcement officer.

Free Range

The U.S. Government is looking to use wide open federal lands as a way to generate money by expanding a long-running program that allows ranchers to buy permits to graze cattle on that land. But those deals come at a great discount compared to the private market.

In a joint investigation with ProPublica and High Country News, Investigative Reporter Morgan Loew shows how this government program props up a wealthy few and doesn’t quite have the intended economic impact.

Emergency Savings

A big goal for many people is to build up emergency savings.

In this Watching Your Wallet, Consumer Investigator Rachel DePompa talks to a financial expert about how to increase that fund throughout the year.