Shelton, who is chief judge of a court system in Michigan and an adjunct instructor at Cooley Law School and Eastern Michigan U., considers which types of scientific forensic evidence have enough validity to be used in a criminal proceeding, as established under the "Daubert trilogy." He addresses the "gatekeeping" role of judges; the admissibility of social science evidence; pretrial forensic issues, especially as they relate to DNA; the history and scientific basis for common forms of evidence; fingerprint, fire, explosion, and arson, and bloodstain pattern and human scent evidence; handwriting comparison; hair and bite mark analysis; toolmarks, firearms, and bullet lead comparison; and juror expectations and the "CSI effect." Annotation 2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
