News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Accused murderer wins right to check source code of DNA testing kit. Parent comment

Re:Accused murderer wins right to check source code of DNA t... by AnIdiotOnTheNet on Monday February 08, 2021 @10:25AM (#26065736)
> Holy shit that is bad. Even as a lay person I know that there are gaps between skull plates.

Sure, but can you tell them apart from a fracture caused by injury? Presumably someone knowledgeable in medicine should be able to, but maybe it is one of those things that isn't as obvious as we, the uneducated outsider, might think.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Accused murderer wins right to check source code of DNA t... by R0b0t1 on Monday February 08, 2021 @11:15AM (#26066430)
That's an extremely flawed argument. If you can't explain it to a layman then you don't understand it. If you can't tell whether it's a gap or a fracture -- you can't get a conviction.

"It just looks like it" is not a valid reason.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Accused murderer wins right to check source code of DNA t... by AnIdiotOnTheNet on Monday February 08, 2021 @12:36PM (#26067547)
It is possible that they could have well supported their assessment with evidence and still been wrong.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Accused murderer wins right to check source code of DNA t... by AS37 on Monday February 08, 2021 @11:33AM (#26066682)
Interestingly there's an area of psychology called Naturalistic Decision Making which studies how experts make decisions that they can't explain. (Example: a firefighter may be able to pinpoint where a fire is before they enter a house and see it.)
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Accused murderer wins right to check source code of DNA t... by R0b0t1 on Thursday February 11, 2021 @05:19PM (#26108176)
I know, but that is reason for suspicion, not evidence for a conviction.
[ Parent | on HN ]