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Current and Future Uses of Facial Recognition Systems

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In the past, the primary users of facial recognition software have been law enforcement agencies, who used the system to capture random faces in crowds. Some government agencies have also been using the systems for security and to eliminate voter fraud. The U.S. government has recently begun a program called US-VISIT (United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology), aimed at foreign travelers gaining entry to the United States. When a foreign traveler receives his visa, he will submit fingerprints and have his photograph taken. The fingerprints and photograph are checked against a database of known criminals and suspected terrorists. When the traveler arrives in the United States at the port of entry, those same fingerprints and photographs will be used to verify that the person who received the visa is the same person attempting to gain entry.

Jim Williams, head of US-VISIT, former Secretary Tom Ridge and former Commissioner Robert Bonner launch US-VISIT in Atlanta, Georgia.

However, there are now many more situations where the software is becoming popular. As the systems become less expensive, making their use more widespread. They are now compatible with cameras and computers that are already in use by banks and airports. The TSA is currently working on and testing out its Registered Traveler program. The program will provide speedy security screening for passengers who volunteer information and complete a security threat assessment. At the airport there will be specific lines for the Registered Traveler to go through that will move more quickly, verifying the traveler by their facial features.

Other potential applications include ATM and check-cashing security. The software is able to quickly verify a customer's face. After a customer consents, the ATM or check-cashing kiosk captures a digital image of him. The FaceIt software then generates a faceprint of the photograph to protect customers against identity theft and fraudulent transactions. By using the facial recognition software, there's no need for a picture ID, bankcard or personal identification number (PIN) to verify a customer's identity. This way businesses can prevent fraud from occurring.

Time Tracking
A4Vision, a creator of facial recognition software, is currently marketing a system that will keep track of employees' time and attendance. Their Web site states that it will prohibit "buddy punching," which will cut down on security risks and decreased productivity.

 

While all the examples above work with the permission of the individual, not all systems are used with your knowledge. In the first section we mentioned that systems were used during the Super Bowl by the Tampa Police, and in Ybor City. These systems were taking pictures of all visitors without their knowledge or their permission. Opponents of the systems note that while they do provide security in some instances, it is not enough to override a sense of liberty and freedom. Many feel that privacy infringement is too great with the use of these systems, but their concerns don't end there. They also point out the risk involved with identity theft. Even facial recognition corporations admit that the more use the technology gets, the higher the likelihood of identity theft or fraud.

As with many developing technologies, the incredible potential of facial recognition comes with some drawbacks, but manufacturers are striving to enhance the usability and accuracy of the systems.

 

How Fingerprint Scanners Work

Computerized fingerprint scanners have been a mainstay of spy thrillers for decades, but up until recently, they were pretty exotic technology in the real world. In the past few years, however, scanners have started popping up all over the place -- in police stations, high-security buildings and even on PC keyboards. You can pick up a personal USB fingerprint scanner for less than $100, and just like that, your computer's guarded by high-tech biometrics. Instead of, or in addition to, a password, you need your distinctive print to gain access.

In this article, we'll examine the secrets behind this exciting development in law enforcement and identity security. We'll also see how fingerprint scanner security systems stack up to conventional password and identity card systems, and find out how they can fail.

Fingerprint Basics

Fingerprints are one of those bizarre twists of nature. Human beings happen to have built-in, easily accessible identity cards. You have a unique design, which represents you alone, literally at your fingertips. How did this happen?

People have tiny ridges of skin on their fingers because this particular adaptation was extremely advantageous to the ancestors of the human species. The pattern of ridges and "valleys" on fingers make it easier for the hands to grip things, in the same way a rubber tread pattern helps a tire grip the road.

The other function of fingerprints is a total coincidence. Like everything in the human body, these ridges form through a combination of genetic and environmental factors. The genetic code in DNA gives general orders on the way skin should form in a developing fetus, but the specific way it forms is a result of random events. The exact position of the fetus in the womb at a particular moment and the exact composition and density of surrounding amniotic fluid decides how every individual ridge will form.

So, in addition to the countless things that go into deciding your genetic make-up in the first place, there are innumerable environmental factors influencing the formation of the fingers. Just like the weather conditions that form clouds or the coastline of a beach, the entire development process is so chaotic that, in the entire course of human history, there is virtually no chance of the same exact pattern forming twice.

Consequently, fingerprints are a unique marker for a person, even an identical twin. And while two prints may look basically the same at a glance, a trained investigator or an advanced piece of software can pick out clear, defined differences.

This is the basic idea of fingerprint analysis, in both crime investigation and security. A fingerprint scanner's job is to take the place of a human analyst by collecting a print sample and comparing it to other samples on record. In the next few sections, we'll find out how scanners do this.

Optical Scanner

A fingerprint scanner system has two basic jobs -- it needs to get an image of your finger, and it needs to determine whether the pattern of ridges and valleys in this image matches the pattern of ridges and valleys in pre-scanned images.

There are a number of different ways to get an image of somebody's finger. The most common methods today are optical scanning and capacitance scanning. Both types come up with the same sort of image, but they go about it in completely different ways.

The heart of an optical scanner is a charge coupled device (CCD), the same light sensor system used in digital cameras and camcorders. A CCD is simply an array of light-sensitive diodes called photosites, which generate an electrical signal in response to light photons. Each photosite records a pixel, a tiny dot representing the light that hit that spot. Collectively, the light and dark pixels form an image of the scanned scene (a finger, for example). Typically, an analog-to-digital converter in the scanner system processes the analog electrical signal to generate a digital representation of this image. See How Digital Cameras Work for details on CCDs and digital conversion.

The scanning process starts when you place your finger on a glass plate, and a CCD camera takes a picture. The scanner has its own light source, typically an array of light-emitting diodes, to illuminate the ridges of the finger. The CCD system actually generates an inverted image of the finger, with darker areas representing more reflected light (the ridges of the finger) and lighter areas representing less reflected light (the valleys between the ridges).

Before comparing the print to stored data, the scanner processor makes sure the CCD has captured a clear image. It checks the average pixel darkness, or the overall values in a small sample, and rejects the scan if the overall image is too dark or too light. If the image is rejected, the scanner adjusts the exposure time to let in more or less light, and then tries the scan again.

If the darkness level is adequate, the scanner system goes on to check the image definition (how sharp the fingerprint scan is). The processor looks at several straight lines moving horizontally and vertically across the image. If the fingerprint image has good definition, a line running perpendicular to the ridges will be made up of alternating sections of very dark pixels and very light pixels.

If the processor finds that the image is crisp and properly exposed, it proceeds to comparing the captured fingerprint with fingerprints on file. We'll look at this process in a minute, but first we'll examine the other major scanning technology, the capacitive scanner.

Capacitance Scanner

Like optical scanners, capacitive fingerprint scanners generate an image of the ridges and valleys that make up a fingerprint. But instead of sensing the print using light, the capacitors use electrical current.

The diagram below shows a simple capacitive sensor. The sensor is made up of one or more semiconductor chips containing an array of tiny cells. Each cell includes two conductor plates, covered with an insulating layer. The cells are tiny -- smaller than the width of one ridge on a finger.

The sensor is connected to an integrator, an electrical circuit built around an inverting operational amplifier. The inverting amplifier is a complex semiconductor device, made up of a number of transistors, resistors and capacitors. Specifically, the inverting amplifier alters a supply voltage. The alteration is based on the relative voltage of two inputs, called the inverting terminal and the non-inverting terminal. In this case, the non-inverting terminal is connected to ground, and the inverting terminal is connected to a reference voltage supply and a feedback loop. The feedback loop, which is also connected to the amplifier output, includes the two conductor plates.

As you may have recognized, the two conductor plates form a basic capacitor, an electrical component that can store up charge. The surface of the finger acts as a third capacitor plate, separated by the insulating layers in the cell structure and, in the case of the fingerprint valleys, a pocket of air. Varying the distance between the capacitor plates (by moving the finger closer or farther away from the conducting plates) changes the total capacitance (ability to store charge) of the capacitor. Because of this quality, the capacitor in a cell under a ridge will have a greater capacitance than the capacitor in a cell under a valley.

To scan the finger, the processor first closes the reset switch for each cell, which shorts each amplifier's input and output to "balance" the integrator circuit. When the switch is opened again, and the processor applies a fixed charge to the integrator circuit, the capacitors charge up. The capacitance of the feedback loop's capacitor affects the voltage at the amplifier's input, which affects the amplifier's output. Since the distance to the finger alters capacitance, a finger ridge will result in a different voltage output than a finger valley.

The scanner processor reads this voltage output and determines whether it is characteristic of a ridge or a valley. By reading every cell in the sensor array, the processor can put together an overall picture of the fingerprint, similar to the image captured by an optical scanner.

The main advantage of a capacitive scanner is that it requires a real fingerprint-type shape, rather than the pattern of light and dark that makes up the visual impression of a fingerprint. This makes the system harder to trick. Additionally, since they use a semiconductor chip rather than a CCD unit, capacitive scanners tend to be more compact that optical devices.

Analysis

In movies and TV shows, automated fingerprint analyzers typically overlay various fingerprint images to find a match. In actuality, this isn't a particularly practical way to compare fingerprints. Smudging can make two images of the same print look pretty different, so you're rarely going to get a perfect image overlay. Additionally, using the entire fingerprint image in comparative analysis uses a lot of processing power, and it also makes it easier for somebody to steal the print data.

Instead, most fingerprint scanner systems compare specific features of the fingerprint, generally known as minutiae. Typically, human and computer investigators concentrate on points where ridge lines end or where one ridge splits into two (bifurcations). Collectively, these and other distinctive features are sometimes called typica.

The scanner system software uses highly complex algorithms to recognize and analyze these minutiae. The basic idea is to measure the relative positions of minutiae, in the same sort of way you might recognize a part of the sky by the relative positions of stars. A simple way to think of it is to consider the shapes that various minutia form when you draw straight lines between them. If two prints have three ridge endings and two bifurcations, forming the same shape with the same dimensions, there's a high likelihood they're from the same print.

To get a match, the scanner system doesn't have to find the entire pattern of minutiae both in the sample and in the print on record, it simply has to find a sufficient number of minutiae patterns that the two prints have in common. The exact number varies according to the scanner programming.

Pros and Cons

There are several ways a security system can verify that somebody is an authorized user. Most systems are looking for one or more of the following:

· What you have

· What you know

· Who you are

To get past a "what you have" system, you need some sort of "token," such as an identity card with a magnetic strip. A "what you know" system requires you to enter a password or PIN number. A "who you are" system is actually looking for physical evidence that you are who you say you are -- a specific fingerprint, voice or iris pattern.

"Who you are" systems like fingerprint scanners have a number of advantages over other systems. To name few:

· Physical attributes are much harder to fake than identity cards.

· You can't guess a fingerprint pattern like you can guess a password.

· You can't misplace your fingerprints, irises or voice like you can misplace an access card.

· You can't forget your fingerprints like you can forget a password.

But, as effective as they are, they certainly aren't infallible, and they do have major disadvantages. Optical scanners can't always distinguish between a picture of a finger and the finger itself, and capacitive scanners can sometimes be fooled by a mold of a person's finger. If somebody did gain access to an authorized user's prints, the person could trick the scanner. In a worst-case scenario, a criminal could even cut off somebody's finger to get past a scanner security system. Some scanners have additional pulse and heat sensors to verify that the finger is alive, rather than a mold or dismembered digit, but even these systems can be fooled by a gelatin print mold over a real finger.

To make these security systems more reliable, it's a good idea to combine the biometric analysis with a conventional means of identification, such as a password (in the same way an ATM requires a bank card and a PIN code).

The real problem with biometric security systems is the extent of the damage when somebody does manage to steal the identity information. If you lose your credit card or accidentally tell somebody your secret PIN number, you can always get a new card or change your code. But if somebody steals your fingerprints, you're pretty much out of luck for the rest of your life. You wouldn't be able to use your prints as a form of identification until you were absolutely sure all copies had been destroyed. There's no way to get new prints.

But even with this significant drawback, fingerprint scanners and biometric systems are an excellent means of identification. In the future, they'll most likely become an integral part of most peoples' everyday life, just like keys, ATM cards and passwords are today.

How Police Dogs Work

No one is quite sure when humans first domesticated dogs, but one thing is certain -- dogs and people have been working side by side for thousands of years. Modern training methods have led to dogs becoming an integral part of many people's lives, not just as companions, but also as guide dogs, search-and-rescue dogs, and bomb- or drug-sniffing dogs. But few dogs are asked to give as much of themselves as police dogs.


Officer Daniel Smith and his K-9 partner, Breston, of the Cheektowaga Police Department


The seizure of approximately 1,500 pounds (680 kg) of marijuana, found by K-9 Breston during the routine check of a self-storage facility

 

In addition to sensitivity, a dog's sense of smell is picky. It can discern a specific scent even when there are dozens of other scents around. Drug smugglers have tried to fool drug-sniffing dogs by wrapping drugs in towels soaked with perfume, but the dogs find the drugs anyway.

Breston's nose has about 200 million scent-receptor cells. A human's nose has about 5 million.

 

A police dog's work isn't all about his nose, though. The intimidating growl of a well-trained German shepherd can cause many criminals to surrender instead of running or fighting. "When I bring out the dog, all of a sudden they know they can't reason with him, they can't intimidate him, they can't try to scare him," said Officer Dan Smith, Breston's handler. The very presence of a police dog can prevent physical confrontations.

When a conflict does arise, dogs are faster and stronger than most humans, able to catch a fleeing criminal and clamp down with powerful jaws to apprehend the suspect until other officers arrive. Dogs have more than earned their place in the police forces of the world.

History of Police Dogs European police forces were using bloodhounds as early as the 18th century. It wasn't until World War I that countries like Belgium and Germany formalized the training process and started using dogs for specific tasks, such as guard duty. The practice continued through World War II. Soldiers returning home brought news of the well-trained dogs being used by both sides of the conflict. Soon, K-9 programs were begun in London and other cities across Europe. The use of police dogs didn't gain a foothold in the United States until the 1970s. Today, police dogs are recognized as a vital part of law enforcement, and the use of police dogs has grown rapidly in the last five years.

 

The Right Dog for the Job

Dogs come in a huge variety of shapes and sizes, and not every breed of dog is suited for police work. There probably aren't any police Lhasa apsos in the world. The majority of police dogs in the world are German shepherds, although Labrador retrievers and several other breeds (like Breston, a Belgian Malinois) are sometimes used, depending on the specific tasks they will be needed for. The key attributes of a successful police dog are intelligence, aggression, strength, and sense of smell. Most police dogs are male, and are frequently left unneutered so that they maintain their natural aggression. This aggression must be kept in check with thorough and rigorous training.

Breston, on call

Police departments obtain dogs from a variety of sources. Some are donated by their original owners. However, more police departments are realizing the importance of using dogs that have been specifically bred and raised for police work. Dogs imported from Europe have several advantages over American-bred dogs. In Europe, breeding standards are very strict. Dogs are measured against a core set of physical attributes, and are only bred if they meet these criteria. In addition, European police dog agencies are internationally renowned. Before a dog even comes to the United States, it has already gone through rigorous training and achieved an international certification. Breston, for example, is from Holland, where he graduated with honors from the Royal Dutch Police Dog Association.

The drawback to using European dogs is the cost. It costs an average of $8,500 to purchase and ship a dog from Europe to a U.S. police department. However, in many cases, police dogs "pay for themselves." Breston was purchased using money seized from drug dealers, many of whom were busted with the help of Breston's predecessor, Gringo. Gringo was a German shepherd who retired from police service in 1998. When Breston retires later this year, his replacement, who will probably come from Hungary, will also be paid for using seized drug money.

Police dogs are the best of the best, and their handlers are very carefully chosen, too. The police dog and his handler together make up a K-9 unit.

Only the most dedicated officers are considered for K-9 units. They must have exemplary records, plenty of arrests with convictions, an outgoing, energetic personality, and strong physical conditioning. A K-9 officer often puts in 60 hours each week. The pay is good, but the schedule is grueling, and there's no backing out. A K-9 officer can't decide a month or a year into the job that he or she is tired of it. A police dog's career usually lasts about six years, and the handler is in it for the long haul.

The bond between an officer and his dog is very strong. They're together 24 hours a day.

Basic Training

All police dogs must first become experts at basic obedience training. They must obey the commands of their handler without hesitation. This is what keeps the inherent aggression of the dog in check, and allows the officer to control how much force the dog is using against a suspect.   Breston is always sniffing for drugs, even when he's not conducting a drug search. If he alerts to a specific location, officers can obtain a search warrant to find the drugs.

Dogs from Europe are often given commands in their native language (Breston's commands are all in Dutch). Many people think this is so no one besides the handler can accidentally give them an "attack" command in English. This is a myth. The real reason is much simpler -- the dogs were trained with those command words, and it's much easier for the officer to learn a few Dutch or German words than to retrain the dog with new commands.

A police dog must also make it through endurance and agility training. The dog must be able to jump over walls and climb stairs. Each dog is acclimated to city life, because a dog that's nervous around people won't make a good police dog.

Finally, each dog receives specialty training. Many dogs are trained to search for drugs, though some are bomb or gun sniffers. Police dogs can also track missing persons or suspects.

Drug Training

People often wonder if dogs sniff out hidden drugs because they want to eat them, or because they're addicted to drugs themselves. In fact, the dogs have absolutely no interest in drugs. What they're actually looking for is their favorite toy. Their training has led them to associate that toy with the smell of drugs.

Breston uncovered a shipment of marijuana in heat-sealed Mylar bags, inside plastic-lined crates sealed with foam sealant, inside a closed storage garage.

The toy used most often is a white towel. Police dogs love to play a vigorous game of tug-of-war with their favorite towel. To begin the training, the handler simply plays with the dog and the towel, which has been carefully washed so that it has no scent of its own. Later, a bag of marijuana is rolled up inside the towel. After playing for a while, the dog starts to recognize the smell of marijuana as the smell of his favorite toy. The handler then hides the towel, with the drugs, in various places. Whenever the dog sniffs out the drugs, he digs and scratches, trying to get at his toy. He soon comes to learn that if he sniffs out the smell of drugs, as soon as he finds them he'll be rewarded with a game of tug-of-war.

As training progresses, different drugs are placed in the towel, until the dog is able to sniff out a host of illegal substances. The same method is used for bomb-detection dogs, except various chemicals used to manufacture explosives are placed in the towel instead of drugs.

A story recounted in "Dogs On the Case," by Patricia Curtis, tells of a drug dog that was a little too eager for a game of tug-of-war. While walking along a line of cars waiting to enter the United States from Mexico, one of the dogs alerted to the smell of drugs, slipped her leash, and ran down the line of cars. Before her handler could find her, she trotted back into view, holding a large brick of marijuana in her jaws. Although the border patrol had no way to tell which car the drugs came from, the dog still got her tug-of-war. She did her job, and the drugs were off the street.

Passive vs. Aggressive Alerting When a police dog finds what he's sniffing for, he lets his handler know it's there by giving the alert signal. Drug dogs use an aggressive alert -- they dig and paw at the spot where they smell the drugs, trying to get at the toy they think is waiting there. However, there are some specialties where an aggressive alert would be bad news. If a dog searching for a bomb digs and scratches at it when he finds it, the results could be disastrous. In these cases, a passive alert is used. A good example of passive-alert dogs are the beagles used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to sniff out produce that isn't allowed to enter the country. The Beagle Brigade, as they're affectionately called, sniffs people's luggage while they wait in customs lines at airports and border crossings. Because no one wants a dog digging at their belongings, the USDA beagles have been trained to simply sit down when they smell fruits or vegetables.

 

A Day In the Life of a Police Dog

 

Police dogs live with their partners. A K-9 unit is a team that stays together 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

On a typical morning, Breston and Officer Smith wake up early and assist other local K-9 units doing drug sweeps at schools. These searches send a strong message that drugs won't be tolerated at schools, and anyone who brings them will get caught. The K-9 unit also conducts drug searches at local businesses, at the owner's request.

Breston and Officer Smith head back to their K-9 Unit SUV to answer a call.

On some days, Officer Smith and Breston have to attend court, either to give testimony against a suspect they caught, or to defend themselves against someone who claims Breston unfairly injured them. As we'll see later, although these claims are made frequently, a police dog's training record is strong evidence that excessive force was not used.

By the time 4 p.m. rolls around, the K-9 unit has already had a busy day. But their actual patrol shift lasts from 4 p.m. to midnight, the busiest time, and the shift when police departments want their dogs out on the streets.

Like most police work, each eight-hour shift involves lots of waiting, followed by brief periods of action when a call comes in on the radio. When a call comes in, the K-9 unit rolls out in a special police car outfitted with a space in the back for the dog. In Breston's case, he gets to ride around in an SUV, with one separate compartment for Breston and one for arrested suspects. The unit might have to do something as mundane as call a tow-truck to remove an abandoned car, or they might be asked to track down a suspect that has fled the scene of a burglary. Most police dogs are cross-trained, so they can track people in addition to drugs. They learn to scent on the ground, for the scent trail that a person leaves, and in the air, for the scent "cone" that flows downwind from a person when he or she is nearby. Air scenting is important, because that way a dog can sense if a suspect has circled back around to ambush the officer.

After their eight-hour shift has ended, it's back home for a good night's sleep. As you can see, that's a busy schedule, and that doesn't even include training days. Every week to two weeks, the K-9 unit will spend eight hours training, helping to keep the dog's skills sharp.

Legal Issues

If a police dog injures someone or causes damage, the police department could be liable for those damages. The same could be said for police officers themselves. There isn't a separate set of standards for using a police dog to forcefully capture or restrain a suspect. That falls under the same standards that are used to decide if any police force was used appropriately. The use of force is justified depending on three factors:

· How severe the crime is

· If the suspect poses an immediate threat to anyone

· If the suspect is trying to run away or resist arrest

Typically, a court will find that the use of canine force was justified if the suspect was armed, the suspect hadn't yet been searched by officers, or if the suspect was fleeing and was suspected of a serious crime. An impressive training record can also help prove the dog used only the force that was absolutely necessary. This is where a European training certificate, such as Breston's KNPV-I Met Lof Award, can be extremely valuable. "The first thing that a defense attorney is going to ask for is the dog's training records," said Officer Smith. "I can show that not only was his training kept up in this country, but he achieved an internationally recognized training, and passed."

Breston's consistently high level of training provides good evidence that his behavior, in any circumstance, was appropriate.

The use of police dogs is increasing as police departments realize that a well-trained dog/handler team actually reduces liability, rather than increasing it. Every time a suspect runs away or fights police officers, the chase and struggle can lead to injuries and lawsuits against the department. The use of a K-9 unit can often keep a suspect from resisting at all, and can often end the situation before it escalates to the point where someone might get injured.

Dogs on the Front Line

Police dogs are often on the front lines in the fight against violent criminals. For that reason, many police dogs have been fitted with bulletproof vests. Breston received his vest recently, thanks to a local girl who wanted to raise money to help protect him. In three weeks' time, she had collected enough money for not only Breston, but for every dog in three counties in Western New York State to get a bulletproof vest. The police departments actually had to ask the public to stop sending money.

Sadly, police dogs do fall in the line of duty. A life-size bronze memorial statue stands at police headquarters in Jacksonville, FL. A monument in tribute to police dogs' close relatives, war dogs, stands at March Field Air Museum in Riverside, CA. Information about many other police dog memorials can be found at Connecticut Police Work Dog Association: K-9 Memorial Monuments. The Connecticut Police Work Dog Association maintains a list of all the reported deaths of police dogs at CPWDA: Supreme Sacrifice-Police Dogs Killed In Service.

Famous Police Dogs

A few police dogs become famous. The most legendary police dog of all is probably Rin Tin Tin, a trained German shepherd who was left behind by retreating German forces in 1918. An American sergeant took him to the United States, where he went on to star in 122 films and a TV series.  

Another police dog became famous because she was unique. Mattie, a black Labrador retriever with the Connecticut State Police, was trained to sniff out evidence of arson. Mattie could pick her way through the charred, dangerous ruins of a fire and point out a few small drops of gasoline, despite all the strong smells of a recent fire and all the fire and police officials walking around the scene. Mattie could identify several different chemical accelerants. She was the first operational accelerant detection dog in the country, and possibly in the world, when she went on duty in 1986. Since then, the program has been very successful, with Dolph and Rosie following in Mattie's paw prints.

Four Cases

 
In 1984, Earl Washington Jr., then in his early 20s, was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death for the murder of 19-year-old Rebecca Williams in Culpepper, Virginia. Washington's conviction was based largely on his confessions to police. His lawyers insisted the confessions were internally inconsistent, and likely the words of a man with sub-normal intelligence (an IQ of 69) who was "easily led" by police to confess. Washington's appeals failed in the courts. By 1993, Washington's lawyers had reached the end of their appeals. The last hope for them was Gov. L. Douglas Wilder. Washington's attorneys drafted an appeal for pardon and sent it to Wilder. But Wilder wanted DNA tests done before making a decision. The new test excluded Washington's DNA. Prosecutors then floated a new theory - the DNA belonged to an accomplice of Washington's. By December 1993, as Wilder's governorship was coming to an end and Washington's execution date was nearing, the governor ordered one more DNA test - on a blanket. However, Washington's lawyers couldn't find out what it showed - the results were kept secret. On Wilder's last day of office, a call came to the lawyers. They had two hours to accept Wilder's clemency offer, life in prison for Washington rather than execution. In its investigation, however, FRONTLINE obtained a copy of that last DNA test. The test, reviewed by Wilder on January 14, 1994--the day of his clemency decision--concluded that Earl Washington Jr. was "eliminated" as a possible donor of the genetic evidence in the case. In February 1999, the Virginia General Assembly rejected legislation that would have made possible a new trial for Washington, and others in his situation, by extending Virginia's "21-day rule" for hearing new evidence after final sentencing. Over the summer of 2000, Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore ordered more sophisticated DNA testing and a state police investigation into Washington's case. On October 2, 2000 Earl Washington was finally pardoned, after the new tests found no trace of his DNA on evidence from the crime scene. After nearly 18 years in prison, Washington was finally freed on February 12, 2001.  
 
On May 1, 1990, Roy Criner was sent to prison for 99 years for the rape and murder of sixteen-year-old Deanna Ogg some three-and-a-half years earlier near New Caney, Texas. Criner, a young logger, was convicted largely on the basis of statements he made to some of his friends and co-workers on the night of the crime that seemed to indicate that he had committed the crime. After years of unsuccessful appeals, Criner submitted to a DNA test, aware of the advances that had been made by then in DNA testing. In July, 1997, the test came back negative, indicating that Criner could not have contributed the genetic material found on the victim. Criner believed he'd be freed soon, but these hopes were shortlived: the DNA test did not persuade local and state officials to grant Criner a new trial. Overturning the ruling of a District Judge, a 5-4 majority of judges on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals concluded in May of 1998 that the DNA evidence would not have changed jurors' minds. Judge Sharon Keller, writing for the majority, found "overwhelming, direct evidence" that established Criner's guilt beyond the doubts raised by the new DNA evidence. In his dissent, Judge Charles Baird stated that the majority undervalued the power of the DNA evidence to change jurors' minds and moved for a new trial. In his investigative piece "Hard Time," Houston Press reporter Bob Burtman uncovered additional evidence of Criner's possible innocence. Criner's family and other supporters continued to work for his release. But Criner's lawyers had no success in the courts. This may have been the last word on Criner, if it had not been for a unique combination of reporters, lawyers, and investigators taking interest in the case and pressing for answers on many fronts. FRONTLINE'S Ofra Bikel, especially, drew intense national attention to Criner's case, and to Judge Keller's ruling, raising new questions and forcing serious reconsideration. In the end, a cigarette butt collected along with the rest of the state's evidence was singled out for scrutiny by Press reporter Burtman: Though previously discounted by the prosecution and a state crime lab, the butt was DNA tested by two different outside labs and a new conclusion was reached: The person who smoked the cigarette was also the person whose semen was identified in Deanna Ogg--and this person was not Roy Criner. The DNA evidence also disproved an alternate theory of the evidence put forward by the prosecution and Judge Keller of the Court of Criminal Appeals: Deanna Ogg did not have consensual sex with anyone in the immediate period prior to the crime. The state's case against Criner could no longer stand. In late July, 2000, a District Court judge, joined by the prosecutor and sheriff, recommeded that Criner be pardoned. In early August, 2000, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles--a body which rarely approves pardons--voted unanimously (18-0) to set free Roy Criner, who had served 10 years of a 99-year sentence. On August 14, 2000, Texas Governor George W. Bush concurred in the decision, stating that he agreed "that credible new evidence raises substantial doubt about the guilt of Roy Criner and that he should receive a pardon."  
 
  In 1981, Clyde Charles, a 27-year-old, African-American shrimp fisherman, was arrested and charged with the sexual assault of a young white nurse near Houma, Louisiana. The following year, Charles was tried and convicted of aggravated rape, a charge which carries a mandatory life sentence in Louisiana. "The trial made me sick to my stomach," Charles later said in an interview. "I felt that I was going to be convicted, because the jury was all white...Everything was set up, from the time they picked me up, until the end of this." For years, Charles proclaimed his innocence. In 1990, when Charles learned of the power of DNA evidence to re-open previously tried cases, he began writing letters requesting a test of the evidence in his case. For years, his requests were ignored, blocked, or denied by state and federal officials. Charles kept writing however, as did his family, and eventually his case became one of the hundreds of files stacked at the Innocence Project where law students and DNA experts, including lawyer Barry Scheck,take on cases where DNA could prove prisoners' innocence. The Innocence Project, coupled with FRONTLINE's media attention, finally helped pressure the state of Louisiana to agree to a DNA test in May, 1999; by November, results of the test excluded Charles as a possible perpetrator of the crime. Charles, now 46, was released from prison on December 17, 1999. "I don't have time to be angry, but I do want to know why," Charles said to a New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper reporter on the evening of his release. "Why did this take so long? I know I left some innocent men behind." In March of 2000, Charles filed a federal lawsuit against Louisiana prosecutors who, he claims, blocked his access to DNA testing. In early April of 2000, Clyde Charles' brother Marlo was arested and imprisoned after DNA tests implicated him in the rape of the Houma nurse for which Clyde had earlier been convicted.
 
  On February 6, 1985, Joseph Roger O'Dell was arrested for the murder, rape, and sodomy of Helen Schartner; he was convicted of these crimes a year-and-a-half later based largely on blood evidence and the word of a jailhouse "snitch." For much of the decade that followed, O'Dell's unsuccessful appeals went to the Virginia Supreme Court, Federal District Court, and the Supreme Court, where Justice Harry Blackmun found "serious questions as to whether O'Dell committed the crime" and warned of "the gross injustice that would result if an innocent man were sentenced to death." Originally at trial, O'Dell represented himself; afterward, he continued to make his case, sending letters on stationery headed with an address of "P.O. Box 500-Death Row." In one letter, O'Dell petitioned the Circuit Court for release of the evidence in his case for DNA testing. In June, 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his last appeal. That same month, the Virginia Circuit Court rejected a petition filed on O'Dell's behalf to release the evidence for testing. His innocence still questioned, and his case being closely followed by anti-death penalty groups in Virginia and around the nation, O'Dell was executed in July of 1997. Following his death, efforts to conduct further tests on the evidence in O'Dell's case continued unabated. Late in 1997, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond, Virginia, petitioned the Circuit Court of Virginia Beach to release evidence for testing, but the Court denied the request and suggested that the evidence be disposed of as required by law. In a 1999 law review article on the case, Lori Urs, an anti-death penalty advocate who married O'Dell just prior to his execution in order to gain access to the evidence in the case, argued strongly against previous court opinions in the case which, she felt, relied on mistaken early reports of a blood "match" in the case and did not take seriously enough the import of the subsequent DNA testing. None of these appeals mattered. In March of 2000, the last of the DNA evidence in the O'Dell case being stored in the circuit court of Virginia Beach was burned without any further testing.
     

 



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