Suits challenge bloodhound 'scent lineup'

VICTORIA, Texas, July 1 (UPI) -- Two lawsuits have been filed in one Texas county challenging "scent lineups" in which bloodhounds sniffed suspects to help police get their man.

The plaintiffs in both lawsuits are men who were implicated by bloodhounds used by Fort Bend County Sheriff's Deputy

Keith Pikett, USA Today reported Tuesday. Both were later cleared by DNA testing.

Rex Easley, who is representing both men, calls the lineups "junk science."

"It's a fraud on so many levels," Jeffrey Weiner, former president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, told the newspaper.

At least three people, two in Florida and one in California who were convicted partly because of scent evidence, have been released after being cleared by DNA testing.

The lawsuits name Pikett as a defendant along with the county and local police agencies.

Randall Morse, a county lawyer representing Pikett, said he and his team of three dogs have been involved in about 2,000 investigations across the United States and have faced no previous legal challenges.