WASHINGTON, April 19 (UPI) -- The FBI and Justice Department have admitted to overstating forensic evidence results in court in a way that benefitted prosecutors in hundreds of trials over more than two decades.
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and the Innocence Project are assisting the agency with an internal review of past convictions, according to the Washington Post.
The review is ongoing, but it has so far found 26 of 28 examiners in the FBI Laboratory's microscopic hair comparison unit have made inaccurate statements in 95 percent of the 268 trials that have been reviewed.
Of the 268 trials, 32 defendants were sentenced to death, and 14 have been executed or died.
Defendants who are still in prison are being notified of possible inaccuracies in their trials so they can consider appeals.
