Criminal Justice

Blood Will Tell

Investigating a Forensic Science

Bloodstain-pattern analysis, and the experts who specialize in it, have helped prosecutors secure convictions across the country. But how much science is really behind the interpretation of blood spatters?

Impact of Our Reporting

Influential Texas Commission Says Blood-Spatter Testimony in Joe Bryan’s Murder Case Was “Not Accurate or Scientifically Supported”

by Pamela Colloff

July 24, 2018, 5:00 am EDT

12 stories published since 2018

33 Years After Dubious Evidence Helped Convict Him, Joe Bryan Has Been Released on Parole

by Pamela Colloff

March 31, 2020, 6:16 pm EDT
Joe Bryan Denied Parole for Seventh Time

by Pamela Colloff

April 5, 2019, 2:45 pm EDT
Bloodstain Analysis Convinced a Jury She Stabbed Her 10-Year-Old Son. Now, Even Freedom Can’t Give Her Back Her Life.

by Pamela Colloff

December 20, 2018, 5:00 am EST
Joe Bryan in His Own Words: On Being Convicted With Expert Testimony That Turned Out to Be Wrong

by Pamela Colloff

December 17, 2018, 2:00 pm EST
How a Dubious Forensic Science Spread Like a Virus

by Leora Smith

December 13, 2018, 5:00 am EST
Judge in Joe Bryan Case Rejects Defense Pleas for New Trial

by Pamela Colloff

December 6, 2018, 5:32 pm EST
Texas Panel Faults Lab Chemist in Bryan Case for “Overstated Findings” and Inadequate DNA Analysis

by Pamela Colloff

October 8, 2018, 11:02 am EDT
Blood-Spatter Expert in Joe Bryan Case Says “My Conclusions Were Wrong”

by Pamela Colloff

September 17, 2018, 7:49 pm EDT
Joe Bryan’s Attorneys Ask For New Trial, Say Murder Conviction Built On Faulty Forensics

by Pamela Colloff

August 24, 2018, 3:30 pm EDT
Blood Will Tell, Part II

by Pamela Colloff

May 31, 2018, 5:00 am EDT
Blood Will Tell, Part I

by Pamela Colloff

May 23, 2018, 5:00 am EDT