NEWS

Avery attorneys Buting, Strang create nonprofit focused on improving forensic science

Alison Dirr
Appleton Post-Crescent
Dean Strang and Jerry Buting

A trio of Wisconsin attorneys, including two whose appearance in the first season of "Making a Murderer" launched them to international stardom, have started a nonprofit aimed at improving forensic science.

Dean Strang and Jerry Buting, whose representation of Steven Avery in his homicide case for the murder of Teresa Halbach was featured in the Netflix docuseries, teamed up with Keith A. Findley, a University of Wisconsin Law School associate professor and co-founder of the Wisconsin Innocence Project. 

The three created the Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences, which bills itself as "the first nonprofit organization in the United States to bring exclusive focus to improvement of the reliability and safety of criminal prosecutions through strengthening the forensic sciences."

Studies show that a "major cause" of wrongful convictions is flawed forensic science, the organization said in a statement announcing its inception.

It is focused on legislation, the justice system and the education of future lawyers and scientists.

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It will partner with other organizations, academic groups and "all stakeholders in the legal system who share the vision of improved reliability of the American legal system through aggressive efforts to strengthen the forensic sciences in both theory and application."

Its national advisory board includes forensic science experts, academics in the legal realm and scientists.

The organization will hold its first symposium on Nov. 15 at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law.