The Texas Tribune and The New York Times: “Dogs’ Evidence Stands as Woman Waits in Jail”

The Texas Tribune and The New York Times are reporting about a Texas case involving a young woman, Megan Winfrey, that was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment based upon the hearsay “testimony” of a dog. A dog handler allowed the dog to sniff the clothes of the murder victim, and then allowed the dog to sniff Ms. Winfrey. Apparently, the dog “alerted” when it sniffed Ms. Winfrey. The dog’s “alert” is apparently the only evidence that supports Ms. Winfrey’s conviction. Dog scent sniffing evidence is supposedly scientific evidence, but, in reality, there is nothing scientific about it. It is junk science. Unfortunately, dog sniff evidence is also used in Connecticut. I am working on such a case now.