The Evidentiary Value of Bite Mark Analysis in Criminal Cases

Abstract

For decades, the comparison between a bite mark injury and a suspect’s teeth was considered evidence linking the suspect to the victim. However, in recent years, many convictions were re-assessed by a legal initiative in the United States called the “Innocence Project”. The outcome of this project was the exoneration of many wrongfully convicted inmates. Some of those exonerations were of prisoners who had been convicted based on bite mark evidence. Consequently, the admissibility and evidentiary value of bite mark evidence came under profound scrutiny. On the other hand, proponents of bite mark evidence advocate the use of bite mark evidence in courts as an evidence of approximation, rather than conclusion. This paper will discuss the genesis and history of bite mark evidence, as well as the modern analysis of bite marks that is based on metric and non-metric digital assessment. The evidentiary value of bite  marks and the weight they should carry in today’s courts will be discussed.