FBI drops questionable bullet tests

WASHINGTON -- The FBI decided Thursday to stop tests that match bullets by lead content, a practice criticized as producing a high rate of false matches between crime scene bullets and bullets taken from suspects.

In a statement, the bureau said it was informing about 300 state and local law enforcement agencies that had received positive match reports from the FBI Laboratory since 1966. The FBI said it had not determined that those results were in error but was advising those agencies so they could take whatever action they deem appropriate.

Criminal defense attorneys have contended that re-evaluation of the usefulness of these tests could affect some convictions on appeal.

The bureau has spent more than a year reviewing the recommendations of a scientific panel that last year criticized the reliability of conclusions based on the lab tests. The panel was assembled by the National Research Council, principal operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences, a private institution chartered by Congress to advise the government on scientific matters.

The FBI said its decision to drop the tests was significantly influenced by the fact that "neither scientists nor bullet manufacturers are able to definitively attest to the significance of an association made between bullets in the course of a bullet lead examination."