12 July 2023

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The Death Row case of Ray Krone, the beginning of the end of bite mark evidence in the U.S.

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In this commentary published in May 2023 in the Journal of the California Dental Association, Alissa Bjerkhoel and the Hon. Christopher J. Plourd explore forensic odontology, which has four primary applications. 

The authors write that these applications include dental identification, bite mark assessment, dental age estimation and standard of care. This article focuses on the history of forensic odontology in the U.S. as it relates to bite mark analysis. It will explore the DNA exoneration of Ray Krone who was sentenced to death for a murder he did not commit because of flawed bite mark analysis. 

The use of bite marks in the U.S. has had a turbulent history dating back over 300 years. It was first used during the Salem Witch trials in 1692, but it did not gain national attention until the State of Florida prosecuted serial killer Ted Bundy, and a key element of the state’s case was bite mark analysis. The Bundy case was the seminal case for the use of bite mark evidence in American courts.

Over the next 30 years, numerous convictions based on bite marks cemented the evidence into the legal system as validated, legitimate, reliable and admissible. Ray Krone’s conviction in 1992 was one of them. This article will evaluate the history of the questions surrounding bite mark analysis and comparison culminating in the recent National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) report and the basis for NIST’s conclusions as well as discussing the fate of bite mark analysis as an accepted forensic science discipline.

Bjerkhoel is with the California Superior Court, California Western School of Law and a staff attorney with the California Innocence Project in San Diego. Plourd is a judge of the Imperial County Superior Court in El Centro, California.

Alissa Bjerkhoel & Hon Christopher J. Plourd (2023), "The Death Row Case of Ray Krone, the Beginning of the End of Bite Mark Evidence in the United States," Journal of the California Dental Association, 51:1, DOI: 10.1080/19424396.2023.2210330.