LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kentucky's highest court heard a case on Wednesday that could change how bullet ballistics are used as evidence during criminal investigations.
In 2018, Kelli Kramer and her 9-year-old son were fatally shot.
Investigators used the shell casings at the scene, and matched them to a gun range her ex-boyfriend was known to use.
The examiner determined the bullets came from the same gun and the former boyfriend was convicted.
The commonwealth attorney, Harrison Gray Kilgore, said ballistics testing has been tested "over and over" and that "those studies have been published in peer reviewed journals."
"And study after study has shown that firearms and tool mark examiners rarely err when applying the controls and standards applicable to their methodology," Kilgore said.
But his attorneys argued that evidence should never have been allowed because the science isn't there yet.
"But we're limited by the jury's lack of understanding of the issue," attorney Kayley Barnes said. "And we're limited by how in-depth this was. I mean, we had to file 1,200 page supplemental briefs to even attempt to skim the surface of how flawed this methodology is."
Depending on the decision, the Kentucky Supreme Court will determine whether examiners can testify that a shell casing came from a certain gun.
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