Donald Gates

Donald Gates is the wrongful-conviction case used in 93.聊聊头发：秃了，就会变强吗？ to show the danger of overclaiming [[ForensicHairEvidence|forensic hair evidence]]. The episode says hair comparison and informant testimony helped produce a 28-year imprisonment, before later DNA testing showed that the relevant hair and semen did not belong to him.

His role in the wiki is evidentiary. Gates extends Contested Forensic Attribution from old, damaged archives into modern criminal procedure: even when hair is real physical evidence, visual comparison can become misleading when treated as conclusive identification.

Connections

• Forensic Hair Evidence - specific evidence type raised by the case.
• Contested Forensic Attribution - broader problem of uncertain material attribution.
• Modern Criminal Investigation Formation - institutional setting for evidence handling and expert claims.
• Scientific Sampling Discipline - adjacent guardrail for biological evidence.