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Pamela Colloff

My reporting explores the criminal justice system, particularly the ways in which it falls short of delivering justice.

Need to Get in Touch?

I welcome tips from anyone — attorneys, defendants, victims’ families, concerned citizens — who want to shed light on an injustice.

What I Cover

I write about issues like prosecutorial misconduct, unreliable expert witness testimony, junk forensic science, and official indifference to innocence and error. Each of my stories involves extensive time on the ground, getting to know the people and places I’m chronicling. I strive to illuminate complex issues with rigorous reporting and engaging, fact-driven storytelling.

My Background

I’m a reporter at ProPublica and a staff writer at The New York Times Magazine. My work has also appeared in The New Yorker and has been anthologized in “Best American Magazine Writing,” “Best American Crime Reporting,” “Best American Nonrequired Reading,” and “Next Wave: America’s New Generation of Great Literary Journalists.”

“False Witness,” my ProPublica-New York Times investigation into jailhouse informants, received a National Magazine Award for reporting in 2020. It was also recognized with the Hillman Prize, the IRE Award, the Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Journalism and the Molly National Journalism Prize.

Before joining ProPublica and The Times in 2017, I was a staff writer at Texas Monthly. A 2010 investigation of mine — about a wrongly convicted man who was sent to Texas’ death row — was credited with helping him win his freedom after 18 years behind bars.

In 2014, the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University awarded me the Louis M. Lyons Award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism.

I live in Austin, Texas, with my husband and two children.

Blood Will Tell

Judge in Joe Bryan Case Rejects Defense Pleas for New Trial

Texas’ highest criminal court will now decide the fate of Bryan, a former high school principal who has been in prison for 31 years for the murder of his wife, Mickey. A forensic expert who testified against him has admitted his conclusions in the case were wrong.

by Pamela Colloff,

Blood Will Tell

Texas Panel Faults Lab Chemist in Bryan Case for “Overstated Findings” and Inadequate DNA Analysis

The Texas Forensic Science Commission called out a second prosecution expert for her work on the murder case of the former high school principal convicted of the 1985 murder of his wife.

by Pamela Colloff,

Blood Will Tell

Blood-Spatter Expert in Joe Bryan Case Says “My Conclusions Were Wrong”

The expert whose testimony was key to Bryan’s conviction for his wife’s 1985 murder says he now believes that some of his techniques were incorrect. His admission comes as a judge considers whether Bryan should get a new trial.

by Pamela Colloff,

Blood Will Tell

Joe Bryan’s Attorneys Ask For New Trial, Say Murder Conviction Built On Faulty Forensics

During a three-day hearing in Texas, a succession of witnesses criticized the bloodstain-pattern analysis and exposed other flaws in the prosecution of a former high school principal convicted of the 1985 murder of his wife.

by Pamela Colloff,

Blood Will Tell

Texas Commission Says Blood Spatter Testimony in Murder Case “Not Accurate or Scientifically Supported”

The findings will make it harder to deny a new trial to Joe Bryan, a high school principal convicted of murdering his wife.

by Pamela Colloff,