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The role of forensic science in investigations
The role of forensic science in investigations
How DNA has helped the police
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Majority of cases have made mistakes and convicted the wrong people due to the wrong information due to the forensic science which LaPorte mentioned in the article “Wrongful Convictions and DNA Exonerations: Understanding the Role of,” that “One of the greatest tragedies in the criminal justice system is when a person is convicted for a crime he/she did not commit.” It has been multiple times that mistakes were made yet today there is still problems occurring. No one will ever be perfect but their results need to be around 90% to make sure they have enough information to make the arrest and to send to person away for life. In order to prevent his, there needs to be more test, people who can be tested with this sensitive information. There
In today’s Canadian society, it is certain that criminal law is to serve and protect and its fundamental purpose is to prevent crime and punish offenders. However, there have been cases where criminal law has punished the offender who turned out to be innocent. A conviction is needed to show that the system is not in disrepute and to keep order and people safe in society. If a criminal cannot be caught then people will look down upon the system in disgrace. In many cases, officers will arrest an individual who fits a certain description that they know will lead to an arrest and conviction. In the case of Guy Paul Morin it shows how the system failed in aiding the innocent who abide to the law. The law is established to protect those who are innocent from being targeted because of the law.
In today's society no crime is a perfect crime, with the use of DNA testing and modern advancements in health and forensics even the smallest piece of someone's genome can be cultured and used to identify even the most devious of criminals. The use of DNA testing was able to help change the life of Gene Bibbins for the better and further proved how DNA testing is able to be used to help clarify who the culprit actually is. Gene Bibbins life was forever changed the night that he was unjustifiably arrested for aggravated rape which resulted in his being sentenced to life in prison, only for his case to eventually be reevaluated sixteen years after his conviction, leading to his exoneration.
The New York Times bestseller book titled Reasonable Doubts: The Criminal Justice System and the O.J. Simpson Case examines the O.J. Simpson criminal trial of the mid-1990s. The author, Alan M. Dershowitz, relates the Simpson case to the broad functions and perspectives of the American criminal justice system as a whole. A Harvard law school teacher at the time and one of the most renowned legal minds in the country, Dershowitz served as one of O.J. Simpson’s twelve defense lawyers during the trial. Dershowitz utilizes the Simpson case to illustrate how today’s criminal justice system operates and relates it to the misperceptions of the public. Many outside spectators of the case firmly believed that Simpson committed the crimes for which he was charged for. Therefore, much of the public was simply dumbfounded when Simpson was acquitted. Dershowitz attempts to explain why the jury acquitted Simpson by examining the entire American criminal justice system as a whole.
Abstract; This paper explors the effects DNA fingerprinting has had on the trial courts and legal institutions. Judge Joseph Harris states that it is the "single greatest advance in the search for truth since the advent of the cross examination (Gest, 1988)." And I tend to agree with Judge Joseph's assertion, but with the invention and implementation of DNA profiling and technology has come numerous problems. This paper will explore: how DNA evidence was introduced into the trial courts, the effects of DNA evidence on the jury system and the future of DNA evidence in the trial courts.
In Corsicana, Texas Cameron Willingham and his family’s home was burned down the twenty-third of December is 1991. According to the report Cameron was asleep when the fire started and survived the accident with only a few injuries, as for his children they were not so lucky, they lost their lives to the tragic accident. At the time of the accident Cameron’s wife was buying presents for their children for Christmas. According to a witness and her Daughter Diane and Buffie from a few houses down went outside and saw Cameron screaming, “My babies are burning up!” Diane and Cameron tried countless attempts to rescue the girls from their room until the fire department could get there. According to the New Yorker “The house, in short, had been deliberately transformed onto a death trap.” According to the reports on December twenty-fourth and twenty-seventh of 1991 the fire was declared arson and they later decided to conduct a criminal investigation. Cameron was questioned by the investigators on December 31st and was then later arrested on January 8th of 1992 for the death his three daughters.
After reading, DNA testing is has the biggest reason why people have been exonerated. An estimate of about 336 people have been exonerated by DNA testing and 20 of them who have served time on death row. “ To date 336 people in the United States have been exonerated by DNA testing, including 20 who served time on death row.” (“Exonerating the Innocent.”) This quote proves that I am credible, because it shows that I researched it, and found out facts about the innocent project.
“In matters of truth and justice, there is no difference between large and small problems, for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same”.(Albert Einstein).Many people have different points of view of what is justice of what happens in the courtroom. Opinions have been heard of whether or not DNA evidence should be admissible in murder trials. Not only have people try to introduce this kind of evidence in their case, but some have been trying to avoid of DNA evidence in their case. Like any important matter they all have their own pros and cons to conclude whether or not it’s worth presenting to a courtroom full of juries. It takes hard workers to give background information
In conclusion, I feel that my opinion is justified because I can not believe that our society would falsely convict innocent people. Every human being is unique and does not have DNA like any other person. Forensic scientists use DNA profiling to help find criminals. If no two people have DNA alike, I feel that this is one of the most accurate ways to convict a criminal beyond a reasonable doubt.
I personally feel that this is a much more reliable and accurate than relying on the testimony of witnesses. I believe through the use of science we as a society can now make sure that the guilty are caught and punished while the innocent are protected from wrongful prosecution. However the eyewitness should not be completely left out of the case against the possible offender. After it is determined through scientific evidence, in this case DNA, that the physically involved in the crime then witnesses can be brought in to give testimony that the offender was present at the crime scene or the victim can be sure that the accused was truly the one involved in the actual crime.
... the crime scenes contain many mixtures of more than one person’s DNA, which can lead to false accusations. Even if there is evidence of a DNA match at the crime scene doesn’t mean that they committed the crime it depends on the evidence towards the person. Again criminals could still mess with the DNA and evidence of a crime scene, which can lead to many suspects of a crime. For example someone who wanted to falsely accuse a certain person could have planted a cigarette. But just because DNA of a person was there doesn’t mean it was them. DNA shouldn’t be the final proof because there could be many other things to prove a person’s innocence or guilt like getting a video of something that could possibly connect to the crime. Witnesses could be a big part in a crime as well because they could document everything they saw or heard and be used against a person in court.
Whereas the real picture of forensic evidence is unlike what is represented in movies and television shows where a fingerprint or a trace of hair is found, then it’s game over for the criminal. Reality is not as straightforward. As more people are exposed to the unreal forensic world through television and media the likeliness for a wrong conviction increases with juries assuming the evidence involves more science than what it really does, this is known as the CSI Effect. Further education and training is needed for the people of the court, the forensic specialists, and so called experts. The people in courts do not question any of the ‘professionals’ and just trust in their expertise. The court could overcome this perception by requiring explanation of error rates in a forensic field. To do this, testing examiner error rates will be necessary which means further research. Forensic science has such a large effect on the prosecution of suspects, experts have been known to provide questionable and at times incorrect evidence. When a false conviction occurs the true perpetrator is set free. Once realized, the public doubts the justice system and the reliability of the forensic evidence even more. At this point in time, forensic is an inexact
The theories of Anderson, Hogg,Walker and Wilson are justified opinions and could be advantageous to the criminal justice system. However, even if these theories are implemented into our society, corruption will still always occur. Unfortunately, it is just part of human nature. It is futile to establish new methods of judgement without considering the fact that corruption occurs throughout all levels of society. Juries, police, and lawyers can all be persuaded and succumb to corruption if it suits their needs to do so. Likewise, DNA samples can be tampered with or plagued by human error. It is a vicious circle and until human beings change, miscarriages will continue to occur. Miscarriages of justice are definitely not exceptional and occur much more frequently than most people realise. They place a great burden on our society as a whole and cause injustices and hardships to many people. Just because we do not hear about them, does not mean they don't exist. As Walker states "since justice is applied by fallible, prejudiced human beings, miscarriages are inevitable".
Proponents of expanding the use of DNA tests in the legal arena like to point out that these tests will exonerate truly innocent individuals. DNA tests have exonerated some wrongly imprisoned people but it is disingenuous to think this is the real reason for growing use of DNA tests. The real reason for all of this is, of course, to help prosecutors obtain more convictions. It is thus worth keeping in mind that the criminal justice system currently reflects deep class and race biases. Journalist and attorney David Cole argues persuasively in his recently published book No Equal Justice that this is no accident. Rather law enforcement, the legal system, and the prison system operate in a way that insures the disproportionate imprisonment of poor people and people of color. If the government only conducts DNA tests of people convicted of crimes, it will fortify and expand this already unfair process.
Law enforcement officers come across a plethora of cases each year. Every case which is investigated and DNA collected should not be sent to a lab. Every crime that is investigated meets different requirement and elements. For instance, when investigating a burglary and blood is found at the scene, DNA is collected and attached to the case file. If the burglary had no other crime involved such as rape or a homicide, just stolen goods, why would the agency spend the resources to just to catch a petty theft at night. Crimes are committed each day and there are priorities for crimes, most server crimes that involve life and or sexual related crimes should be investigated and all DNA sent to the lab to be analyzed and compared to I the database. In a perfect world we would be able to catch all criminals with DNA because in away every criminal leaves DNA at the scene, whether it be hair, saliva, sweat, blood, mucus, and finger prints, Locard's exchange principle.
The purpose of criminal justice system is to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt and for this purpose forensic evidence has apparently played a major role. But looking at the present scenario, it can be observed that the basic purpose or rather the advantage of forensic evidence over other evidences seem to have been rendered as defeated. As the certainty, which was offered by such evidence is not fully reliable and has been construed wrongly by the courts. Hence it can be observed from above mention points that forensic science has failed in providing a better administration of criminal justice system.