preview

Forensic Evidence: Judgment And Analysis

Decent Essays

Short Answer Questions
Q1.
When a serious crime has taken place such as murder, robbery or rape the court that is used for the trail is the Crown court which includes a jury of the defendant’s peers (1). Forensic evidence that is used during a trail has certain procedures and guidance in place ensuring that the evidence is appropriate for the jury.
Evidence that is appropriate can be interpreted as viable/suitable for the jury. Therefore, when forensic evidence is put forth in a testimony an expert witness must do it, within criminal procedure rules an expert witness must state who carried out the examination of samples as well as if they were under supervision of the expert witness during analysis. Plus, their reliability must be valid by stating their relevant experience, accreditation and qualifications and any summarised conclusions reached in the expert’s report (2) to give the jury an insight into forensic analysis. In by doing this the jury can feel like the expert witness’s judgement and analysis is fair and trustworthy.
To ensure that evidence is …show more content…

Forensic science has been used in perhaps all major trails as key evidence to find the perpetrator(s) of a crime. However, there are certain cases where forensic evidence has played a significant role in an investigation/crime.
An example of this was when forensic evidence was first used for a murder conviction in January 1988. When Lynda Mann (1983) and Dawn Ashworth (1986) were raped and murdered, Richard Buckland was the prime suspect (per other means) as he worked on the grounds where Lynda Mann was murdered and was witnessed to be near the area where Dawn Ashworth was murdered. However, when comparing his DNA with the DNA found at the crime scene’s it concluded that he was innocent as they didn’t match (10); meaning that DNA testing had already exonerated an innocent individual before the perpetrator was found. Proving that forensic evidence had already provided a positive impact on the

Get Access