In this article the author is trying to argue for better standards on forensic sciences (particularly hair identification) being used in court cases. This article starts with the FBI statement claiming that hair identification is indefensible and goes onto explain cases which the evidence presented was misrepresented. The cases referred to in the article show mistakes in court, such as the testimony that claimed the hair was undoubtedly the suspects. The hair then turned up to belong to a dog. These types of incidents led to the Justice Department collaborating with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, where they formed a commission hoping to improve the issue. The author ends by expressing interest in a higher standard for forensic
To record a crime scene, forensic scientist can use photography, drawings, and videography. Photographs are an important record of the unaltered crime scene, Drawings or sketches provides valuable information when a photograph cannot accurately depict the scale of a room or the relationship of items to each
7) Pollen & Spore identification can provide important trace evidence in solving crimes dues to their
Defense counsel has asked this Court to compel the government to disclose the Forensic Peer Review dated August 5, 2014, from the government’s digital evidence file. Defense counsel asserts that the requested document is discoverable under Brady because the document will provide impeachment evidence of the test results obtained by Digital evidence examiner, Gregory Norman (“Norman”) using the Lantern v4 tool. To support its’ contention, defense counsel notes that there is no distinction between exculpatory and impeachment evidence for purposes of Brady disclosure requirements. See Bagley, 473 U.S. 667; Kyles, 514 U.S. at 433 (citing there is no “difference between exculpatory and impeachment evidence” when it comes to the prosecutor's duty
In April of 2015, the field of forensic science suffered a major shock after the FBI announced that the hair analysis testimony that it had used to investigate criminal suspects was flawed. legal scholar Tucker Carrington stated that the FBI hair analysis being performed was “magic”, it was considered that because its hair analysis investigations were unscientific. The evidence that was presented on trial was considered to be unreliable. In about 95% of cases it was discovered that analysts stated their conclusion in order to favor prosicuters. False testemonies occurred in over 100 trials, including 32 death penalty cases. But FBI was not done with their announcements, they also revealed that
More shockingly the justice department and FBI have formally acknowledged that virtually every examiner in an elite FBI forensic unit gave flawed testimony in almost all trials in which evidence was supplied against criminal defendants in the period of 20 years prior to 2000. In a group of 28 examiners with the FBI Laboratory 26 have been confirmed to overstating matches in microscopic hair comparison in favor of prosecutors. This was seen in 95 percent of the 268 trials that have been reviewed so far in accordance to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and the Innocence Project. The errors in the FBI’s conduct does not mean that there was no other evidence of the convict’s guilt, however federal and state prosecutors
Directly speaking the author use deliberate use of punctuation. By " Forensics science is really just science use in court. But for many terms has become short hand for a whole hot of tools and technique. Usually used to mean analytic or careful." The author point of view is in second person. Also gives out tone words like the author try to make it look determine,revealing, and give vivd language. It shows different perspective.
A segment of the Forensic Science in the Criminal equity organization that the vast majority acquainted with these days, however, few individuals know how this particular science came to be. Overall, legal science is intended to utilize experimental standards to clarify obscure parts of a wrongdoing. Through the utilization of uncommon tests and lab gear that permits researchers to recognize decisively different parts of a bit of confirmation in an illegal behavior. On the off chance that you occupied with finding out about how this procedure came to fruition, you have to peruse the recorded data underneath. Here is a brief history
Criminal justice systems must ensure the review of the forensic science by providing standardization of the interpretation of evidence. Trusting that the system at hand which relies upon an adversary system can ensure adequate protection from faulty forensic science is unrealized (Gershman, 2007). Most importantly is the lack of checks and balances in a judicial system where according to the Bureau of Justice Department (2011), 90 to 95% of criminal cases in state and federal level are resolved by plea bargain (3). Forensic science should be validated before its use through empirical standardized, and the court system must subscribe to the ethical use of forensics to serve justice (Garrett & Neufeld, 2009). Prosecutorial misconduct contributes significantly to wrongful convictions (Joy,2006). Examples are not isolated nor rare, and conclusion coupled with unprincipled motivation requires a more stringent requirements ethics, transparency, and standardization (Joy,2006). Criminal justice systems do not identify innocent defendants, thereby losing significant factors that contribute to wrongful conviction (Gould, J. et al., 2013). Police and the courts continuously increase their reliance on forensic science to corroborate evidence, signifying the necessity for validation and standardization (Strom, K., & Hickman, M., 2015). However, we must embrace that flawed forensics impacts our criminal justice system and can contribute to the death of the innocent. Blind faith in a proven imperfect system jeopardizes
In the forensic science field, laboratory tests are becoming more criticized in today 's world of technology. Human hair is one of the most common types of evidence found at a crime scene. Following hair analysis, there is also DNA fingerprinting analysis. Many victims of this flaw have been wrongfully sent to serve time for these flaws in testing. There have recently been more strategies to help improve these tests and provide for a better outcome in trial. Labs now have certain guidelines to follow while running tests, and at crime scenes, investigators are taking precautionary measures when collecting evidence to test. The forensic science field is one of the most powerful parts of the criminal justice system. They help separate the
Since the Victorian era, crimes have been solved using confessions or eyewitness accounts. Those tactics are still used today, but as technology continues to develop more and more, law enforcement and criminal investigators have started to rely more on forensic evidence to solve today’s crimes. In the article “Forensic Science: Evidence, Clues, and Investigations,” by Andrea Campbell, the author discusses the reliability and importance of forensic evidence. By today’s standards, forensic evidence is the most important evidence to present at a trial.
In today’s lecture, Malachi Willis a graduate student currently at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro majoring in Forensic Psychology came to speak about Graduate School for Psychology. Malachi spoke about how to get into grad school and the requirements needed to be a successful applicant. He suggested that anyone trying to apply for grad school should have a minimum GPA of 3.2 in general or an average of 3.5 or above. Also letters of recommendation are good to have from academic professionals or advisors. Along with the letters of recommendation he suggested that a relationship be built with that person because they are essential to the application process. Next, he mentioned that taking Research Methods PSY 310 and 311 are important
between a cut (an injury that is longer than deep) and a stab wound (an injury
Today, more than ever, the quality of evidence in criminal cases is scrutinized because of contamination. Contamination is the introduction of something that physically corrupts a substance at a crime scene that was not previously there; it comes in many forms and most often times comes from the humans who investigate a crime scene. It is imperative that prevention of cross-contamination is implemented when gathering evidence. Several of the more sensitive forensic techniques such as trace analysis, bloodspatter interpretation, and DNA comparison are not being used to their fullest potential. Items of physical crime scene evidence are not always visible to the naked eye and may be easily overlooked so deliberate and methodical approach to collection and preservation of evidence is essential. Prosecutors have lost cases due to crime scene contamination; this could be prevented by simple and productive behaviors. The U.S. Supreme Court, in a leading case on physical evidence, stated:
The field of forensic analysis is comprised of professionals from numerous different backgrounds. Due to how heavily involved the forensic department is in determining a suspect or victim’s fate, there are numerous restrictions and lots of hesitation in implementing changes. As a result, it is often difficult to make changes or to implement new technology and methods into the forensic field, which in turn cause backlogging in cases and may cause emotional distress to individuals in the community affected by tragedies. It is in this light that this paper will discuss the many benefits of using ribonucleic acid (RNA), as a method of forensic analysis in ways that are currently
Previously this country utilized the ballistic testing service from a foreign based forensic science center, but as at Tuesday 31st October 2017, the Ministry of National Security together with the United National Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC), commissioned the refurbished Indoor Shooting Range at the TTFSC. Prior to this new development, ballistic testing encountered a number of issues and challenges, some of which were, no proper chain of command, lengthy periods for testing and loss of evidence. It is in this regard, that with the establishment of the ballistics center at the TTFSC, will be able to hasten the processing of ballistic evidence acquired from a crime scene and properly store it. This could positively impact the prosecution and conviction rate of the judicial system in criminal cases involving the use of