The Blooding Analytical Essay

In McClure, Weisburd and Wilson (2008) summary article arguing that in addition to bench science, field experimentation involving forensic methods is key to assess the utility of various methods to solve crimes. The study reflected that there is a need for more research into many aspects of forensic science, criticizing the strength of scientific evidence that’s collected at a crime scene and interpretations of most forensic methods while omitting DNA testing. McClure et al’s (2008) explains that in sexual cases and homicides, the presence of DNA evidence actually increased the likelihood of prosecution and a conviction. According to the article “…the case of convictions, the odds-ratio for the presence of DNA evidence was 33.1 for sexual offenses and 23.1 for homicides” (McClure et al., 2008). Subsequently, the research shows that there was a consistent gradual decline in the national homicide rates that began in the 1900s and continued through into the 21st century. The decline of homicides in the US has dropped by from more than 90% in the 1960s to 62% in 2003. Even though this significant drop has occurred during the introduction of the new DNA testing

In some cases, such as murder there are some people that have been wrongfully accused. Due to wrongful practices, people have been convicted of circumstantial evidence. ``DNA is a very powerful tool . . . but it is circumstantial evidence like other pieces of circumstantial evidence and a proper investigation still has to take place,'' she said. (Matthew, n.d.).

For Iowa Lakes Criminal Justice class Introduction to Corrections I read the book Bloodsworth By Tim Junkin for my book report. The book follows the story of a man named Kirk Bloodsworth. Bloodsworth was convicted and charged for the murder and rape of a nine-year-old girl in 1984. He was sentenced to death for those charges in Maryland and gas chamber was the execution put fourth. During his whole time in prison Kirk Bloodsworth said he was innocent. He researched everyday he could and read law book after law book. He researched about DNA testing something that was very new to the time, and he searched for a lawyer that would take on his case after he had been incarcerated for over nine years. DNA testing would become very beneficial to him.

I. Before the 1980’s, courts relied on testimony and eyewitness accounts as a main source of evidence. Notoriously unreliable, these techniques have since faded away to the stunning reliability of DNA forensics.

DNA testing is a critical and accurate tool in linking accused and even convicted criminals for crimes, and should be widely used to assess guilt or innocence before jail sentences are imposed. It was started up by scientists Francis C. Crick and James D, Watson in 1953 as they had described the uses, structures and purpose of the DNA “deoxyribonucleic acid” genetic fingerprint that contains organism information about an individual (testing

Today in the crime world, DNA evidence is strongly accepted in solving crime cases. This is all based in part by allowing a crime laboratory to have a designated unit whose main goal is to analyze DNA evidence to aid investigators with positive outcomes in crime case solving. With that being said we are going to discuss the functions of a DNA unit within a crime lab as well as address the vital role these units play in solving crime.

There was very little progress after Bloodsworth release from prison as they could not find a match for the DNA (Hanes). If the DNA tests would have been done before they convicted anyone, it may have been easier to find a DNA match. Prosecutors eventually matched the DNA to charged Kimberly Ruffner and he was charged with murder and rape (Parker). As stated before, Ruffner had already been in prison for crimes prior to his conviction of this murder and rape. If correct information had been provided to the court, it may have been easier to rule out Bloodsworth as a suspect to begin

The article that I found discusses how DNA evidence was used to convict a suspect after twenty years under investigation. The homicide case was recently closed on the rape and murder of Ophelia Preston, a 24 year-old female in Milwaukee County. Preston was deaf and mute and also suffered from a cocaine addiction, which led her to meeting Melvin Lee Jones.

He then goes on to acknowledge the use of DNA databases and how they work to apprehend repeat offenders. Hurst focuses on the South African Police Service and their need for an expansion of their DNA database to help solve criminal cases. Hurst then goes on to explain the legislation that has been proposed that will ensure that all criminals arrested will be put into the national DNA database and that only registered medical practitioners will be allowed to receive and store the evidence. He concludes his article by explaining the risk of having the database run by a private

In the world of forensic science, exoneration holds a very crucial role. In cases where a person has been convicted of a crime and needs to be proven innocent, exoneration plays a key part. It is what helps the court to decide in a just manner whether the crime was committed by that person or not. Exoneration is based on DNA evidence and therefore, is the most authentic. The main purpose of exoneration is to help the legal system by allowing innocent people to be discharged of guilty verdicts. Majority of the legal systems are built on such structures that the people responsible for crimes can be identified and penalized. Exoneration removes the burden, charge or responsibility which is being

Another report, according to Turman, stories about the use of DNA evidence to convict offenders or exonerate defendants in criminal cases have appeared in the media with increasing frequency over the last few years. Criminal justice professionals and the public realize that forensic DNA technology is revolutionizing the way law enforcement officers investigate violent crimes, including crime scene investigation, counseling rape victims to not wash away critical evidence, accurate conviction of offenders, and connecting offenders to other brutal crimes. Their bulletin seeks to strengthen crime victims' confidence in the judicial process by showing how DNA technology can empower the search for truth"(Turman,

In the home of Dr. Michael and Celine Johnson, they were found by their housekeeper, Nina at 8 a.m, murdered in their bed. Law enforcement responded immediately along with Crime Scene Unit (CSU) to investigate the scene. Deoxyribonucleic acid also known as DNA is often found in crime scenes including murders, sexual assault or rape and possibly robberies. CSU would secure the crime scene, collecting any evidence left behind including force of entry, fingerprints, footprints, DNA and so forth. Once evidence is collected, it is sent to the laboratory where it is tested on to eliminate potential suspects in the crime scene. Forensic DNA analysis has been used in investigations since the late 1980s. According to Forensic Magazine, the first use of DNA testing within the courts happened in England. Police force had asked molecular biologist Alec Jeffreys to use DNA to verify a confession of a suspect in two-rape murders in English Midlands. As a result, it was found that the suspect was not guilty, but it eventually had captured the actual perpetrator. This profound history moment has committed a very promising role in the law and justice field. I chose this part in forensics because I thought it was quite astonishing that with any DNA sample of a potential suspect, it could connect back to other fluids. For example, in a crime scene of rape, sperm was found in the victim. In order to match the sperm

The traditional methods of solving a crime scene is by using witnesses and confessions of the suspect. That method can work but there is now the method of using forensic evidence to link a suspect to a crime and potentially solve it, as well. In the being, the use of DNA evidence was seen as being controversial and challenging by the defense attorneys, even though there were about 17,000 and more cases that used DNA test in 1997. 1 It is important to remember that DNA is not the only type of forensic evidence but it is the focus of this paper.

DNA testing has been around for many years. DNA testing was first used to determine paternity (Schwartz 2016). Today, DNA is not only used in paternity cases, but it is also used in criminal justice. DNA in the criminal justice was first used in 1986 in the United Kingdom. Dr. Alec J. Jeffreys was accused for two rape murders and later proven innocent by DNA testing (The Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences, 2003).  Even if this method is reliable most of the time, there are times where the DNA expert might make a mistake, might be rigged or there might be an unknown bias. Unfortunately, because of this innocent individual are wrongfully accused of a crime they did not commit. Dr. Itel Dror wanted to test this theory. In a

For this assignment, I chose to research Alec Jeffreys. He is a renowned geneticist credible for the techniques used in modern DNA profiling. These processes are vital to a career in law enforcement and what will hopefully be my future career in forensics, “[M]any lawyers see the technique as ‘the prosecution’s dream and the defense’s nightmare”(The Cambridge Dictionary of Scientists). With the ability to prove a person’s innocence or guilt through admission of their own DNA is compelling, if not the most compelling, form of evidence available to law enforcement. To properly format these findings as to avoid the damnation of the innocent and ensure that justice is efficiently executed is duty of utmost importance.