...reliable criminal justice system is the pillar and support of every prospering society. People essentially rely on their criminal justice system to exonerate a guilty culprit or incarcerate an innocent person. Fuelled by the images of state-of-the-art laboratories and impeccable machines as portrayed in forensic crime dramas, an average person’s faith and trust on forensic evidence is unshakable. In particular, jurors significantly rely on DNA analysis, scientific evidence, and testimonies by forensic experts to help decide the outcome of most criminal cases. Hence, justice and freedom for an individual can depend on the proficiency, reliability and efficiency of a forensic laboratory and their forensic analysts. Investigative or methodological forensic errors either on...
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...Criminal Identification Procedures in the 21st Century Within the criminal justice system many technological advances exist to assist law enforcement officials in identifying a criminal suspect. The technological advances that continue to assist the criminal justice system in these identifications are Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) analysis, biometric identification, Intra-agency databases for DNA, fingerprinting and palm printing, and camera and wiretap surveillance. Each aspect serves a specific purpose in making certain that the right person is properly identified for the crimes that they commit. Each technological aspect makes certain that the criminal justice system can prove without a doubt that the person under arrest is the person responsible for committing the crime. Criminal Identification Procedures Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) analysis is an examination method that allows any organism to be identified, by its genetic sequences. DNA analysis is highly accurate, important, and used all across the world for important reasons. The main purpose for DNA analysis is identifying individuals who are suspects in criminal cases, identifying victims or their remains when other means of identity is not possible. The advantages of DNA analysis are reliable, accurate results, and helps solving old and new cases. The disadvantage of DNA analysis is it reveals information on physical state, this information is sensitive and must be guarded. Biometric Identification is a system based...
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...How DNA has changed the Criminal Justice System Information Technology in the Criminal Justice System Professor Cynthia Orth Tyrone S. Gibbs 11/21/2010 1 The use of Dna has changed the Criminal Justice System by allowing other materials beside blood to be used as identification. Before the advent of DNA testing, human identify testing was carried out mostly by using blood typing DNA analysis has now passed blood testing and is now the most accurate method currently available for human identification. DNA testing is used in determining parentage but is more widely known for the use in criminal cases. DNA testing is a powerful and reliable form of forsenic evidence that can beyond a shadow of a doubt reveal whether a person is innocence or guilt. One of the disadvantages however, is many prisoners do not have the legal means to secure testing or evidence in their cases. Some states have passed statues that include barriers to testing that are almost impossible to surpass. This is a obstacle that will keep innocent people from securing DNA test to prove their innocent. One of the advantges of DNA is that by using DNA fingerprinting is the use in solving crimes. Since DNA is found in almost every cell in the body, any portion of the human body can be used to establish identity. Just by the use 2 of a single strand of hair, a piece of skin, nail, a drop of blood or saliva can establish guilt or innoccence. Since it is impossible to remove all bodily or physical traes...
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...How DNA has changed the Criminal Justice System Dorothy Harris Professor Sean Kelley Information Technology in Criminal Justice November 9, 2011 How DNA has changed 1 The technology has changed many aspects of the criminal justice system, and the use of DNA evidence represents one of the best examples on how technology has change the criminal justice system. The use of DNA has changed by allowing other materials beside blood to be used as identification. The DNA technology is behind what it takes in solving criminal cases, and the meaning between guilty and not guilty or life or death. There are various ways that the criminal justice system uses DNA technology. DNA has been used to analyze and prove innocence or guilty of suspects of crimes with great accuracy. DNA is part of everyday life. IT is the heredity material in humans abs almost all other organisms. In 1994, the DNA Identification Act established a national DNA database, run by the FBI, called CODIS (Combined DNA Identification System), which links all states. While the creation of DNA databases often can be defended case by case, the development of this technology serves an end in itself apart from any particular application. It provides an inescapable means of identification, categorization, and profiling, and it does so with a type of information that is revelatory...
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...Criminal Justice Changes for the Future CRJ 201 December 11, 2011 Over the next 50 years we could see many changes in the field of criminal Justice. There is no way to predict the future, there are many things pointing in the direction of change. There are so many new developments that take place in technology, science and many different tools for investigations. These changes means that we have to make changes in the way we handle things, and this means that the field of criminal justice have and will change with the times. In a recent NIJ sponsored symposium, several experts offered their views of what Criminal justice would look like in 2040. (Ritter, 2006) The experts were Bryan J. Vila, a former chief of the NIJ’s Crime Control and Prevention Research Division; Christopher E. Stone, a professor of practice of criminal justice at Harvard, and David Weisburd, professor of criminology at the University of Maryland. (Schmalleger, 2011) Vila said that he believed that the future crime fighters will need to understand what he calls the co evolution of crime commission and crime fighting. (Ritter, 2006) Technological advances will have a profound effect on crime fighting, according to Vila. (Schmalleger, 2011). Developments in surveillance, biometrics, DNA analysis and radio frequency will have a great influence on crime fighting. According to Vila, the future will bring improvements in systems that will allow officials to talk electronically to one another in cases...
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...Welcome to Homicide Forensic Science is a fundamental component of the justice system. Forensic scientists use scientific techniques and knowledge to assist law enforcement in investigations and solving crimes. They collect and analyze numerous types of evidence, including blood, body fluids; DNA; and human tissue. Forensic scientists assist the decision makers by showing the prosecutor if the issue has merit before it reaches the courtroom thereby reducing the number of cases having to be heard. Their decisions are based on scientific investigations and not circumstantial evidence or unreliable witnesses. Forensic scientists can restore faith in the judicial system with the use of science and technology for facts in criminal and civil investigations. The legal system is established on the belief that the legal process results in justice for all. History of forensic science The history of Forensic science or the applying of scientific principles to legal questions has a lengthy and interesting history. The first recorded autopsy was reported in 44 B.C was on Julius Caesar, where the Roman physician, Antistius proclaimed that he had 23 wounds on his body but only one was fatal. In 1248, a Chinese book entitled “His Duan Yu” (meaning The Washing Away of Wrongs) explaining how to tell apart a drowning from a strangulation. This was also the first recorded use of medicine to assist in solving crimes. In 1590, the first microscope was developed. In 1775, Karl...
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...Post-Conviction DNA Policy in Criminal Investigations In most legal systems around the world, the courts have convicted many innocent people due to their legal procedure and laws. Wrongful conviction refers to a miscarriage of justice by convicting or punishing individuals for crimes they did not commit. Similarly, the application of the term may be useful in another direction; civil cases and errors of impunity. Many criminal justice systems have set ways to quash or overturn, a wrongful conviction. However, it is difficult for the criminal justice systems to overturn the decisions of wrongful convictions. In certain instances, overturning a wrongful conviction may take several years, or until the courts have already convicted the innocent person or the person has died. This paper examines the causes of wrongful convictions and focuses on the DNA exoneration policy. Causes of Wrongful Convictions The first clinic to work on non-DNA exonerations was the Michigan Innocence Clinic. It revealed particular circumstances that people have always deemed as the wrongful conviction. The scenarios reveal that the criminal justice needs amendments and change how the Michigan Innocence clinic should deal with the system’s trends. The following are among the causes of wrongful convictions: Eyewitness Misidentification: sometimes the eyewitnesses could misidentify a person and cause wrongful conviction on the...
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...Innocence at Stake: Possibility of DNA Collection from Arrestees in Canada Md Washim Ahmed ABSTRACT Followed by a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, which approved the collection of a defendant’s DNA upon arrests under the Fourth Amendment, the Minister of Justice, Peter MacKay indicated in an interview with the Globe and Mail that he and his Ministry are considering a similar model for Canada. This paper examines the possibility of a similar legislative framework in Canada and argues that although collection of DNA upon arrests was found justified under the Fourth Amendment, it does not necessarily mean that it will be found justified under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. While s.8 of the Charter seems to give similar protection as the Fourth Amendment, they have very different requirements for judicial authorization, reasonableness and standard of “probable cause”. Scrutinizing those different requirements and standards, this paper holds that the process of DNA collection is highly intrusive and would be a serious violation of s.8 of the Charter as it could reveal an excessive amount of private information about an individual over which he/she has a strong reasonable expectation of privacy. Furthermore, it will deprive people from their right to be presumed innocent, which is protected under s.11 (d) and significantly impact socially marginalized groups. Finally, this paper conducts an analysis of the violations under s.1 of the...
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...DNA Role in Forensics Science At a crime scene there may be a lot DNA evidence left behind or none. DNA can identify victims and suspects. It can help solve cold case and give new leads to other cases. DNA is also use to determine kinship in a missing person case. It can also help exonerate someone from a crime that they were convicted of. When handling DNA such as blood at a crime scene it is important that it is properly documented, photographed, collected and stored. Besides blood, DNA can include: body fluid, hair and skin. Such DNA can be matched to an individual. DNA is the acronym for Deoxyribonucleic acid. According to Campbell Essential Biology with Physiology, “The word nucleic is referring to “DNA location in the nuclei of eukaryotic cell.” (Page49). “DNA is genetic material that humans and other organisms inherit from their parents which consists of gain molecules” (Page 48). The shape of DNA is a double helix. Some would say it looks like a twisted ladder. “The double helix has four bases; (A) Adenine, (C) Cytosine, (G) Guanine and (T) Tyhmine. The bases have to be properly linked to their pair or else there will be a mutation in the gene. The following are the base pairs that bind:”Adenine with Tyhmine and Cystosine with Guanine” (Page 49). DNA testing began in the mid 1980’s. In the online article, DNA Factors states: Ever since the start of DNA testing in 1985, biological material has been a reliable physical evidence to help solve crimes (Williams)...
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...Deoxyribonucleic acid, commonly known as DNA, is the carrier of genetic information and the building blocks of all organisms. It is also the building block for both the defense and prosecution in criminal cases. This paper will explore the history of DNA profiling in the criminal justice system. While it is a common misconception that James Watson and Francis Crick discovered DNA in the 1950s, it was actually discovered in the 1800s. The molecule now known as DNA was first identified in the 1860s by a Swiss chemist called Johann Friedrich Miescher. Johann set out to research the key components of white blood cells, part of our body’s immune system. The main source of these cells was pus-coated bandages collected from a nearby medical clinic....
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...Wrongful conviction, often referred to as miscarriages of justice, can be defined as those who have been arrested on criminal charges, who have either pleaded guilty to the charges or have been found guilty, and, notwithstanding, their guilty plea or verdict, are actually innocent (Huff & Killias, 2010).While it may say like these situations are very rare, in fact there are many cases where innocent people are incarcerated, or even executed, because of errors in the criminal justice system. For example, as Dr. Michael Naughton, founder of the Innocence Project, which a non-profit advocacy group that works to free the wrongly convicted, said, “People think that miscarriages of justice are rare and exceptional . . . But every single day, people...
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...Criminal Justice Trends Evaluation 1 Criminal Justice Trends Evaluation December 10, 2012 CJA/394 Troy Hokanson Criminal Justice Trends Evaluation 2 Introduction The criminal justice system is very important to American society. The reason for laws are to defend society from harm, make certain each person is safe as well as to be treated fairly. The criminal justice system labors to defend the guiltless and to discipline the guilty without putting at risk an individual’s rights.This paper will evaluate the future of the criminal justice system as well as the past and present trends in the interface between components of the criminal justice system. Furthermore, it will identify contemporary issues that are affecting the criminal justice system as well as the value of the criminal justice system as society changes. Seeing that society is advancing, the criminal justice system must also change. The need for new laws are apparent in order to continue with advancement and new trends in society. However, new trends and contemporary issues can have an immediate influence on the various operations of the criminal justice system. These include, advancing technology, sentencing, and the death sentence. All of these have huge effects on the criminal justice...
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...Shows like Jake and the Fatman, Colombo, Matlock, and Murder She Wrote just to name a few. None of those shows relied heavily on science per say, moreover, those shows were written with the most insignificant clue becoming the one piece of evidence that is the key to the whole case. Just as dated as those television shows, so is the investigative practice. Present day, almost all investigative crimes involve the collection of forensic evidence that is broken down into two categories: organic versus inorganic evidence. This paper will detail the differences between organic and inorganic evidence, explain the strengths and weaknesses of each, and breakdown the significance of either organic or inorganic evidence as it travels through the justice system from the crime scene to prosecution. The way evidence collected can be broken down into two categories; organic and inorganic. According to Saferstein (2011), “Organic substances contain carbon, commonly in combination with hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, chlorine, phosphorus, or other elements. Inorganic substances encompass all other known chemicals substances. Each of these two broad groups has distinctive and characteristics properties (p. 123, Para 3). In laymen’s terms, organic evidence is biological evidence that has once lived (i.e. blood, hair, or any liquid that originates from a human or animal). Whereas, the second category inorganic evidence; it’s the non-biological evidence collected at a crime scene. Inorganic evidence...
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...How has our knowledge of DNA improved the study of criminal forensics? Introduction Through genetics, the study of DNA, we are able to figure out what and how genes are responsible for many things like our hair color or why do some people look a lot like their parents and others don’t. It also allows us to understand better how species evolve and how are they related to each other. It is important to understand how DNA mutates, changes and replicates in order to get information about what mechanisms cause DNA to change. In the 1970s scientists developed a DNA sequencing technique and other methods to manipulate and analyze DNA. This gave them the basic tools to start exploring the DNA blueprint which provided the techniques for a vast international project called The Human Genome Project (MRC). The Human Genome Project which was a major international project with the goal of decoding all our genetic information by 2003. A rough draft was done in June 2003 and it was a huge milestone that helped us understand how our genes can determine who we are (Genome Project). Many of today’s advances in DNA and biotechnology allow scientists and medical doctors to potentially cure genetic disorders through gene therapy by inserting, deleting or manipulating genes (Tillery, page 686). Another use of DNA technology is the creation of mutation by transferring DNA from one organism to another through techniques like cloning and introducing new DNA sequence into an organism to alter...
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...DNA is a molecule that contains the body’s genetic information. ”DNA typing is also known as DNA profiling and genetic fingerprinting. Forensic investigators use this method to identify the suspects involved in a criminal case(s). “Although 99.9% of human DNA sequences are the same in every person, enough of the DNA is different to distinguish one individual from another.” (Accessexcellence.org) A Mr. Alec Jefferys first documented the DNA typing procedure in 1984 at the University of Leicester in England. Inside ones DNA, we find what is called Short Tandem Repeats (STR). It is known why STR exist, but what is significant is that over 30 percent of human DNA is made up by these STR. “STRs are locations on the chromosome that contain short sequence elements that repeat themselves with in the DNA molecule.”(Saferstein, R pg.397) With Polymerase Chain Reaction or PCR technology, DNA research has made leaps and bounds. This method greatly enhances a single piece of DNA and makes thousands of copies of that particular DNA sequence. Another reason PCR is proven beneficial is that it moves shorter strands of DNA that are supposed to be more stable and less subjected to degradation, as oppose to the longer strand that break in bad environment atmospheres. Particularly PCR can enhance the STRs found in individuals blood and can be used to tell the difference between different individuals DNA, thereby proving a person innocent or guilty. In criminal investigations today DNA is used...
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