...Casey Anthony Case Dixit and Gothwal (2015) define criminal law as a rule that control the social conduct and prohibits the acts that are harmful to the people and as such, threatening the safety and the welfare of societal members. Morse (2015) contends that criminal laws define the punishment levelled on the people who break the prescribed societal conduct while Holland (2015) asserts that criminal laws refer to the state laws, which make certain actions illegal and punishable by fines or imprisonment. Accordingly, the case of Casey Anthony falls under the criminal and as such, the forensic evidence gathered from the trunk of her car makes her criminally reliable, as the said evidence is admissible in the court of law. The forensic experts from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) examined a band of hair recovered from her vehicle, which exposed evidence of apparent decomposition. Forensic analysis of the recovered band of hair showed consistence with the band of hair of the deceased. The FBI experts who conducted forensic analysis on the band of hair told the court that the sample had many consistencies in relation to the post-mortem banding. Moreover, microscopic hair examination specialist told the jurors that the root portion of the air was dark and, therefore, consistent with the evidence presented by the FBI. The analyzed evidence showed that the hair was evicted forcibly from the deceased. Further, an investigator of the crime scene testified that that there...
Words: 955 - Pages: 4
...Law Case Analysis According to the law case EEOC v. FREEMAN, the EEOC filed a law suit against Freeman and alleged the company’s hiring policy which includes criminal background and credit history checks, has a disparate impact on African-American, Hispanic, and male applicants. And the material fact of this case is whether Defendant’s hiring criteria of conducting criminal background and credit history checks is consistent with business necessity. Since the Defendant was charged by the EEOC with unlawful discrimination in this case, the source of law is the Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964. “Title VII prohibits discrimination in hiring, firing, trainings, promotion, discipline, or other workplace decisions on the basis of an employee or applicant’s race, color, gender, national origin, or religion” (Bennett- Alexander & Hartman, 2011). As a federal law enforcement agency, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has obligations to investigate violations of Title VII and enforce laws against discrimination in workplace. In addition to the EEOC’s unique role, Title VII requires federal district courts to take the Title VII discrimination case for judicial review only after the EEOC has first disposed of the claim (Bennett- Alexander & Hartman, 2011). And according to the case, since the EEOC accepted applicant Katrina Vaughn’s discrimination complaint about Defendant’s violation of Title VII by rejecting hiring her based on her credit history information, the...
Words: 1296 - Pages: 6
...reliability on eyewitness testimony when making a judgement in a court of law. Based on thirty years of broad scientific study on eyewitness testimony, this article delineates a tripartite solution to eyewitness error. This is necessitated by the fact that criminal justice system mainly relies on eyewitness evidence to convict suspects. Often, eyewitness evidence happens to be the only evidence available and if appropriately handled it can be very reliable. The proposed solution maintains accessibility of eyewitness substantiation, while at the same time providing safeguards to uphold its accuracy and reliability. Court of laws and criminal justice system can rely on eyewitness Testimony. This is the hypothesis that will be tested through research on the internet, books and other relevant sources. The expected outcome of this research paper, it will be easy to tell whether or not jurors can rely on eyewitness testimony. In this tripartite solution, the first component is allowing experts testimonies when the sole or primary evidence against the accused is eyewitness. This involves using a highly qualified psychologist who has done enough research and has theories about eyewitness behaviour (Richard et al, 2007). The expert explains to the court how human memory works, the applicable eyewitness research and factors that may affect the authenticity of the eyewitness testimony. The expert is not required to express a judgment on the final...
Words: 1136 - Pages: 5
...Evidence To what extent has the use of technology in evidence altered our understanding of adversarialism? What is adversarialism? The adversarial system is the two-sided structure under which criminal trial courts in the UK operate. There are four prominent structural features of the English adversarial system. Firstly, the parties dominate the conduct of proceedings with the judge playing a relatively passive role. Secondly, the parties are free to choose the terrain on which to fight out their legal battles and to select their forensic weapons. Thirdly, Trials are continuous, oral and public events. Fourthly, the imbalance of power between the state and the accused is ameliorated by rules and principles reducing inequality of arms. High level definitions or at least descriptions of the adversarial system abound such as that of Lord Denning in Jones v The National Coal Board.They are all to the effect that the judge is a passive and neutral umpire who cannot descend into the arena for fear of having his or her judgement clouded. The adversarial system is said to be the most efficient means of arriving at approximate truth because it harnesses the power of self-interest on each side to unearth the best evidence. Similarly the best legal arguments are thought to emerge from the clash of advocate’s submission on the law. A classic quotation is that of Lord Eldon in Ex Parte Lloyd that ‘truth is best discovered by powerful statements on both sides of the question.’ This...
Words: 6120 - Pages: 25
...legal and forensic workers in the criminal justice system, and adhering to the ethical obligations to their clients as psychologists. This paper explores the dilemma faced by legal and forensic psychologists in carrying out their day-to-day roles as officials in the criminal justice system and in upholding their professional ethics as psychologists. The paper begins with an introduction of the main controversy surrounding the role of legal and forensic psychologists to the criminal justice systems (Day, 2014). It then describes some of the typical dilemmas faced by legal and forensic psychologists in the course of their work. The paper concludes with a discussion on the implications of the dilemmas faced by legal and forensic psychologists in the criminal justice system. Introduction Legal and forensic psychologists are a special type of psychologists who are often charged with the responsibility of standing as expert witnesses in court proceedings. The duties, roles, and responsibilities of legal and forensic psychologists in legal matters are strikingly different from those of an ordinary psychologist. It is paramount for legal and forensic psychologists to recognize the obligations as well as the limitations of their obligations when appearing as witnesses in court proceedings. A critical and often murky issue about legal and forensic psychology is how psychologists can double as both a health care profession and as an official in the criminal justice system. This issue revolves...
Words: 2332 - Pages: 10
...[The Criminal Justice System & how forensics plays its part] | | Criminal justice is the system of catching, prosecuting (charging), and sentencing a criminal based on their criminal doing. Within this system there are many areas that work close to bring criminals to justice, but one specific area places a bigger role. That role would be of a forensics examiner also known as a forensic science technician but mainly recognized as a crime scene investigator. Their job is to analyze physical evidence and provide scientific conclusions for the justice system. According to Education-Portal.com (2003-2012) they provide analytical assistance and expert opinions used during law enforcement investigations, criminal court cases, civilian court cases and regulatory proceedings. Ever since my junior year in high school I have been very interested in what crime scene investigators do. Inspired by the forensics class I took I learned that although their job takes a lot of patience and thinking, it would seem like the perfect job for me. Not knowing everything about this area, entering college allowed me to broaden my horizons. My major was Forensic Science but is now and remains Criminal Justice as I decided to branch out with a minor in Computer Forensics. Continuing to get more familiar with my minor I learned that within forensics there are technicians that work specifically with guns. This area is called ballistics; the scientific study of the characteristics of projectiles, such...
Words: 1290 - Pages: 6
...court reporter, expert witness, lay witness, victim, defendant, prosecutors and defense lawyers. This specialized team of individuals work together to successfully prosecute criminal court cases. The courtroom work group thrives to construct a safe and care free environment of justice. However, each party work diligently in order to achieve a quality of fairness to all criminal cases presented. The courtroom work group also consists of the bailiff of court, the clerk of court, and the reporter of the courts. Each courtroom work group has these officials, and is needed so the courts can properly run as structured. Each representative has their own specific job that is carried out on a daily basis. One of most important person in the courtroom work group is the Judge. The judge is elected or appointed by the state to review and facilitate disputes presented through arguments of prosecution and defense during a trial. Judges are presumed to be unbiased in their application of Criminal Law when reviewing the facts and arguments presented by all parties, such as the defendant, claimant, lawyers, and the people in the courts. The judge informs the jury on the laws that are applicable to the crime committed. It is also the judge’s job to let the jurors know that the decision will be based only on the amount of evidence presented in that given time. The jurors work together in seeking justice for the innocent victims and punishment for the guilty criminals. Jurors are selected...
Words: 1141 - Pages: 5
...specific types of dispute (subject matter: civil, criminal), monetary, geographical Trial courts (court of original jurisdiction)– courts where a legal action is first brought to a judge for a decision Court of appeal – these courts hear appeal (petition) from the decisions of trial courts. They can override the decision of trial courts because they are higher ranked. * Do not hear evidence * Look for errors in law Federal Courts – deal with disputes that are within federal jurisdiction. * Taxes * actions against federal government * patent * admiralty * trademark * copyright Federal Court Trial Division -> Federal Court of Appeal -> Supreme Court of Canada Special tax courts – part of federal court system. Provincial courts Criminal Courts Magistrate’s or Provincial Court – trial court. Initially deals with all criminal matters Provincial Supreme courts – more serious issues Youth Court Criminal Courts of appeal Civil courts – deals with disputes between individuals Small claim courts – limit to certain amount of money depending on province Surrogate courts (probate) – deals with wills and estates of deceased people Family courts – custody issues, payments, not criminal in ordinary sense Civil courts of appeal Provincial court of appeal Supreme court of Canada – in civil cases requires leave (permission) to appeal Enforcement of criminal law – usually same court as civil law * Minor or lesser offences dealt with by way...
Words: 676 - Pages: 3
...made by the minute ridge formations or patterns found on the fingertips. No two persons have exactly the same arrangement of ridge patterns, and the patterns of any one individual remain unchanged throughout life. Fingerprints offer an infallible means of personal identification. Other personal characteristics may change, but fingerprints do not. By comparing fingerprints at the scene of a crime with the fingerprint record of suspected persons, officials can establish absolute proof of the presence or identity of a person. Fingerprint is a biometric modality that is often used in a security setting. Fingerprint databases are in use worldwide for the purposes of personal identification, border control as well as to facilitate criminal forensic investigation. Many countries have multiple fingerprint databases, with each database serving a specific purpose. In Malaysia, there are at least 4 different fingerprint databases; namely PDRM-MAFIS (Polis Di Raja Malaysia- Malaysian Automated Fingerprint Identification System), PDRM-BIOFIS (Polis Di Raja Malaysia-Biometric Identification System), NRD-AFIS (National Registration Department- Automated Fingerprint Identification System), and NERS (National Foreigners Enforcement and Registration System).[1] The consolidation of fingerprint databases will enable cross-referencing to be done easily. For instance, the PDRM-BIOFIS fingerprint database contains the fingerprints of...
Words: 9471 - Pages: 38
...The Evolution of Criminal Justice Technology Rakeisha Hudson Kaplan University Abstract The Evolution the job is exacting. The police are asked to control crime, maintain order, and provide an intricate array of services, from responding to emergency 911 calls to regulating the flow of traffic. On occasion, they must perform remarkable feats of criminal investigation, quell rowdy crowds and violent offenders, and put their lives on the line. Much of the time, police resources are limited. It is estimated that the workload crime imposes on the police has increased fivefold since 1960. Their resources have not kept pace with their workload. To do their job, police frequently have looked to technology for enhancing their effectiveness. The police, with crime laboratories and radio networks, made early use of technology, but most police departments could have been equipped 30 or 40 years ago as well as they are today. The Crime Commission in response to rapidly rising crime rates and urban disorders. The Commission advocated federal government funding for state and local criminal agencies to support their efforts. It called for what soon became the 911 system for fielding emergency calls and recommended that agencies acquire computers to automate their functions. But even with the start-up help of hundreds of millions of dollars in early federal assistance, computerization came slowly. Only in recent years have...
Words: 1398 - Pages: 6
...plan for the collected data must be established. No person shall tamper with the data that has been held for evidence and must remain in its original state as when it was collected, as tampered evidence may be thrown out in court. This data must be preserved even after criminal prosecution has been established, as this data may prove useful in future cases. The evidence should be stored on both compact disk and storage drive in case one device of storage was to fail. Digital folders within the storage drive must be well labeled and organized accordingly, as well as folders and file cabinets that contain data CDs. Second, the evidence that has been collected must be identified to the perpetrators as evidence. Just as police are obligated by law to explain to a criminal what his/her charges are when arrested, investigators are obligated to explain exactly what evidence can and/or will be used against the perpetrators in the court of law during an interrogation. Each piece of evidence must be expressed to the person that the evidence was obtained from in a manner in which he/she can understand. This will ensure that the investigators and the perpetrators are on the same level, and the court will not think that the investigators are trying an unfair advantage. This will also allow anything that the perpetrator says to be used against him/her in the court of law. Third, a sequence of events during the investigation must be logged in order to provide to the court...
Words: 769 - Pages: 4
...1. What is Computer Forensics? System forensics is the process of systematically examining computer media as well as network components, software, and memory for evidence. System forensics involves collecting, preserving, analyzing, and documenting evidence to reconstruct user activities. Appropriately collected evidence is often presented in court to solve criminal cases and prosecute criminals. 2. How has technology improved the way criminal investigators perform their job? Technology improved the way criminal investigators perform their jobs by making it easier to track things, there is different types of software out there today to help them with these issues, and make the jobs easier, when you have different technology to help. 3. Why would a company report or not report a compromise case? The reason a company may or may not report a compromise because if it’s not in their favor and they may report it if it’s in their favor and vice versa. They wouldn’t want to look incompetent. 4. Who is in charge of labeling and securing sensitive information? The one in charge of labeling and securing sensitive information is the forensic specialist. 5. What is the Daubert standard? The Daubert Standard provides a rule of evidence regarding the admissibility of expert witnesses' testimony during United States federal legal proceedings. 6. Why would someone use a hex editor in a forensic investigation? The reason someone would use a hex editor in a forensic investigation...
Words: 898 - Pages: 4
...The Court’s Administration: An Analysis of the Roles in the Process of Criminal Trial The Court’s Administration: An Analysis of the Roles in the Process of Criminal Trial Criminal procedure is the process of investigating, prosecuting, and punishing crimes (Scheb & Sharma, 2013). Criminal procedure includes law enforcement activities, including the arrest, interrogation, and identification of suspects. Criminal procedure also involves a process of criminal trial, in which a person is tried for their crime. The trial process can be extensive, but criminal charges can also be settled in the pretrial process. The pretrial process largely determines the outcome of a criminal case; most criminal cases never make it to trial. Charges against the defendant may be dropped or dismissed due to a lack of evidence. The defendant may also plead guilty without trial. Many guilty pleas result from plea negotiations between the prosecutors and defendant or defense attorneys. This pretrial process makes a formal criminal trial unnecessary (Scheb & Sharma, 2013). There are various roles in the criminal trial process, including the judge, the prosecuting attorneys, the jury, and the expert witnesses such as forensic psychologists. The assortment of roles has a high effect on the outcome for the defendant. A prosecutor is responsible for determining what charges to pursue and whether to plea bargain with the defendant. A jury decides a verdict. A judge decides a sentence. A forensic...
Words: 3921 - Pages: 16
...Criminologist and forensic psychologists share many similarities although they have a few differences. This essay will attempt to explain these similarities and differences. Criminology is the scientific study of crime and criminals whereas forensic psychology is the interaction of the study of psychology and the law, it is also a branch of applied psychology which is concerned with the collection, examination and presentation of evidence for judicial purposes (Haward, 1953) furthermore they hold a doctorate degree in a field of psychology. The role of a criminologist is to investigate a variety of reasons to why criminals commit crimes. In order to investigate how these crimes are committed, they must consider psychological and social factors furthermore consider if any biological situations could have led the criminal to commit the crime. The role of a forensic psychologist is to provide the legal system with sound psychological information from a sound research base (Grisso, 1987). A forensic psychologist role is similar to a criminologist role to an extent that they also work with prisoners and offenders moreover they also apply the psychological theory to criminal behaviour to figure out what makes criminals commit these crimes. The premium goal of a forensic psychologist is to The first act of psychologist taking part in the justice court was in 1896 when Albert testified at the trial of Munich man accused of murdering three women. Within the United Kingdom the prison...
Words: 2409 - Pages: 10
...Analysis of the Homicide Trial of Jodi Arias By Robert Davis Professor Lauren Burke CCJS 100 6382 University of Maryland University College March 8, 2013 Robert Davis Professor Burke CCJS 100 March 8, 2013 Analysis of the Homicide Trial of Jodi Arias The criminal justice system ensures the safety and protection of society from criminal offenders. The process of the criminal justice system begins when a criminal offense is reported to law enforcement officials. If required, an investigation begins, leading to a warrant and arrest. Following the arrest, bail is set and a preliminary hearing is scheduled. If the defendant is indicted, a trial date is set. Providing the defendant does not waive the right to a jury trial, a jury is selected and the trial begins. If the defendant is found guilty, a sentence is imposed, usually within a few days of the jury’s verdict. If the defendant wishes, he or she can then appeal the guilty verdict and sentencing, thus beginning the trial process again. Police officers, detectives, prosecutors, and defense attorneys make great efforts to ensure justice is served swiftly and fairly, thus creating a strong and effective criminal justice system. Description of the Crime Jodi Arias was arrested in July 2008 for the brutal murder of her boyfriend, Travis Alexander. Travis was stabbed twenty-seven times; his throat was cut, and he was shot in the head in his Mesa, Arizona home. Jodi and Travis met at a Prepaid Legal conference and...
Words: 1603 - Pages: 7
