(Download) "Crime Labs Need Improvement: The Quality of the Labs is Criminal; Government Must Invest in Personnel and Facilities." by Issues in Science and Technology ~ eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Crime Labs Need Improvement: The Quality of the Labs is Criminal; Government Must Invest in Personnel and Facilities.
- Author : Issues in Science and Technology
- Release Date : January 22, 2003
- Genre: Engineering,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 179 KB
Description
In their examination of the criminal convictions of 62 men who were later exonerated by DNA evidence, Barry Scheck, Peter Neufeld, and Jim Dwyer concluded that a third of the cases involved "tainted or fraudulent science." Although in some cases rogue experts were directly to blame, a much larger problem exists: The forensics profession lacks a truly scientific culture--one with sufficient written protocols and an empirical basis for the most basic procedures. This results in an environment in which misconduct can too easily thrive. Stated another way, forensic science needs more science. On an individual level, one of the most notorious cases involved Fred Zain, the chief serologist of the West Virginia State Police Crime Laboratory. A judicial report found that Zain committed many acts of misconduct over 10 years, including overstating the strength of results, reporting inconclusive results as conclusive, repeatedly altering laboratory records, grouping results to create the erroneous impression that genetic markers had been obtained from all samples tested, and failing to report conflicting results. In reviewing the report, the West Virginia Supreme Court spoke of "shocking and egregious violations" and the "corruption of our legal system."
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