Forensic science: A judicial perspective

被引:2
作者
Rakoff, Jed S. [1 ]
Liu, Goodwin [2 ]
机构
[1] US Dist Court, Southern Dist New York, New York, NY 10007 USA
[2] Calif Supreme Court, San Francisco, CA 94102 USA
关键词
DNA; courts; forensics;
D O I
10.1073/pnas.2301838120
中图分类号
O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];
学科分类号
07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;
摘要
This article describes three major developments in forensic evidence and the use of such evidence in the courts. The first development is the advent of DNA profiling, a scientific technique for identifying and distinguishing among individuals to a high degree of probability. While DNA evidence has been used to prove guilt, it has also demonstrated that many individuals have been wrongly convicted on the basis of other forensic evidence that turned out to be unreliable. The second development is the US Supreme Court precedent requiring judges to carefully scrutinize the reliability of scientific evidence in determining whether it may be admitted in a jury trial. The third development is the publication of a formidable National Academy of Sciences report questioning the scientific validity of a wide range of forensic techniques. The article explains that, although one might expect these developments to have had a major impact on the decisions of trial judges whether to admit forensic science into evidence, in fact, the response of judges has been, and continues to be, decidedly mixed.
引用
收藏
页数:3
相关论文
共 3 条
[1]  
[Anonymous], 2016, Forensic Science in Criminal Courts: Ensuring Scientific Validity of Feature-Comparison Methods
[2]  
Natl Res Council, 2009, STRENGTHENING FORENSIC SCIENCE IN THE UNITED STATES: A PATH FORWARD, P1
[3]  
The National Research Council, 2011, Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence, V3