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Forensic Science. Custom Forensic Science Essay Writing Service || Forensic Science Essay samples, help
Over the past decades, Forensic science has evolved and has been embraced by most states as a vital constituent of modern legal practice. It is widely used in courts as a major source for the outcome of a verdict. Forensic science has attained a merit of its own although it is relatively new in the jurisprudence world. As technology and science have evolved with time, more and new methodologies and practices in law realm have been established. In United States (U.S.) specifically, the application of utilizing forensic analysis has become a routine (James,2009).Statement of the problemThis report explores the use of forensic science and DNA in the judicial processes, its strengths and limitations.Admissibility and Use of Forensic Evidence in CourtsOver the last decades, forensic evidences have taken part in the search for justice to individuals who have been convicted for crimes and also as a link to suspects. It has been cited as a fallible source unlike the eye witnesses.The rate at which forensic evidence is used in criminal courts depends on the type of offence. For example, for murder cases forensic science evidence is presented almost always. In criminal cases, a prosecution team commissions most of the forensic assignments. On the other hand, the legal team of the defendant can commission forensic assignments to challenge or check the prosecution's forensic evidence or to determine the innocence of the defendant.Forensic evidence has enabled to link offenders to their victims and crime scenes using physical evidence and also in identifying individuals without peer. With perspiration, a fleck of blood, saliva on a cup's rim, a piece of hair among others has been successfully used to link a suspect to a crime. Innocent and wrongly accused individuals have been exonerated using such evidences. Persons who have been jailed for years have later been exonerated after DNA analysis has been carried out to prove their innocence.To yield positive results, crime laboratories have enforced professionalism, adopted reliable procedures and coordinated with both the legal and the scientific communities. Presently, for a scientific system to be accepted before a court, the evidence derived from it does not have to go through a prescribed test. For future admissibility of scientific evidence in court to be shaped, development of more newer and advanced forensic tools and techniques is being embraced as technology and time progresses. Thus, courts are increasingly relying more on scientific evidence to deliver a judgment.
Problems Associated with Forensic Science and DNA Evidence.Evidences of forensic science should always be neutral. Scientists should not have any stake in the case outcome though this is not always the case. Numerous deficiencies have threatened to limit forensic services to the society and have therefore weakened its presumed scientific foundation. Below are some of the major problems in forensic science and DNA testing:a) Astounding Frequency of Cross-Contamination and Sample Mix-UpsA surprisingly high rate of errors in the laboratory is one of the emerging problems which involves cross-contamination and mix-up of DNA samples. Such errors appear to be persistent and crop up even in the accredited DNA labs. The forensic scientists though have managed to reduce such instances and thus the rate of DNA testing errors have been claimed to be low thus negligible, but growing evidence suggests otherwise.b) Bad LaboratoriesUneven state of forensic DNA labs is another recognized chronic problem. Labs differ significantly in the care with which they authenticate their methods and the severity with which they are carried out. Procedures that are followed religiously in quality assurance and quality control in some laboratories are disregarded or followed constantly in others. Bad laboratories have always been there but detection of their shoddy work has always been complex (Neubauer, 2009),. This is because such labs are in jurisdictions which have traditionally safeguarded crime labs from external examination. For example according to Strutin: "It is now recognized that the Houston Police Department (HPD) Crime laboratory did grossly inadequate incompetent and biased DNA and serology work for well over a decade before a team of television journalists exposed the problems in late 2002.c) Dishonest DNA Analysts
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Forensic Science. Custom Forensic Science Essay Writing Service || Forensic Science Essay samples, help
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