Criminal Cases: Who Needs Science for Scientific Evidence?

 Posted on June 21,2017 in Criminal Defense

Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently announced that the National Commission on Forensic Science is to be dissolved. The National Commission on Forensic Science is a non-political commission whose mandate is to oversee and advance the reliability and preciseness of scientific evidence used in criminal cases.

The commission is made up of a mixed group of people who are trained to monitor and audit the uses of scientific evidence. Various agencies including federal, state, and local forensic service providerswork together to strengthen the reliability of forensic science as a whole and particularly how it is used in criminal cases.

Forensic evidence explains a type of evidence that can come in many forms. Forensic evidence can be:

• Dental records;
• Fingerprints;
• Genetic material;
• Trace chemicals;
• Shoe imprints;
• Bodily fluids;or
• Skin cells.

Forensic evidence can be defined as evidence that was gained through scientific methodology like ballistics testing, blood analysis, or DNA testing. It is evidence used to link crimes together or to build a narrative about what the prosecution thinks happened in a particular case.

The Attorney General is poised to lay the responsibility of forensic testing squarely on the shoulders of the police and prosecutors office. However, unbridled scientific evidence that is used at criminal trials by prosecutors is extremely problematic in that it can lead directly to the conviction of innocent people.

When the authenticity of scientific results is maintained by the side of the criminal justice system that seeks to use it, the potential for misuse or corruption is ever present.

In 2015, the United States Department of Justice, in conjunction with the FBI,found that nearly every examiner in the FBI’s microscopic hair unit “gave misleading, exaggerated, or otherwise flawed testimony in criminal cases between 1972 and 1999.” Hence,the criminal justice system has been speculating results, not providing reliable results, with regard to evidence usedto send people to jail.

Do Not Fear Forensic Evidence

Many criminal trials turn on forensic evidence. It is evidence prosecutors rely on, evidence juries like to hear, and evidence intended to be inherently reliable. If you are the defendant in a criminal trial and the state has forensic evidence they intend to use against you, a skilled and experienced Rolling Meadows criminal defense lawyer can defend your rights and challenge the evidence against you. Contact our Rolling meadows office at 847-253-3100 to schedule your initial consultation. The Law Offices of Christopher M. Cosley is prepared 24 hours a day to serve our clients in need of criminal defense.

Sources:

http://www.newsweek.com/sessionss-assault-forensic-science-will-lead-more-unsafe-convictions-585762

https://www.justice.gov/archives/ncfs