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Author: Donald Shelton
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
ISBN: 1442201894
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 198
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Book Description
Forensic Science in Court explores the legal implications of forensic science—an increasingly important and complex part of the justice system. Judge Donald Shelton provides an accessible overview of the legal aissues, from the history of evidence in court, to "gatekeeper" judges determining what evidence can be allowed, to the "CSI effect" in juries. The book describes and evaluates various kinds of evidence, including DNA, fingerprints, handwriting, hair, bite marks, tool marks, firearms and bullets, fire and arson investigation, and bloodstain evidence. Assessing the strengths and limitations of each kind of evidence, the author also discusses how they can contribute to identifying the "who," "how," and "whether" questions that arise in criminal prosecutions. Author Donald Shelton draws on the depth of his experiences as courtroom prosecutor, professor, and judge, to provide a well-rounded look at these increasingly critical issues. Case studies throughout help bring the issues to life and show how forensic science has been used, both successfully and not, in real-world situations.
Author: Donald Shelton
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
ISBN: 1442201894
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 198
Get Book
Book Description
Forensic Science in Court explores the legal implications of forensic science—an increasingly important and complex part of the justice system. Judge Donald Shelton provides an accessible overview of the legal aissues, from the history of evidence in court, to "gatekeeper" judges determining what evidence can be allowed, to the "CSI effect" in juries. The book describes and evaluates various kinds of evidence, including DNA, fingerprints, handwriting, hair, bite marks, tool marks, firearms and bullets, fire and arson investigation, and bloodstain evidence. Assessing the strengths and limitations of each kind of evidence, the author also discusses how they can contribute to identifying the "who," "how," and "whether" questions that arise in criminal prosecutions. Author Donald Shelton draws on the depth of his experiences as courtroom prosecutor, professor, and judge, to provide a well-rounded look at these increasingly critical issues. Case studies throughout help bring the issues to life and show how forensic science has been used, both successfully and not, in real-world situations.
Author: Wilson Wall
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 9780470743331
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 176
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Book Description
Forensic Science in Court: The Role of the Expert Witness is a practical handbook aimed at forensic science students, to help them prepare as an expert witness when presenting their evidence in court. Written in a clear, accessible manner, the book guides the student through the legal process and shows them how to handle evidence, write reports without ambiguity through to the more practical aspects of what to do when appearing in court. The book also offers advice on what to expect when working with lawyers in a courtroom situation. An essential text for all students taking forensic science courses who are required to take modules on how to present their evidence in court. The book is also an invaluable reference for any scientist requested to give an opinion in a legal context. · Integrates law and science in an easy to understand format · Inclusion of case studies throughout · Includes straightforward statistics essential for the forensic science student · An invaluable, practical textbook for anyone appearing as an expert witness in court · Unique in its approach aimed at forensic science students in a courtroom environment
Author: Cyril H. Wecht
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1420058118
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 728
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Book Description
Forensic science has undergone dramatic progress in recent years, including in the areas of DNA collection and analysis and the reconstruction of crime scenes. However, too few professionals are equipped with the knowledge necessary to fully apply the potential of science in civil, criminal, and family legal matters. Featuring contributions from renowned experts in the forensic, scientific, and legal professions, Forensic Science and Law: Investigative Applications in Criminal, Civil, and Family Justice communicates the wide range of methods and approaches used for achieving justice in these circumstances. A solid grounding in the underlying principles of our legal system provides a context for understanding how these methods are applied. The book brings together the words and thoughts of diverse professionals whose common goal is to uncover the truth. About the editors... Cyril H. Wecht, M.D., J.D., is actively involved as a medical-legal and forensic science consultant, author, and lecturer. Currently coroner of Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania, he is certified by the American Board of Pathology in anatomic, clinical, and forensic pathology and is a Fellow of the College of American Pathologists and the American Society of Clinical Pathologists. Dr. Wecht is a Clinical Professor at the University of Pittsburgh Schools of Medicine, Dental Medicine, and Graduate School of Public Health, an Adjunct Professor at Duquesne University Schools of Law, Pharmacy and Health Services, and a Distinguished Professor at Carlow University. He is a past president of both the American College of Legal Medicine and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. Dr. Wecht is the author of more than 500 professional publications and has appeared as a guest on numerous national television and radio talk shows. John T. Rago, J.D., is Assistant Professor of Law at Duquesne University School of Law and the Director of both The Cyril H. Wecht Institute of Forensic Science and Law and the Law School’s Post-conviction DNA Project. He teaches criminal law and procedure to law students and graduate courses on wrongful convictions, foundations in American law and constitutional criminal procedure to students in the university’s Bayer School of Natural and Environmental Sciences. Professor Rago also serves as an appointed member to the Innocence Project’s Policy Group of the Cardozo School of Law in New York. He is admitted to practice before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the United States Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Author: P.C. White
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
ISBN: 9780854046560
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 490
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Book Description
If you have only a vague concept of what forensic science is, this book will provide the answer.
Author: Kelly Pyrek
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 9780080471075
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 568
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Book Description
Forensic science laboratories' reputations have increasingly come under fire. Incidents of tainted evidence, false reports, allegations of negligence, scientifically flawed testimony, or - worse yet - perjury in in-court testimony, have all served to cast a shadow over the forensic sciences. Instances of each are just a few of the quality-related charges made in the last few years. Forensic Science Under Siege is the first book to integrate and explain these problematic trends in forensic science. The issues are timely, and are approached from an investigatory, yet scholarly and research-driven, perspective. Leading experts are consulted and interviewed, including directors of highly visible forensic laboratories, as well as medical examiners and coroners who are commandeering the discussions related to these issues. Interviewees include Henry Lee, Richard Saferstein, Cyril Wecht, and many others. The ultimate consequences of all these pressures, as well as the future of forensic science, has yet to be determined. This book examines these challenges, while also exploring possible solutions (such as the formation of a forensic science consortium to address specific legislative issues). It is a must-read for all forensic scientists. Provides insight on the current state of forensic science, demands, and future direction as provided by leading experts in the field Consolidates the current state of standards and best-practices of labs across disciplines Discusses a controversial topic that must be addressed for political support and financial funding of forensic science to improve
Author: Christine Beck Lissitzyn
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781531002237
Category : Evidence, Criminal
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
The second edition of Forensic Evidence in Court updates the original version, which was published in 2007. This edition continues to focus on the use of forensic evidence in criminal trials by examining particular case studies. In addition, it adds two new topics: 1. Computer and Digital Forensics 2. Firearms, Ballistics, and Toolmarks This edition includes several significant developments in the use of forensic evidence at trial since 2007. The first is the U.S. Supreme Court case, Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, which established a right under the Confrontation Clause of the U.S. Constitution to cross-examine certain forensic analysts. That case involved an analyst who certified that a substance linked to the defendant was cocaine. This right was subsequently extended to an analyst who performed a blood alcohol test. However, when the Supreme Court was asked to rule on the applicability of this rule to DNA examiners, it stated that the examiner would be required to testify only if the results of the test were "testimonial" in nature. The case has been criticized and some lower courts have subsequently refused to follow it. Another significant development was the release of a report on the scientific reliability of forensic testing in many different areas issued by the National Research Council. The Report, called Strengthening Forensic Evidence: A Path Forward, called for more scientific testing and for standardization in qualification of examiners and in laboratory conditions. The only area of forensic examination that the report viewed as scientifically reliable is DNA. Various government agencies have been established to attempt to implement some of these recommendations. Funding is obviously a huge obstacle to implementing many of the recommendations. A development in forensics itself involved the extension of newer technologies in DNA testing, including a process called "Low Copy DNA," which tests quantities previously too small to type as well as DNA test kits that can be used at crime sites. A further development is the expansion of computer hacking, computer fraud and the ubiquitous nature of computers in society. We have added a new chapter to reflect what will continue to be a contentious issue in court-- "proving location and events with digital evidence." Advances in the psychological sciences have results in courts addressing issues of eyewitness testimony. Courts are coming to realize that eyewitness identifications are not as reliable as once thought. As such, courts are struggling with how best to address these issues: through jury instructions, expert testimony, or though some other method. It has come to light that eyewitness identification issues once thought to be within the "ken" of the average juror are most certainly not, and are appropriate for some manner of court intervention. This book can be used in courses for the following degrees: paralegal, criminal justice, sociology, and political science. Forensic Evidence in Court is also appropriate for use in a legal specialty course. Assignments include case law research, study of rules of evidence, how to select and prepare an expert witness, comparison of legal tests used to admit forensic evidence, study of standards used to review admission of forensic experts on appeal, and written work demonstrating critical analysis. Any attorney can teach this course, using the Teacher's Manual and sample assignments. Adjuncts experienced in criminal law or extensive use of expert testimony are particularly well suited. Guest lecturers from state forensic laboratories and state law enforcement forensic investigators give added perspective.
Author: Bernard Robertson
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118492455
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 216
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Book Description
This book explains the correct logical approach to analysis of forensic scientific evidence. The focus is on general methods of analysis applicable to all forms of evidence. It starts by explaining the general principles and then applies them to issues in DNA and other important forms of scientific evidence as examples. Like the first edition, the book analyses real legal cases and judgments rather than hypothetical examples and shows how the problems perceived in those cases would have been solved by a correct logical approach. The book is written to be understood both by forensic scientists preparing their evidence and by lawyers and judges who have to deal with it. The analysis is tied back both to basic scientific principles and to the principles of the law of evidence. This book will also be essential reading for law students taking evidence or forensic science papers and science students studying the application of their scientific specialisation to forensic questions.
Author: Craig Adam
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119054435
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 336
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Book Description
The interpretation and evaluation of scientific evidence and its presentation in a court of law is central both to the role of the forensic scientist as an expert witness and to the interests of justice. This book aims to provide a thorough and detailed discussion of the principles and practice of evidence interpretation and evaluation by using real cases by way of illustration. The presentation is appropriate for students of forensic science or related disciplines at advanced undergraduate and master's level or for practitioners engaged in continuing professional development activity. The book is structured in three sections. The first sets the scene by describing and debating the issues around the admissibility and reliability of scientific evidence presented to the court. In the second section, the principles underpinning interpretation and evaluation are explained, including discussion of those formal statistical methods founded on Bayesian inference. The following chapters present perspectives on the evaluation and presentation of evidence in the context of a single type or class of scientific evidence, from DNA to the analysis of documents. For each, the science underpinning the analysis and interpretation of the forensic materials is explained, followed by the presentation of cases which illustrate the variety of approaches that have been taken in providing expert scientific opinion.
Author: Jim Fisher
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 0813544246
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 341
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Book Description
Television shows like CSI, Forensic Files, and The New Detectives make it look so easy. A crime-scene photographer snaps photographs, a fingerprint technician examines a gun, uniformed officers seal off a house while detectives gather hair and blood samples, placing them carefully into separate evidence containers. In a crime laboratory, a suspect's hands are meticulously examined for gunshot residue. An autopsy is performed in order to determine range and angle of the gunshot and time-of-death evidence. Dozens of tests and analyses are performed and cross-referenced. A conviction is made. Another crime is solved. The credits roll. The American public has become captivated by success stories like this one with their satisfyingly definitive conclusions, all made possible because of the wonders of forensic science. Unfortunately, however, popular television dramas do not represent the way most homicide cases in the United States are actually handled. Crime scenes are not always protected from contamination; physical evidence is often packaged improperly, lost, or left unaccounted for; forensic experts are not always consulted; and mistakes and omissions on the autopsy table frequently cut investigations short or send detectives down the wrong investigative path. In Forensics Under Fire, Jim Fisher makes a compelling case that these and other problems in the practice of forensic science allow offenders to escape justice and can also lead to the imprisonment of innocent people. Bringing together examples from a host of high-profile criminal cases and familiar figures, such as the JonBenet Ramsey case and Dr. Henry Lee who presented physical evidence in the O. J. Simpson trial, along with many lesser known but fascinating stories, Fisher presents daunting evidence that forensic science has a long way to go before it lives up to its potential and the public's expectations.
Author: C. Michael Bowers
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0123972604
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 296
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Book Description
Forensic Testimony: Science, Law and Expert Evidence—favored with an Honorable Mention in Law & Legal Studies at the Association of American Publishers' 2015 PROSE Awards—provides a clear and intuitive discussion of the legal presentation of expert testimony. The book delves into the effects, processes, and battles that occur in the presentation of opinion and scientific evidence by court-accepted forensic experts. It provides a timely review of the United States Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE) regarding expert testimony, and includes a multi-disciplinary look at the strengths and weaknesses in forensic science courtroom testimony. The statutes and the effects of judicial uses (or non-use) of the FRE, Daubert, Kumho, and the 2009 NAS Report on Forensic Science are also included. The presentation expands to study case law, legal opinions, and studies on the reliability and pitfalls of forensic expertise in the US court system. This book is an essential reference for anyone preparing to give expert testimony of forensic evidence. Honorable Mention in the 2015 PROSE Awards in Law & Legal Studies from the Association of American Publishers A multi-disciplinary forensic reference examining the strengths and weaknesses of forensic science in courtroom testimony Focuses on forensic testimony and judicial decisions in light of the Federal Rules of Evidence, case interpretations, and the NAS report findings Case studies, some from the Innocence Project, assist the reader in distinguishing good testimony from bad
