Difference between revisions of "Unvalidated or Improper Forensic Science"

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== Additional factors undermining forensic evidence ==
 
== Additional factors undermining forensic evidence ==
  
* '''Issue with factfinder''' -  
+
* '''Issue with factfinder''' - If we are dealing with a jurisdiction where the jury is deciding if the accused is guilty and whether the evidence presented proves this, there might be a problem.  
If we are dealing with a jurisdiction where the jury is deciding if the accused is guilty and whether the evidence presented proves this, there might be a problem.  
 
 
The jury does not have the expertise to fully understand the forensic evidence, thus the expert must write a detailed but understandable report and present it to them. This can be problematic because by simplifying the case for the jury to understand, the expert may omit a vital piece of evidence. Throughout the investigation, the forensic expert may not know the details of the case, and so there is a possibility that he does not know which piece of information discovered is crucial to the case. If something of importance is not extracted from the expert during questioning, vital information may never be found out, until an appeal is launched.
 
The jury does not have the expertise to fully understand the forensic evidence, thus the expert must write a detailed but understandable report and present it to them. This can be problematic because by simplifying the case for the jury to understand, the expert may omit a vital piece of evidence. Throughout the investigation, the forensic expert may not know the details of the case, and so there is a possibility that he does not know which piece of information discovered is crucial to the case. If something of importance is not extracted from the expert during questioning, vital information may never be found out, until an appeal is launched.
  
 
* Another problem that arises is that the forensic experts themselves are employed by either the prosecution or defense. Therefore, this may introduce bias into the case, and so only certain types of evidence beneficial to their side will be investigated. Also, there is a high probability that forensic evidence will be beneficial to the prosecution because the police, when collecting evidence, often have a suspect in mind, and so the forensic scientist is only asked to confirm the suspicions of the police. The other problem with this method is that the police may tend to collect evidence that will uphold their theory that their suspect is the correct person.
 
* Another problem that arises is that the forensic experts themselves are employed by either the prosecution or defense. Therefore, this may introduce bias into the case, and so only certain types of evidence beneficial to their side will be investigated. Also, there is a high probability that forensic evidence will be beneficial to the prosecution because the police, when collecting evidence, often have a suspect in mind, and so the forensic scientist is only asked to confirm the suspicions of the police. The other problem with this method is that the police may tend to collect evidence that will uphold their theory that their suspect is the correct person.

Revision as of 10:29, 1 June 2010