...Miscarriages of justice are routine, even mundane features of the criminal justice system” (Goldhill, 2014, p.1). The understanding that the criminal justice system was able to prevent innocents from being found guilty has now given way to the idea that it is possible for this system to find guilty those same innocents. This has lead to courts, government and scholars, working in the criminal justice arena to research and implement strategies to prevent wrongful convictions (Weathered, 2013). As such, this paper will explore the topic of wrongful convictions in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States by analyzing elements of each criminal justice system. Moreover, this paper will examine the similarities and differences between the approaches to dealing with wrongful convictions in the above mentioned countries and will argue that the United Kingdom has the better...
Words: 1574 - Pages: 7
...DNA is a molecule that contains the body’s genetic information. ”DNA typing is also known as DNA profiling and genetic fingerprinting. Forensic investigators use this method to identify the suspects involved in a criminal case(s). “Although 99.9% of human DNA sequences are the same in every person, enough of the DNA is different to distinguish one individual from another.” (Accessexcellence.org) A Mr. Alec Jefferys first documented the DNA typing procedure in 1984 at the University of Leicester in England. Inside ones DNA, we find what is called Short Tandem Repeats (STR). It is known why STR exist, but what is significant is that over 30 percent of human DNA is made up by these STR. “STRs are locations on the chromosome that contain short sequence elements that repeat themselves with in the DNA molecule.”(Saferstein, R pg.397) With Polymerase Chain Reaction or PCR technology, DNA research has made leaps and bounds. This method greatly enhances a single piece of DNA and makes thousands of copies of that particular DNA sequence. Another reason PCR is proven beneficial is that it moves shorter strands of DNA that are supposed to be more stable and less subjected to degradation, as oppose to the longer strand that break in bad environment atmospheres. Particularly PCR can enhance the STRs found in individuals blood and can be used to tell the difference between different individuals DNA, thereby proving a person innocent or guilty. In criminal investigations today DNA is used...
Words: 1256 - Pages: 6
...DNA Role in Forensics Science At a crime scene there may be a lot DNA evidence left behind or none. DNA can identify victims and suspects. It can help solve cold case and give new leads to other cases. DNA is also use to determine kinship in a missing person case. It can also help exonerate someone from a crime that they were convicted of. When handling DNA such as blood at a crime scene it is important that it is properly documented, photographed, collected and stored. Besides blood, DNA can include: body fluid, hair and skin. Such DNA can be matched to an individual. DNA is the acronym for Deoxyribonucleic acid. According to Campbell Essential Biology with Physiology, “The word nucleic is referring to “DNA location in the nuclei of eukaryotic cell.” (Page49). “DNA is genetic material that humans and other organisms inherit from their parents which consists of gain molecules” (Page 48). The shape of DNA is a double helix. Some would say it looks like a twisted ladder. “The double helix has four bases; (A) Adenine, (C) Cytosine, (G) Guanine and (T) Tyhmine. The bases have to be properly linked to their pair or else there will be a mutation in the gene. The following are the base pairs that bind:”Adenine with Tyhmine and Cystosine with Guanine” (Page 49). DNA testing began in the mid 1980’s. In the online article, DNA Factors states: Ever since the start of DNA testing in 1985, biological material has been a reliable physical evidence to help solve crimes (Williams)...
Words: 2568 - Pages: 11
...DNA Exonerations and Race Thomas ****** **** College Course:**** Dr. *** **** October 18, 2015 . Originally I planned on doing my paper on African Americans and the death penalty. After doing research for a few days it hit me that there was a whole other topic that I should be doing. Under most instances I support the death penalty but I came across an article that gave an opinion that all death penalty inmates should have their evidence reexamined and DNA tested if they were convicted in a pre DNA era. After that I looked into the statistics of people that had been exonerated after serving years in prison by reexamining the DNA from their cases. I was amazed that there had been so many people exonerated out with such limited resources. I now knew that I wanted to know more about DNA exonerations what the statistics were with race and those wrongfully convicted. I think the two subjects African Americans and the death penalty and DNA exonerations could be really enlightening as it shows that the American Justice System in the past surely has executed wrongfully convicted men in the past. So I used Google to search “Exonerated by DNA and Race” and began to read not only their cases but also their stories. The next day I was already questioning my stance on the death penalty. Not only did I think about how their lives will never be the same I thought about all the time they lost and can never get back. Time stood still for them while their families...
Words: 648 - Pages: 3
...drawn to the comments made in the Course Handbook with regard to both the completion and submission of work * Assessment deadlines must be met * Any student found guilty of cheating or plagiarism may be withdrawn from the unit at the discretion of the Assessment Board. | Internal verification: | Date: | | Name | | | | Signature | | Aim and purpose:-To develop understanding of the principles of Mendelian genetics and to develop knowledge and practical techniques used in commercial, analytical and research laboratories | | GRADING CRITERIA To achieve a pass grade the evidence must show that the learner is able to: | To achieve a Merit grade the evidence must show that the learner is able to: | To achieve a distinction grade the evidence must show that the learner is able to: | P1 Compare and contrast the structure of various nucleic acids. | M1 Explain how genetic information can be stored in a sequence of nitrogenous bases in DNA. | D1 Explain the steps involved in biosynthesis of protein including the roles of...
Words: 1728 - Pages: 7
...Drugs and Scheduling CRJ 311 Week 2 DQ 2 Field Sobriety Tests CRJ 311 Week 2 Journal SANE or Not CRJ 311 Week 3 Assignment Case Study Analysis The Enrique Camarena Case CRJ 311 Week 3 DQ 1 Hair Evidence CRJ 311 Week 3 DQ 2 Arson Dogs CRJ 311 Week 3 Journal Professional Painter CRJ 311 Week 4 Assignment What's Your Impression CRJ 311 Week 4 DQ 1 Bite Mark Evidence CRJ 311 Week 4 DQ 2 Fingerprint Evidence CRJ 311 Week 4 Journal Cold Case Investigation CRJ 311 Week 5 DQ 1 Blood Patterns CRJ 311 Week 5 DQ 2 DNA Evidence CRJ 311 Week 5 Final Paper CRJ 311 Week 5 Journal Cold Case Investigation ======================================================== CRJ 311 Week 1 Assignment The CSI Effect (Ash) FOR MORE CLASSES VISIT www.crj311nerd.com Read “Fact or Fiction?; The Jury is Still Out on the CSI Effect; A TV-Insprired Interest in Forensics Has Left the Courtroom Vulnerable to Junk Science,” which is located in the ProQuest database in the Ashford Online Library. What is the CSI Effect, and do you believe it is a legitimate concern? In your paper, address the following: Summarize the CSI Effect and evaluate if it is a legitimate concern. Analyze the impact of the CSI Effect in the courtroom. Interpret what prosecutors can do to overcome this phenomenon. The paper must be three to four pages in length and formatted according to the APA style. Cite your resources in text and on the Reference page. For information regarding APA samples and tutorials, visit...
Words: 3613 - Pages: 15
...relationship to modern humans,I ask myself the simple question: what was the cause of Neanderthals extinction? Modern scientific technology and the ability to test DNA from our ancient ancestors bones are helping us get closer to explaining this phenomenon. According to Charles Q. Choi, a contributor for Live Science states, “about 1.5 to 2.1 percent of anyone outside Africa is Neanderthal in origin” (Choi, 2014). With roughly 2 percent of Neanderthal DNA in my genetic makeup, it makes sense that modern humans were involved in the extinction of the Neanderthal identity. As stated by many researchers before, neanderthals did not go extinct due to modern humans. New research is proving this claim false. Recently, researchers from the University of Cambridge and Oxford have identified the possibility of diseases are older than what we believed possible. New studies taken from pathogen genomes and DNA of ancient neanderthal bones are showing that diseases were part of neanderthals extinction (Houldcroft, 2016). With neanderthals DNA being similar to modern humans, they were susceptible to pass genes and inherit bad mutations. In the long run these bad mutations caused many problems within their population. Bad mutations are passed between individuals by way of sexual connectivity. With neanderthal DNA being part of...
Words: 957 - Pages: 4
...Crystal Lyle AJS/584 - FORENSIC SCIENCE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILING STEVEN HOENIG 2-29-16 This paper will examine my perception and concept of forensic science in the 21st century. It will also examine the importance of forensic science to policing criminal investigation court process, and the efforts of various levels in security. In addition to analyzing the importance of forensic science, I will give a historical approach. I will discuss the accuracy of the media representation of forensic science and how issues. Lastly, I will discuss the influence the CSI effect have on the judicial process. Forensic Science is the application of science to criminal and civil laws that are enforced by law enforcement agencies in a criminal justice system. Another definition of forensic science is principles and techniques to matters of criminal justice, especially as it relates to the collection, examination, and analysis of physical evidence. In 1929, a Los Angeles police department establish the first American forensic lab. Forensic science has been around over 300 years or more and it continues to improve and emerge today as science and technical knowledge find more improved and accurate techniques. Forensic science has come to be a critical instrument in allowing guilt or demonstrating innocence in the system of criminal justice. In the late 80’s (DNA), society was accepting of (DNA) and forensic science continues to develop and unfold Technology in this fast pace world. Forensic...
Words: 1265 - Pages: 6
...been “wrongfully convicted”. Sometimes these wrongfully convicted charges are unbeknownst to the judge and or jury; other times, they are just wrongfully convicted due to corrupt law enforcement officers. This corrupt issue is very wrong and should be done away with immediately, which is my reason my choosing this topic. In this research paper, I plan to find reasons for wrongful convictions, the actual number, statistics, of individuals that have been wrongful convicted, and those individuals who have stepped up to make a difference in this dilemma. Although there aren’t any statistics kept by the Criminal Justice Department on the number of crimes that were recorded as wrongful convictions, research has estimated about 5% of the cases that are tried annual result in a false conviction. Since 1989, 1,241 people have been wrongfully convicted and later cleared of all charges based on evidence that they were innocent, according to the National Registry of Exonerations, a project of the law schools at the University of Michigan and Northwestern University (Clark 2013). The Michigan Innocence Clinic was the first clinic of its kind to work on non-DNA exonerations. Their work has revealed particular circumstances far too often seen in cases of wrongful conviction. These cases show us how the criminal justice system is in need of much repair and how the Michigan Innocence Clinic can combat troubling trends of the system. In each case that have been worked on, the Michigan Innocence...
Words: 2715 - Pages: 11
...Innocence Project Research Paper Since 1992 The Innocence Project has exonerated 289 people in the United States. To be exonerated of a crime means that a person is acquitted for their crime and released back into society. These wrongful convictions are due to unvalidated or improper forensic science, eyewitness misidentification, and false confessions. In this paper I am going to tell the story of Clarence Elkins and why wrongfully convicting a person is a problem in the United States. It all started on June 6th, 1998 in Summit County, Ohio. Clarence Elkins’ niece was sleeping over at her grandmother’s house, only to be woken in the middle of the night to hearing her grandmother screaming. So his niece ran into the kitchen to see her grandmother being beaten by a man. She ran back into her bedroom to be followed by this man. The niece was sexually assaulted by him. Her next memory was waking up to see her grandmother dead in the kitchen. She then proceeded to run to her neighbor’s house to call the cops. While the cops were on the way the niece proceeded to tell her neighbors that the man she saw last night looked like her uncle Clarence Elkins. Elkins was immediately brought in for questioning and he was the police’s number one suspect. Biological evidence, including hairs, was found at the crime scene and from the victim’s body. Mitochondrial DNA testing was done on pubic hairs from the victim’s bodies. This testing excluded Elkins as a possible contributor...
Words: 1240 - Pages: 5
...Innocence at Stake: Possibility of DNA Collection from Arrestees in Canada Md Washim Ahmed ABSTRACT Followed by a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, which approved the collection of a defendant’s DNA upon arrests under the Fourth Amendment, the Minister of Justice, Peter MacKay indicated in an interview with the Globe and Mail that he and his Ministry are considering a similar model for Canada. This paper examines the possibility of a similar legislative framework in Canada and argues that although collection of DNA upon arrests was found justified under the Fourth Amendment, it does not necessarily mean that it will be found justified under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. While s.8 of the Charter seems to give similar protection as the Fourth Amendment, they have very different requirements for judicial authorization, reasonableness and standard of “probable cause”. Scrutinizing those different requirements and standards, this paper holds that the process of DNA collection is highly intrusive and would be a serious violation of s.8 of the Charter as it could reveal an excessive amount of private information about an individual over which he/she has a strong reasonable expectation of privacy. Furthermore, it will deprive people from their right to be presumed innocent, which is protected under s.11 (d) and significantly impact socially marginalized groups. Finally, this paper conducts an analysis of the violations under s.1 of...
Words: 7373 - Pages: 30
...intimate skin-to-skin contact. Preventions have been implemented to raise awareness of the virus. The first vaccine for HPV approved as a widespread use in the US was in 2006. The virus acts to infect the keratinocytes in the skin and mucosal membrane. Other areas the HPV acts as a carcinogen are the cervix, anus, penis, vulva, vagina, oropharynx, benign genital and cutaneous warts, respiratory papillomatosis, and nasal or oral papilloma. Some researchers have concluded that the HPV infection which is more common during the active period of age is directly related to certain cancers. Researchers have found that HPV is associated with certain types of cancers and also have found that HPV can have no association with certain cancers. The research we did will explain the various cancers associated with HPV and attempt to answer the question “is HPV the leading cause of cancer?” In the United Stated and around the world, cancer is and continues to be a very serious disease that affects millions of people. Head and neck cancers are “the sixth most common cancer in the world” (Lajer et al. 2012). While the link between HPV and cervical cancer has been established; it is still unclear to researchers how HPV is related to head and neck cancer. The authors assert that alcohol and tobacco used to be the main cause of head and neck cancer; however, there has been a decrease in the tobacco-alcohol induced cancers, yet there is an increase in the prevalence of cancer (Lajer et al. 2012)...
Words: 2420 - Pages: 10
...The jurors expect the courts to have the most advanced technology possible, just as shown on television. It is completely dependent on clearly error-proof forensic, scientific, technological evidence. In the background, jurors’ expectations for CSI-like evidence may effectively raise the standard from “beyond a preponderance of the evidence” to a standard more akin to that in the criminal context. In much the same way that today’s consumer expects a cell phone to operate on voice command; today’s jurors expect the introduction of evidence packed with modern science and technology in trials. These high expectations result in part from the amalgamation of public awareness, use, and availability of modern science and technology derived from a variety of sources, including, but not limited to, mass media. The CSI effect does not only exist in criminal cases it also exists in civil litigations. Although the CSI effect may not be from a television show, it is enhanced by mass media and television programs. A trial attorney should go in the courtroom with skills to go against unrealistic expectations. (Dysart, 2012) No other forensic science technique has received as much attention as DNA analysis. To date, DNA has exonerated more than two-hundred people in the United States. These exonerations are a reminder that our system is flawed, and they have shed light on serious problems with the criminal justice system, including forensic science...
Words: 1012 - Pages: 5
...Innocence Project Research Paper Since 1992 The Innocence Project has exonerated 289 people in the United States. To be exonerated of a crime means that a person is acquitted for their crime and released back into society. These wrongful convictions are due to unvalidated or improper forensic science, eyewitness misidentification, and false confessions. In this paper I am going to tell the story of Clarence Elkins and why wrongfully convicting a person is a problem in the United States. It all started on June 6th, 1998 in Summit County, Ohio. Clarence Elkins’ niece was sleeping over at her grandmother’s house, only to be woken in the middle of the night to hearing her grandmother screaming. So his niece ran into the kitchen to see her grandmother being beaten by a man. She ran back into her bedroom to be followed by this man. The niece was sexually assaulted by him. Her next memory was waking up to see her grandmother dead in the kitchen. She then proceeded to run to her neighbor’s house to call the cops. While the cops were on the way the niece proceeded to tell her neighbors that the man she saw last night looked like her uncle Clarence Elkins. Elkins was immediately brought in for questioning and he was the police’s number one suspect. Biological evidence, including hairs, was found at the crime scene and from the victim’s body. Mitochondrial DNA testing was done on pubic hairs from the victim’s bodies. This testing excluded Elkins as a possible contributor...
Words: 1240 - Pages: 5
...Research is defined as "studious inquiry or examination; especially : investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts, or practical application of such new or revised theories or laws" ("Research," 2012). It's said that research is one of the most important processes in the field of criminal justice. There are many ways to complete research which can cause the process of research to take the most time. This paper will discuss the different methods and the different terminology that is used in the criminal justice system. There are two common methods that are used in the criminal justice system and they are the qualitative and quantitative methods. As part of the readings, it was determined that there are so many different methods for researching. However, some of these research methods have never been heard of or people don't know anything about them. There are several steps that would need to be taken in order to complete the entire research cycle. The first term that will be discussed is Scientific Research, which means it's the "research into questions posed by scientific theories and hypothesis" ("Scientific Research," 2011). The most common research method that is used today is the scientific research method, which is used highly in the criminal justice system. Just about every aspect of the criminal justice system revolves around science. Doing research 50 years...
Words: 599 - Pages: 3
