Forensic+Oversight

 **Innocence Project :)** Judy McManus , Steph Rusu , and Rachel Sutherland : )

__**Cases Where Innocent People Were Finally Exonerated**__

 In Houston, Texas, a man named George Rodriguez was charged of Aggravated Assault of a Child and Aggravated Kidnapping. He was accused of this crime because he was an associate of the owner of the house where the girl was raped. They found a hair in the victims underwear which came back in the DNA testing that it was George’s hair. With this little evidence George Rodriguez was accused of these charges and was sentenced to 60 years in prison. The innocence Project helped exonerate George for these causes, eyewitness wrong identification, and unvalidated or improper forensic science. [|__http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/George_Rodriguez.php__]

 In Montgomery County, a Pennsylvania man named Bruce Godschalk was wrongly convicted of a series of rape cases in 1986 and was sentenced to prison for 10-20 years. The verdict came after there was a taped confession as well as a witness statement stating that blood typing found matched Godschalk DNA. There was also biological proof through the semen found on 2 of the rape victims but at the time of the first police investigation, DNA testing was not used. In 1995, 9 years into his prison sentence, Godschalk contacted the Pennsylvania Innocence Project and with their help was able to convince the court to allow the semen to be DNA tested. When the results of the test came back, it showed that the semen from the 2 rape victims in the case was that of the same person but that person was not Godschalk. Godschalk was then released from prison after serving approximately 15 years in custody from when the intial investigation began to his release after the forensic testing. [|__http://innocenceproject.org__]

 In Florida, a girl named Jovin was murdered because she was stabbed 17 times to the head and neck. The forensic scientist however, contaminated the evidence when he was trying to examine it. By this time however, the prime suspect, the senior thesis advisor was named and was accused of the murder. Just recently, the case was examined again finding no evidence linking the advisor to Jovin. The contamination of this case led to the advisor going to jail. [|__http://floridainnocence.org/content/?p=1609__]

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">**Through the help of the innocence project, hundreds of accused men and women can now be exonerated. Their wrong convictions were mainly due to Forensic Oversight mishaps that wrongly connected them to the case as the perpetrator.** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #4af524; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">_ <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
 * Other Important and Interesting Information**

__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The definition of forensic science is using forensic data to help reconstruct crimes. It is used to help find suspects and get rid of other suspects. It can be used in trials and courts. __ __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[|__http://www.bioforensics.com/news/newsIndex.htm__][| __l__] __

__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> In this website it gives a couple of different cases in Florida where Forensics were used and led to false convictions. __ __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[|__http://floridainnocence.org/content/?tag=forensics__] __

DNA’s Dirty Little Secret __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> DNA evidence is used in many cases, however some of the cases are based solely on the DNA evidence which in the end accuses the wrong person of murder or any other crime. __ __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[|__http://www.innocenceproject.org/understand/Forensic-Science-Misconduct.php__] __

__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Their are seven main parts to the reasons why FORENSIC CASES lead to false accusations: __ __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> -Expert Testifying to tests Never Conducted __ __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> -Contamination __ __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> -Falsified Results __ __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> -Expert Lied About Credentials __ __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> -Evidence Suppression __ __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> -Misinterpretation __ __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> -Statistical Exaggeration __ __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[|__http://www.crimelabreport.com/library/pdf/WCOFS_preprint.pdf__] __

__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Among their many recommendations for criminal justice reform is the establishment of state oversight commissions to “review the forensic methods that are accepted in state courtrooms and to investigate allegations of misconduct, negligence, or error in labs.” “ __ __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> -Mission statement of the Innocence Project according to the Crime Lab Oversight section of the Innocence Project Website __

__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> When forensic science testing became a popular method in determining the result of trials, many in the United States believed that this was a flawless process that would make the United States justice system more fair. The Innocence project has set out to prove to the American public that the forensic science method of determining trials is not flawless and needs to be more carefully regulated so that trials are fair. They have set out to prove whether the forensic scientists preforming tests and collecting data for their cases are reliable and professional enough to be stating real evidence in a the case/trial. __

__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Forensic science was first used to determine trials in the 1990’s. 2 famous trials that first began the forensic science popularity were the OJ Simpson murder trial of 1995 and the sexual assault trial of sportscaster Marv Albert in 1997. __

__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “There’s absolutely no reason that crime laboratories, which routinely make __ __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> decisions that have life and death consequences for an accused person, should be less regulated than a clinical laboratory utilizing similar tests.” __ __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - Peter Neufeld from the Innocence Project __

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">**Sealing The Scene**

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[|__**http://library.thinkquest.org/04oct/00206/index1.htm**__]

__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> This shows what to do when preserving the forensic evidence. So if someone messed up the forensic evidence they could have just done the following: __ __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - the more people that visit the crime scene the more difficult it is for investigators __ __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - helps identify possible suspects/witnesses who entered and left the crime scene before officials got there __ __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> -If the section of the crime is not sealed right it could cut off the immediate area of the crime and also the points of possible entry and exit. __ __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> -If the section is not accessible to only the relevant personnel involved with the case it will be harder to manage the crime scene __ __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> -If personnel numbers are not kept down at the scene and more than one exit and entry access point is used evidence might be destroyed __ __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> -If a log is not kept of who and when people enter and exit the crime scene the scene will be more difficult for investigators __ __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> -If a log is not kept showing any evidence shifted or taken form it original place it will be called “evidence tampering” __ __ === <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">**The Justice Project’s Recommendations for Improving** === === <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[|__http://www.thejusticeproject.org/national/solution/forensic-oversight/__] === === <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">**Forensic Evidence Testing Procedures** === <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">**States should:**
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Creates an independent, transparent oversight commission to develop and enforce quality standards for forensic science laboratories
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Requires all forensic science laboratories to develop internal structures and policies to prevent bias in testing and analysis
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ensure that all forensic laboratories are not connected to law enforcement and/or prosecutorial agencies
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Requires that all forensic laboratory analysts receive proper training and certification
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gives sufficient funding to adequately implement these recommendations