The Routledge International Handbook of Forensic Intelligence and Criminology by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Crimes & Criminals, Criminology
ISBN: 9781134889020
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2017-12-06T05:00:00+00:00

Acknowledgement

Joëlle Vuille thanks the Swiss National Science Foundation for their financial support (grant PZ00P1_154955 / 1).

Notes

1

Consider, for example, a Swiss case in which the buccal swabs from two individuals were switched when they were processed at the booking station. Both profiles were loaded on the national DNA database. A stain later collected from a crime scene thus produced a correspondence to the wrong individual. It is only thanks to the suspect’s constant denial and a further police investigation that the error was uncovered (Tribunal cantonal de Neuchâtel, jugement du 31 juillet 2014, CPEN.2014.16/der). On errors commonly found in a DNA laboratory, see Kloosterman, Sjerps and Quak (2014) (who should be commended for their efforts in transparency, as they are the only analysts to our knowledge to have published internal data on errors so widely).

2

As in the Meyrargue murders case in France; see, for instance, www.francetvinfo.fr/societe/justice/adn-piece-maitresse-ou-traitresse.html (retrieved 8 February 2017). See also the Phantom of Heilbronn case in Germany, a spectacular case of contamination that did not lead to any wrongful conviction but raised serious questions as to certain forensic practices (Himmelreich 2009). Another case that is worth indicating is the wrongful conviction of Farah Abdulkadir Jama in Australia following a contamination of the intimate swabs taken from a woman who was thought to have been sexually assaulted. It transpired that Mr Jama’s DNA was transferred to the swabs through contamination. Another young woman, who had had consensual intercourse with him, had been examined in the same room shortly before the assaulted woman (Vincent 2010).

3

The Adam Scott case in the UK is the prime example of such an event (see Gill 2014, as well as the report of the Forensic Science Regulator, available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/forensic-science-regulators-report-on-the-dna-contamination-case-at-lgc-forensics). A plastic tray that contained Scott’s saliva was reused, by mistake, to process evidence from a rape. An association between the DNA profiles was detected and led to Scott being charged with the crime. The laboratory staff spotted an analogous contamination in another case one day after Scott’s analysis, but did not check back on the previous days immediately. Only after five months did the Prosecution drop the charges, thanks to the efforts of a police investigator who was doubtful of Scott’s involvement and had gathered additional exonerating evidence. Contaminations in the laboratory that could lead to an adventitious correspondence are rare, and laboratories implement quality assurance to prevent them, but they can occur. DNA scientists have invested a lot of resources in estimating the adverse probability of a random match, but, at times, these very small estimates blind scientists and other actors of the judicial system to the small probability of a laboratory error, which should also be accounted for.

4

The seminal case in matters of cognitive biases certainly being the wrongful prosecution of Brandon Mayfield after the 2004 Madrid station attacks. See Office of the Inspector General (2006).

5

Think of Fred Zain or Annie Dookhan, for example. On so-called forensic fraud, see Turvey (2013).

6

See the cases of wrongful convictions and indictments identified by the Innocence Project: www.

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