DNA Testing

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Recommended: Double jeopardy research paper

The criminal justice system is not perfect. Throughout the process there can be many errors that can result in the incarceration of an innocent person. There are examples of this in the case of Gerald Wayne Davis. Faulty eyewitness testimony and double jeopardy are two of errors that will be reviewed in this case. The focus is the use of unreliable scientific evidence. In the past non-DNA testing of evidence was use to prove guilt or innocence. These tests can be inconclusive and can be used to mislead a jury.

Today there is DNA testing, a more exact method of testing, that can either prove or disprove a person connection to a crime. Whether a person was convicted by misrepresentation of an eyewitnesses or science today there is a test which can reverse the injustice suffered by the defendant. It is important that these tests be administered before another innocent person dies in prison.

On February 18, 1986, Gerald Wayne Davis was accused of raping a family friend while she was at his home doing his laundry (Connors, Lundregan, Miller & McEwen, 1996). The only witnesses to this alleged crime were Gerald Davis, his father, the victim (Connors, 1996). The victim left the defendant’s home and went to a friend’s house and reported the details of what had occurred (State v. Davis, 1988). The friend called the police and the victim was taken to a medical center for examination; she had a cut lip, abrasions on her face and genital area, there was seminal fluid on her panties, and she was missing a shoe and her jacket (State v. Davis, 1988). Based on the victim’s story police went to Davis’ home where they found the victim’s missing shoe, her jacket; they also found sheets, towels, and clothes belonging to the defendant that displaye...

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...gy. Retrieved November 6, 2011, from USA.gov website: http://www.dna.gov/

Innocence project. (n.d.). Retrieved November 6, 2011, from http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/Facts_on_PostConviction_DNA_Exonerations.php

Lectric Law Library. (2011). Habeas corpus. Retrieved November 28, 2011, from

http://www.lectlaw.com/def/h001.htm

Making the jurors the “experts”: The case for eyewitness identification jury instructions. (2011, March). Boston College Law Review, 52(2), 651-693. Retrieved from EBSCOhost

Martin Berry, S. (n.d.). When experts lie. Retrieved November 6, 2011, from Truthinjustice.org website: http://truthinjustice.org/expertslie.htm

State v. Davis, No. 17915 (Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia Dec. 14, 1988) (LEAGLE).

Wiseman, S. (2010, Spring). Innocence after death. Case Western Reserve Law Review, 60(3), 687-750. Retrieved from EBSCOhost

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