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How Technology & Science Have Impacted Forensics In Criminal Investigations
Forensic science essay
Forensic science essay
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CSI refers to the Crime Scene Investigation. These investigations are demanded more in terms of the criminal proceedings. As there has been improvement in terms of the technology so is the development in terms of the higher expectations in terms of the forensic technology that may be employed while working on the CSI. This could be manifested in terms of the investigations that are carried out in terms of the police and the scientific studies. This has actually increased the workload of even the laboratories that research for the crime based actions and issues. This is the crime based program that was telecasted on the television in the year 2000. The fictional team of the people solves the murder mystery at the metropolitan area of Las Vegas. …show more content…
This research work will discuss on the CSI Effect, will do a literature review of the research work that is carried out on the CSI Effect and the way it is used in solving the criminal histories and the problems that may persist in the society (Cole & Dioso-Villa, 2009). This research is quite important as it will reveal the importance of the CSI effect and its impact in resolving the criminal cases. The changes that have been brought about in the society. The scientific evidences and their relations in solving the criminal cases would be studied and laid down. Body Objectives of the Research: • To understand the importance of the CSI Effect. • To lay down the importance of this program on the jurors. • To understand whether it has only positive or the negative impacts too. CSI is said to be a recent process or the phenomenon that is being recognized by the sources of the media yet the public awareness, opinions and the knowledge is really displayed in terms of the United States Legal System.
The popularity of the forensic shows on the television, results in the misconceptions on the investigation procedures that may arise of the procedures for the investigations and even the forensic sciences and their natures. CSI Effect has been helping in the two major ways in the way that the jurors have more confidence on the DNA and forensic science evidence or in case they want more evidences to be taken that could actually prove on the various kinds of …show more content…
verdicts. Even if the eye witnesses are available then also more verdicts in terms of the DNA Testing and various other forensic tests are given due importance. Even the eye witnesses and various experts were hired so that they could highlight that why the provided evidences are not enough and further study has to be carried out in this regard. This show had actually developed a lot of awareness among the people that even the results shown in the verdict could also be an issue. The result or the final statement given by the juror should also view all kinds of forensic tests so that right judgment is done (Mann, 2005). One of the examples of the CSI Effect could be shown with the following. The study that was largest was carried out in the year 2006 in the Washtenaw County Circuit and two researchers from the University of East. It had surveyed around 1000 jurors. It predicted that the expectations of the jurors have increased for the carrying out of the Forensic Tests and the Study. The perceptions have increased due to the advancement in the technology and the demand for the right justice at the right way. This CSI Effect has actually changed the way in which the researches and the forensic studies were carried out to the requirement at present. Traditionally in the olden days the value of the graduate and the post graduate courses in the forensic studies and the investigation technology did not exist but now it has gained importance in the due course of time. This increase in the popularity of the Forensic science and the investigation technology is only attributed to the CSI Effect and the awareness that it has spread in the world. CSI effect can easily alter the ways in which the crimes take place. It was in the year 2000 that around 47% of the rape case were solved by the police because of the CSI Effect only. This rate fell to 42% as the CSI Effect revealed the ways in which the criminals are able to remove or take away the evidences that may help the police in resolving the issues. It has got positive effects in the ways it has taught the police and the forensic authorities in resolving the criminal cases. On the other hand the criminals who perform the crime for the first time are not very experts in it. CSI Effects and related serials help them in gaining the knowledge on the crimes and their evidence removal for them. CSI has actually created a lot of awareness for the law enforcement officers. This has in fact given the opportunities to the public on letting them know on how the cases criminal cases are being solved. CSI and Its impact on Jurors Although CSI effect has been quite useful in terms of the criminal investigations and other related activities yet it has led a lot of negative impact on the jurors.
Now a day the jurors are unnecessarily demanding the expensive Tests for the DNA, testing for gunshot residue, analysis from the handwriting and various other tests that may not be pertinent with the criminal or the case proceedings. Around 60 milion people all across the globe see this CSI effect and simply believe that it leads to the right justice and the criminal activities. There has been a great recognition and increase in the students of the forensic sciences and even jurors take up the projects with the experts in the forensic sciences and this
field. “A recent study done by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO) conducted a survey of 102 prosecutors with jury trial experience. They were asked about their personal experiences with juries who exhibited signs of the CSI Effect. The study conducted by the MCAO concluded that the CSI effect was a “significant influence” on Maricopa County juries ( 4 ). The MCAO is one of the biggest prosecutorial bodies in the United States, so it is not a far leap to imagine that the CSI Effect is present in larger cities, such as New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago”. When CSI Effect was telecasted on the television, people felt quite interested in this serial as it is quite informative and gives a knowledge on how to carry out the criminal proceedings and the various specialized and expertise fields that have to be looked upon. As per the data of 2006: • Around 30 million people were involved in watching this serial in one night only. • 70 million people are watching at least one of the three serials involved with the CSI Shows. • Other dramas related to the forensic cases have been watched by around 40 million people. Together if the data is considered then it could be said that around 100 million people are involved in watching thus serial on the forensic sciences and the CSI Effect. A study was carried out in which the jurors have been asked on the data on their habits related with the Television viewing. The jurors and their way of handling the cases have changed in the last few years. They now would depend more on the forensic science and its results even if the physical evidences related to the cases are available. The survey asked the following cases which were of seven types: • Case of every criminal types – These will be resolved with the help of the tests that the jurors will assign and ask for. • Attempted or actual murder – Even if the physical evidences are available then also the tests are asked for from the persecutors or the lawyers handling the cases. • Any kind of a physical assault – This could be any harm caused on the physical front for the people. • Rape or any other type of sexual assault – This is any assault or the harm that is caused of the rape of the sexual types. • Entering or the breaking (Schweitzer & Saks, 2007). • Theft of any type – This is also based on the evidences received like testing of the finger prints received from the place of the theft. • Any activity that involves the usage of the gun – This is also a criminal type of physical proceedings. This would involve a usage of the gun in the case. The evidences with the above that jurors look forward are: • Eyewitness from the victim who is alleged. • Some type of the scientific evidence related with the case. • Evidence related with the DNA. • Evidence of circumstantial type. • Fingerprint evidence. From the above it could be said that irrespective of the case types, the jurors have become more dependent on the tests of the forensic types. These are finger printing, DNA Tests and various other types. They sometimes even ask for unnecessary tests for the checking of the criminal history of the case and the proceedings related to them. Jurors keep CSI effect in mind while assessing any kind of the casual or the criminal proceedings.
Since the airing of the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and the other televised series that followed have led jurors to compare fiction with reality. The shows have changed the view on the real world of forensic science as the series have a world of forensic science of their own. For this paper the televised series titled Bones by forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs will be used as an example for comparison. In the series Bones Dr. Temperance Brenan arrives at the scene of the crime to examine the skeletal remains found in the scene of the crime equipped with one or more forensic kits. Upon momentarily examining the skeletal remains Dr. Brenan is able to determine the gender, ethnicity, and age. When this type of scenario is compared to nonfictional
Jurors have unrealistic ideas of evidence processing. ”Such programs give the impression that forensic laboratories are fully staffed with highly trained personnel, stocked with a full complement of state-of-the-art instrumentation and rolling in the resources to close every case in a timely fashion.” (Houck 85) Forensic laboratories face funding deficits, not enough suitably trained staff and the consistent advancement of technology. University of Maryland forensic scientist Thomas Mauriello estimates that about 40 percent of the forensic science shown on CSI does not exist. Carol Henderson, director of the National Clearinghouse for Science, Technology and the Law at Stetson University College of Law, told a publication of that institution that jurors are “sometimes disappointed if some of the new technologies that they think exist are not used.” (Houck 87) Investigators often have to explain to victims that it is not possible to collect a sample of...
Evidence analysis and ranging is the most crucial stage of investigation. The success of the case exposure lies in the gradual evidence research and collecting prior to the laboratory analysis. The CSI systematically makes his way through the crime scene collects all potential evidence, tagging, logging and packaging so it remains intact on its way to the lab. Depending on the task breakdown of the CSI unit he may or may not analyze the evidence in the lab.
Crime is a common public issue for people living in the inner city, but is not limited to only urban or highly populated cities as it can undoubtedly happen in small community and rural areas as well. In The Real CSI, the documentary exemplified many way in which experts used forensic science as evidence in trial cases to argue and to prove whether a person is innocent or guilty. In this paper, I explained the difference in fingerprinting technology depicted between television shows and in reality, how DNA technology change the way forensics evidence is used in the court proceedings, and how forensic evidence can be misused in the United States adversarial legal system.
Since its debute, Kimberlianne Podlas discusses how “CSI has been attributed with causing a rash of unjustified acquittals, exerting on trials what is called the CSI Effect.” This refers to how CSI influences or impacts a jury’s interpretation of a case. She goes on to say that, “Even though forensic evidence is prevalent on CSI, it is a factor in only a small portion of real-life cases.” Additionally, “many of the techniques shown on CSI do not exist, and this has led “forensic scientists to complain of the near infallibility of forensic science after watching a few episodes of CSI.” The CSI Effect has caused these viewers of the program, who have gone onto become jurors, to expect the presentation of forensic evidence in order to prove their cases, and without it, they are unlikely to reach a guilty verdict. This has led prosecutors to expect the need to present forensic evidence as a prerequisite to conviction. Even with eyewitnesses and other findings to offset this lack of forensic evidence, many unjustified acquittals have resulted from this mindset as jurors do not believe a case can be proven beyond reasonable
“The ‘CSI Effect’; Forensic Science.” The Economist. 24 April 2010: 77 (US). Student Resources In
Therefore, the criminal justice system relies on other nonscientific means that are not accepted or clear. Many of forensic methods have implemented in research when looking for evidence, but the methods that are not scientific and have little or anything to do with science. The result of false evidence by other means leads to false testimony by a forensic analyst. Another issue with forensic errors is that it is a challenge to find a defense expert (Giannelli, 2011). Defense experts are required to help the defense attorneys defend and breakdown all of the doubts in the prosecutors scientific findings in criminal cases. Scientific information is integral in a criminal prosecution, and a defense attorney needs to have an expert to assist he/she in discrediting the prosecution (Giannelli,
Hundreds across the nation watch forensic shows every day. From fictional shows similar to Criminal Minds and CSI, to nonfictional shows such as The First 48 and Forensic Files. However, these shows have something in common. Criminological programs continuously show how the crime happened, what it takes to crack the case, how investigators accumulate evidence, a...
In recent years, however, such programs as CSI that follows detectives at the Las Vegas Police Department Crime Scene Investigations Bureau as they solve puzzles and catch criminals. Perhaps one of the most well known shows with a forensic psychology theme, CSI has a large impact on viewers perceptions of forensic psychology. On one hand, the increased popularity of forensic psychology because of the show is good and more people are taking an interest in forensic psychology as a career. On the other hand, the forensic psychology that viewers see every week on television may not be exactly the same as forensic psychology in reality. Particularly programs such as CSI also overstate the ability of “hard” evidence (also known as forensic evidence), such as fingerprints and DNA, to provide evidence of definite innocence or guilt (Trask, 2007). They often disregard other components of the investigative process, such as police questioning, despite these being equally valid to establishing guilt (Nolan, 2006). This over-reliance on forensic evidence, due to the importance of forensic science being dramatized by television crime dramas, is also known as the CSI
This paper explores deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) collection and its relationship to solving crimes. The collection of DNA is one of the most important steps in identifying a suspect in a crime. DNA evidence can either convict or exonerate an individual of a crime. Furthermore, the accuracy of forensic identification of evidence has the possibility of leaving biased effects on a juror (Carrell, Krauss, Liberman, Miethe, 2008). This paper examines Carrells et al’s research along with three other research articles to review how DNA is collected, the effects that is has on a juror and the pros and cons of DNA collection in the Forensic Science and Criminal Justice community.
Forensic Science, recognized as Forensics, is the solicitation of science to law to understand evidences for crime investigation. Forensic scientists are investigators that collect evidences at the crime scene and analyse it uses technology to reveal scientific evidence in a range of fields. Physical evidence are included things that can be seen, whether with the naked eye or through the use of magnification or other analytical tools. Some of this evidence is categorized as impression evidence2.In this report I’ll determine the areas of forensic science that are relevant to particular investigation and setting out in what method the forensic science procedures I have recognized that would be useful for the particular crime scene.
Crime scene investigators, also known as CSIs, have played an essential role in protecting citizens, by proving who is guilty, and who is innocent. CSIs use a large amount of Science and Math skills to solve crimes, resulting in a decent income. They are specialized in forensic science in order to examine crime scenes and recover important evidence (Career Cruising).
Whereas the real picture of forensic evidence is unlike what is represented in movies and television shows where a fingerprint or a trace of hair is found, then it’s game over for the criminal. Reality is not as straightforward. As more people are exposed to the unreal forensic world through television and media the likeliness for a wrong conviction increases with juries assuming the evidence involves more science than what it really does, this is known as the CSI Effect. Further education and training is needed for the people of the court, the forensic specialists, and so called experts. The people in courts do not question any of the ‘professionals’ and just trust in their expertise. The court could overcome this perception by requiring explanation of error rates in a forensic field. To do this, testing examiner error rates will be necessary which means further research. Forensic science has such a large effect on the prosecution of suspects, experts have been known to provide questionable and at times incorrect evidence. When a false conviction occurs the true perpetrator is set free. Once realized, the public doubts the justice system and the reliability of the forensic evidence even more. At this point in time, forensic is an inexact
Forensic science has now been recognized as an important part of the law enforcement team to help solve crimes and cold cases. The advances in technology are being used each day and we must continue to strive to develop better advances in this field. The recent discovery of using DNA in criminal cases has helped not only positively identify the suspect, but it has helped exonerate hundreds of innocent individuals. “With new advances in police technology and computer science, crime scene investigation and forensic science will only become more precise as we head into the future.” (Roufa, 2017) Forensic science and evidence helps law enforcement officials solve crimes through the collection, preservation and analysis of evidence. By having a mobile crime laboratory, the scene gets processed quicker and more efficiently. Forensic science will only grow in the future to be a benefit for the criminal justice
“The word ‘forensics’ means “connected with the courtroom”; so forensic science is, therefore, concerned with gathering hard evidence that can be presented in a trial” (Innes 9). Forensic science is a science that is applied specifically to legal matters, whether criminal or civil. “Few areas in the realm of science are as widespread and important as forensic science” (Hunter 12). Forensics is the one science that is most commonly used in everyday life. It is also a branch of science that incorporates other branches of science such as biology, chemistry, and etc. Since it is used almost every day “No one can dispute the importance of the contributions to society made by forensic science; the ability to solve crime is undeniably important” (Hunter 13). Forensic science has given criminal investigation a new edge. “Advances in science have opened the door for more effective evidence discovery, howev...