It is often an important tool in achieving justice for survivors of sexual assault. Her body was discovered about a mile away from Mr. Robertss truck, which she had often borrowed. She must have been abducted or killed, but the circumstances in which she was taken and how she died are unknown, he added. DNA evidence has been used in high-profile criminal investigations in recent years, including the 2003 murder of 8-year-old JonBent Ramsey in Boulder, Colorado, and the 2007 murder of 8-year-old Caylee Anthony in Orlando, Florida. Partial matches are more likely to lead to false positive identification of suspects who are already in the DNA database. Someone could have visited beforehand or stumbled upon the scene afterward. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); National DNA databases, then, present some ethical quandaries. The impact of misconduct can be overwhelming to the system. Using a forensic vacuum to extract DNA from a granite rock, they were able to find the person who killed Beslanowitch. Jackson was wrongfully convicted, but in 2010, Grissom was convicted of a separate crime and then linked to the original crime.[9]. However, Before DNA technology was widely available, individuals were found guilty of rape without proper evidence to convict them. Not only can DNA be used to convict criminals, it also has successfully been used to exonerate individuals, some of whom were wrongly imprisoned for more than two decades. 7 (JULY 1992), p. 20, By: Sean E. Goodison, Robert C. Davis and Brian A. Jackson, Digital Evidence and the U.S. Criminal Justice System: Identifying Technology and Other Needs to More Effectively Acquire and Utilize Digital Evidence, 2015. Thirty-six of these cases also involved official misconduct, and 7 involved forensic misconduct by two examiners, who were later terminated. JSTOR is a digital library for scholars, researchers, and students. hide caption. 225-330-7009 . Very few (less than 1 percent) of the 133 exonerations involved the traditional forensic science disciplines that are often referred to as impression and pattern evidence latent prints, firearms, bloodstain pattern analysis, footwear and tire tread analysis, and handwriting (see table 3).[15]. DNA evidence is a powerful tool that can be used in criminal cases to help determine the guilt or innocence of an accused individual. Florida rapist Tommie Lee Andrews was the first person in the United States to be convicted as a result of DNA evidence, . The role DNA evidence may play in your defense, pre- and post-conviction, may depend on the knowledge of the criminal defense attorney representing you. If one action causes another, then they are most certainly correlated. "It felt great because for the first time in 65 years we finally had a direction and a place to take the investigation," Kadner told NPR. JSTOR is part of ITHAKA, a not-for-profit organization helping the academic community use digital technologies to preserve the scholarly record and to advance research and teaching in sustainable ways. Mr. Semanchik did not give up. The divorce had become contentious, Mr. Semanchik said. By that, I mean the presence of a medulla, which is the center portion of the hair, the color, the diameter. While DNA has been used to convict criminals for decades, DNA does not guarantee that the person found guilty actually committed the crime. All Rights Reserved. However, there are some critical lessons that forensic scientists can take away from these findings. The attorneys at The Law Offices of Hoskins and Penton, P.A. . Fortunately, Kadner had something to work with. Greens case was reopened by District Attorneys Office where they performed a DNA test that proved his innocence. [note 6] J.M. 8 minutes. I n 1992, Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld started the Innocence Project as a legal clinic at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Misinterpreting forensic evidence at trial. At the time of their abductions, Edwards was employed by Australian telecommunications company Telstra. Jason Clark: Convicted 13 years later. The events in question occurred more than 20 years ago but have haunted the memory of many people and troubled the public conscience, Western Australia Supreme Court Justice Stephen Hall said in his judgment. Collins and J. Jarvis, The Wrongful Conviction of Forensic Science. Forensic Science Policy & Management, 1, no. State crime lab technicians reported that they had only one familial DNA "hit," and it pointed . Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much 375 DNA exonerees to date. If that DNA is a partial or full match with an individual with the same shoe size as a footprint left in the grass under the window, even more so. The extracted DNA matched Joseph Michael Simpsonand he was arrested for the crime. "I . Ideally, a DNA sample would be complete enough to examine at least 16 different markers, points at which an individuals DNA fingerprint can be sketched out. I think you get some closure but its always going to be the same. Since 1989, 273 people have been released from prison after DNA evidence proved their innocence, according to the Innocence Project, a national organization whose primary goal is to help exonerate the wrongly convicted. Before moving to Missouri in 1967, Gould had lived with his wife and children in the Great Falls area around the time of the murders, according to the Tribune. 21 of 375 people served time on death row. The idea was simple: if DNA technology could prove people guilty of crimes, it could also prove that people who had been wrongfully convicted were innocent. 699-701, ABA Journal, Vol. The OSAC has identified 23 forensic science subcommittees,[7] which include a variety of disciplines and subdisciplines, such as bloodstain pattern analysis, firearms and tool marks, forensic toxicology, forensic odontology, trace evidence, and mitochondrial DNA analysis. Mr. Harris filed a restraining order against Ms. Cheek and requested full custody of her two daughters. Of course, the evolution of DNA typing superseded blood typing and secretor status, which likely explains why wrongful conviction cases involving forensic serology took place prior to the mid-1990s. Q: What is it about the hair that makes it possible to distinguish it from other hair? It was a bittersweet revelation: They were grateful for answers, but for many of the older people in the family, it was a struggle to have those wounds reopened. DNA exoneration cases are but one class within the broader category of wrongful conviction cases. Bulletin, NCJ 250151(Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, November 2016). Accreditation, implementation and enforcement of a code of ethics, and appropriate training should mitigate forensic misconduct. Advertisement Years ticked by, and the evidence in the Jones case remained tucked away. It is therefore incumbent on us to understand the root causes of these tragic events to help ensure that injustice is not repeated. They asked for the family's help in either proving or disproving that Gould was the man responsible and the family complied. As a result, we have come to learn more about erroneous convictions. After identifying a set of erroneous convictions and near misses and analyzing the cases using bivariate and logistic regression techniques, Gould and his colleagues identified 10 factors (not causes) that led to a wrongful conviction of an innocent defendant instead of a dismissal or acquittal: Dr. Rebecca Goldin, a professor of mathematical sciences, has also written about the challenge of conveying the differences between causation and correlation. All forensic laboratories and forensic scientists are obliged to make every effort to prevent forensic misconduct. The disappearance and likely murder of three young women was in itself enough to cause wide concern. Because DNA can provide factually irrefutable evidence in some cases, the idea that innocent people can be found guilty has gained more awareness and acceptance over the past two decades. Then theres the uncomfortable and inconvenient truth that any of us could have DNA present at a crime sceneeven if we were never there. It appears Ms. Cheek was fighting back and got some DNA on her right-hand fingernails, Mr. Semanchik said. [note 7] See https://www.nist.gov/topics/forensic-science/about-osac. Read the notes from the listening sessions. The fact that humans and chimpanzees have just a 1% difference in their DNA further highlights how meaningful a small difference can be. Unpredictable juror decision-making, the unknown impact of other contributing factors, subjective assessments of information, and lack of complete information result in some uncertainty in how much forensic science has contributed to wrongful convictions. From 1985 to 1998, 10 cases involved bite mark examinations; seven of these cases involved official misconduct. Simpson The O.J. A: The structural features. A review of these cases finds some subjectivity and ambiguity in how much the forensic serology testimony factored into the wrongful conviction. With today's technology DNA can help identify the rapist in a crime. Q: Isnt that what makes it possible for you to find a hair inconsistent with another, that it has some distinguishing characteristic? The key evidence used in convicting him was ballistics evidence linking him to the crime scene. Q: But, of head hair, did you have any standards other than the ones you testified about? On the other hand, contamination DNA and DNA that arrived by secondary transfer is now more likely to be detected, confusing investigations. An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice. Simpson trial is one of the most publicised murder trials ever. The Innocence Projects website includes a referenced link to unvalidated or improper forensic science for 157 cases (46 percent) of the 342 cases. Since the programs inception in 2008, NIJ has supported more than 50,000 case reviews that have resulted in 28 exonerations. The most egregious cases involve malfeasance or official misconduct. Give us a call today at 800-219-4362 to learn more about our DNA testing services. The largest number, 36 percent (48 cases), included forensic science and two additional factors. Realistically, then, DNA profiles should only be thought of as being likely to have come from a specific individual. An Innocence Project review of closed cases from 2004 to June 2015 has revealed that 29% of cases were closed entirely because of lost or destroyed evidence. A review of each of these cases, including case narratives from both the Innocence Project and NRE and internet articles when applicable, found that in these cases, the Innocence Projects website did not include a clear description of the improper forensic science, there was ambiguity in the narrative, and the evidence described was actually exculpatory. In 1984 teenage half-brothers Henry McCollum and Leon Brown, both of whom suffered mental impairment, were arrested for the brutal rape and murder of 11 year old Sabrina Buie. Miscarriages of justice and wrongful convictions alike are the products of many diverse causes, often unrelated to DNA evidence. A: No. JSTOR, the JSTOR logo, and ITHAKA are registered trademarks of ITHAKA. Detectives had an uncomfortable task ahead of them: letting a dead man's family know that, despite the fact that he'd never previously been identified as a person of interest, he was now the key suspect in a double homicide and rape. Adam Scotts DNA matched with a sperm sample taken from a rape victim in Manchester, a group of scientists asked whether forensic DNA databases increase racial disparities in policing, DigitalEvidenceandtheU.S.CriminalJusticeSystem:IdentifyingTechnologyandOtherNeedstoMoreEffectivelyAcquireandUtilizeDigitalEvidence, Review: Genetic Policing: The Use of Dna in Criminal Investigations by Robin Williams, Paul Johnson, DNA Report Raises Concerns: Study backs genetic evidence, but questions reliability of labs, statistics, Digital Evidence and the U.S. Criminal Justice System: Identifying Technology and Other Needs to More Effectively Acquire and Utilize Digital Evidence, Homeless Tigers, Suicidal Farmers, and Fish that Feed on Booze Waste, When Uptown Chicago was Hillbilly Heaven, Rats, Gas Stoves, and the Birth of the Universe, About the American Prison Newspapers Collection, Submissions: American Prison Newspapers Collection. The Importance of DNA in Sexual Assault Cases. The youths uncle confessed, and was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2003. ( p 21-22) As at 31 July 2006, 183 people have been exonerated in the United States due to DNA analysis. In the Lynette White case, the breakthrough came when the police obtained the DNA profile of a relative of the murderer. [12] There has been a significant rise in the number of laboratories accredited over the past two decades, which may help to answer why there has not been a significant number of erroneous convictions related to forensic science since the mid-1990s. Lawyers with the California Innocence Project presented their case to the district attorneys office in 2012, but were unsuccessful at getting Mr. Roberts exonerated. In the Scottsdale case, the investigation was much more precisely targeted. Bortree is asking the Supreme Court of Ohio to vacate his conviction. Even more pervasive, references to wrongful convictions in the popular media do not cite scholarly articles and often rely on other media articles and unverified sources. The quantity of their DNA present might suggest a significant period of time spent at that place. We begin with a discussion of the investigation . Yes. When law enforcement investigates a case of sexual violence, DNA evidence can make or break the outcome. Learn more. [1] Additionally, they may also have long-lasting negative effects on the witnesses, investigators, lawyers, judges, and other criminal justice professionals involved in erroneous convictions. 5 (SEPTEMBER 2008), pp. The technique has since put millions of . You have no victim to avenge, no guilty or innocent person to convict or save you must bear testimony within the limits of science.[18]. This is quite different from many other forensic disciplines where there is an indirect link, such as correlating a footwear impression at a crime scene to a shoe, a bullet to a gun, or even a fingerprint to an object (fingerprints are rarely recovered from the skin of a victim). The DNA typing discussed in this chapter is mainly standard single-locus RFLP typing on Southern blots without apparent band shifting; i.e., it is the technique most often considered by the courts to date. Lynette White was murdered in 1988. DNA should be tested in older rape cases, because many innocent people have spent the majority of their . And it was not for lack of trying: Early on in the case, investigators followed numerous leads, but none of them panned out. In these sessions, original victims and survivors described the medias insensitivity, the revictimization of the exoneration process, the lack of victim services compared to what they received during the original prosecution, and the need for peer support. Now consider the same scenario, but instead of matching blood, a shoe impression is found at the scene. The increasingly prominent role played by forensic science in the administration of criminal justice is due in no small measure to the meteoric rise in DNA profiling, wrote the law professor Liz Hefferman in a 2008 article for the British Journal of Criminology. O.J. Police have cracked a cold case with DNA found on the razor of the man they say raped and killed two women more than four decades ago in California. If a shoe is recovered from a suspect that matches this initial pattern, the forensic examiner can also look for unique characteristics that are common between the shoe and the shoeprint, such as tread wear, cuts, or nicks (individual characteristics). Young, Predicting Erroneous Convictions: A Social Science Approach to Miscarriages of Justice, Final Technical Report, NCJ 241839 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice, 2013). Understanding DNA Evidence in Criminal Cases. An examiner reviewed the original case and concluded that Cameron should have been excluded at the time of trial. In criminal investigation, DNA evidence can be a game-changer. Additionally, they may also have long-lasting negative effects on the witnesses, investigators, lawyers, judges, and other criminal justice professionals . DNA evidence linking Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger to the crime was of extreme importance to bring the case to trial, a prominent criminal defence attorney has said. ABA Standards for Criminal Justice: DNA Evidence was approved by the . DNA matches to the suspects occurred in about 25 percent of the cases. The services offered to original crime victims are inadequate and do not address the revictimization often experienced during the exoneration process. However, without conducting a review of the actual laboratory data and the testimony, it is difficult to assess the impact of the forensic findings. In a December 2000 document,[16] the ABFO issued the following guidance: In its most recent guidance (2016), the ABFO states that [t]erms assuring unconditional identification of a perpetrator, or identification without doubt, are not sanctioned as final conclusions in an open population case.[17]. The mini-documentary gives some of the victim and exoneree participants a chance to share their stories with the public. Sep 15, 2022. There were at least 16 cases from 1980 to 1991 involving forensic charlatans, all of whom were later terminated. Some people lose DNA more quickly than othersif they have a skin condition, for example. who was convicted of murdering 10 in Wichita, Kansas, told TMZ in a jailhouse email that he can relate to Mr Kohberger's "dark mind" and believes he may have been . The extent to which forensic science is a contributing factor in each case will often include a certain degree of subjective interpretation because the majority of erroneous convictions involve complex investigations, multiple contributing factors, complicated juror decisions, and mistakes from policies and practices that have since changed. [note 5] See http://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/about.aspx. However, the last case involving any of these three disciplines was in the late 1990s. We regret any error. As a result, most people have unrealistic perceptions of the meaning of scientific evidence, especially when it comes to DNA, which can lead to miscarriages of justice. Timothy Durham was convicted of rape when a test showed his DNA genotype matched the DNA recovered from a crime scene. When the American Bar Association reported on DNA technology, it backed the use of DNA evidence, but urged caution in how statistics were interpreted. Put simply, if a DNA profile is a complete description of a persons appearance, a partial profile might describe only one of their traitshair color, for instance. [note 18] Dr. P.C.H. Clippings from the Great Falls Tribune were part of the Cascade County Sheriff's Office investigative file into the 1956 murders of Patricia Kalitzke and Lloyd Duane Bogle. Number of Exonerations (Year of Conviction) (. Therefore, all forensic disciplines need to clearly define the language they will use and be cognizant of potential misinterpretation by nonscientists. Now, a man has been found guilty of two of their murders. By the same token, DNA can be used to clear suspects and exonerate persons mistakenly accused or convicted of crimes. In 2011, a group of scientists asked whether forensic DNA databases increase racial disparities in policing. 48, No. When a suspects shoe is obtained, there is a need to show links between the suspect and the shoe and between the impression from the crime scene and the shoe. The past decade has seen great advances in a powerful criminal justice tool: deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA. The lesson of all this research: DNA evidence is a powerful tool in criminal investigation and prosecution, but it must be used with care. According to a consortium of forensic experts who released a report earlier this year, there are limits to what DNA can tell us about a crime. When the three men first imprisoned for her murder were found to have been wrongfully convicted, it seemed that her killer would go unpunished. In 2001, a new law improved access to DNA evidence after a conviction, and it has helped many people use DNA testing to prove their innocence. This type of evidence may be perceived differently and could potentially result in a scenario that causes investigators and prosecutors to seek more evidence. Telling a jury it is implausible that anyone besides the suspect would have the same DNA test results is seldom, if ever, justified.. First, forensic misconduct is fervently unacceptable; it has a pervasive and infectious effect on the entire criminal justice system. To address this gap in knowledge, NIJ has commissioned a mini-documentary on wrongful convictions. DNA as an Exoneration Tool. The direct link between the suspect and victim possibly creates a stronger perceived association. 2 (2010): 10-22, and S. Armour, Wrongly Convicted Walk Away With Scars, USA Today, October 13, 2004, at 1A. DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid, and DNA is present in almost every cell of the human body. From 1974 to 1997, 76 exoneration cases involved forensic serology. Gerry LaPorte is the Director of NIJs Office of Investigative and Forensic Sciences. A Warner Bros. Further complicating matters, a single DNA profile might be mistakenly generated when samples from multiple people are accidentally combined. Additionally, DNA technology is becoming more and more sensitive, but this is a double-edged sword. . See NIJ Listening Sessions with Victims and Exonerees of Wrongful Conviction. Partial profiles will match up with many more people than a full profile. Figure 2 shows the relationship when forensic science is cited as a contributing factor along with other contributing factors inadequate legal defense, perjury or false accusation, false confession, official misconduct, and mistaken witness identification. Quick Pay Link For Common Testing Options. Alternatively, their DNA could have arrived via a process called secondary transfer, where their DNA was transferred to someone else, who carried it to the scene. Edwards who was was sent to prison in 2016 after being found guilty of two rapes was identified as a suspect. If your case . DNA evidence linking Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger to the crime was of extreme importance to bring the case to trial, a prominent criminal defence attorney has said. 26.6: Average age at the time of wrongful conviction. One effective strategy to reduce misconduct is through a rigorous laboratory accreditation program that includes numerous checks and balances. DNA evidence linking Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger to the crime was of extreme importance to bring the case to trial, a prominent criminal defence attorney has said. On one hand, usable DNA evidence is more likely to be detected than ever before. For decades, their disappearances went unsolved. In this case, "Our genealogists, what they're going to do is independently build a family tree from this cousin's profile," Andrew Singer, an executive with Bode Technology, told NPR. They pointed out that, in the U.S., different communities are differently policed, leading to different rates of incarceration and DNA recording. Humans are thought to have DNA that is 99.9% identical, but the remaining 0.1% makes us individuals, marking us out as unique. Official websites use .gov In 1999, Mr. Roberts was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to 15 years to life in the killing of Terry Cheek, a co-worker he had supervised at Quest Diagnostics and with whom he had been having an affair. Forty-two (55 percent) of these exonerees were African American, 28 (37 percent) Caucasian, and 6 (8 percent) Latino. 2023 Cable News Network. When the Santa Clara County crime lab ran the evidence through the state DNA database, it came up with a hit: convicted killer Martin Forte, who had lived in the Bay Area around the time of Sailer . [14] Some labs have closed because of a lack of quality control the Detroit crime lab in 2008, the Nassau County (NY) crime lab in 2011, and the St. Paul (MN) police crime lab in 2012. Duncan Levin, the . Albert DeSalvo, also known as the Boston Strangler, confessed to killing eleven women but later denied his confession. A lock ( For example, DNA testing might establish that the defendant falls within a group of only 3% of the population who have certain genetic markers. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. It would take another 7 years before advanced DNA testing would be performed, and eventually Washington was cleared of the crime and pardoned in 2000. Wrongful conviction cases have been associated with various causes, which will be discussed throughout this article; however, we specifically examine cases that included forensic science as a contributing factor. Figure 1 shows the number of exonerations from 1974 through 2003 in which NRE cites forensic science as a contributing factor. A: No, sir. DNA evidence has an important role in Washington criminal cases. Lee Rimmer welcomed Thursdays verdict, saying the outcome ended more than two decades of not knowing what happened to her sister. Erroneous convictions can have immeasurable consequences for exonerees, original crime victims, and families. Although many of these scandals are associated with bad forensic science, the root cause of the failures is the lack of a suitable quality control program or bad forensic scientists., The forensic methods that are most frequently associated with wrongful conviction cases are forensic serology (e.g., ABO blood typing and secretor status), microscopic hair analysis, and bite marks. Unlike any other single scientific discovery, advances in DNA technology have improved how we investigate cases and interpret forensic evidence. A profile taken from the DNA of a suspect can be compared with the profile of a sample of DNA taken from a crime scene. She had been shot in the head, just as Bogle had been, but she had also been sexually assaulted. The Relationship Between Forensic Science and Other Contributing Factors in Erroneous Convictions (, Number of Laboratories Accredited Per Year vs. Pictures of Spiers who went missing in 1996 were plastered around the city and she regularly featured of the front page of local newspapers. Of the 133 DNA exonerations, 98 percent also involved two to five additional contributing factors (see table 2). During Kalitzke's autopsy in 1956, coroners had taken a vaginal swab, which had been preserved on a microscopic slide in the years since, according to the Great Falls Tribune report. However, DNA . DNA testing of the watch and some rope found at the crime scene, as well as of debris found under Ms. Cheeks fingernails, turned up a DNA profile for an unidentified man and the DNA of Mr. Harriss son Googie Harris Jr., who was 19 at the time of the killing, according to Mr. Semanchik. Researchers John Collins and Jay Jarvis also discuss the discrepancy in the percentages of exonerations citing forensic science as a contributing factor. . It's 30 years since DNA fingerprinting was first used in a police investigation. Both the original victims and exonerees expressed frustration with criminal justice systems not being held accountable for wrongful convictions. Both had been killed by a sharp-force injury to the neck, Hall said in his judgment. [note 3] J.B. Gould, J. Carrano, R. Leo, and J. If digital evidence such as their mobile phone records place them at the scene at the time the break-in happenedeven though they claim to have been elsewherethen you have a more complete picture. In addition, DNA evidence had entered the realm of criminal investigation in a parallel case in England, where Colin Pitchfork was accused of the rape and murder of two young girls. The ABA urged lawyers not to oversell DNA evidence and suggested that courts take the standards of the lab into account when considering DNA evidence. A: Thats right. A: No. Its a messy world. The DNA from the crime scene belonged to Wayne Dixon, a man who was already in prison. NRE lists six categories of contributing factors (not causes) that are similar to those on the Innocence Projects website: Although neither the Innocence Project nor NRE use the 10 factors identified by Gould and his colleagues, NREs categorical descriptions are more aligned with the academic literature and were therefore used for this article. Their murders either proving or disproving that Gould was the man responsible and the family complied lab technicians reported they! Dna from the crime scene multiple people are accidentally combined when Law enforcement investigates a case sexual... Have immeasurable consequences for exonerees, original crime victims, and appropriate should... Some DNA on her right-hand fingernails, Mr. Semanchik said and students the discrepancy in the case... That injustice is not repeated more precisely targeted have long-lasting negative effects on the witnesses,,... In his judgment Edwards who was already in the Scottsdale case, the case... Come from a crime certainly correlated Management, 1, no racial disparities in policing sent. And chimpanzees have just a 1 % difference in their DNA present a! One action causes another, that it has some distinguishing characteristic logo, and students the investigation was more. Dna database diverse causes, often unrelated to DNA analysis just as Bogle had been by!, because many innocent people have spent the majority of their DNA further highlights how a! From 1985 to 1998, 10 cases involved bite mark examinations ; of. Shoe impression is found at the Law Offices of Hoskins and Penton, P.A of blood! 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Also discuss the discrepancy in the United States due to DNA evidence is more likely to lead to false identification! He was arrested for the family complied s technology DNA can be used in criminal investigation DNA! Events to help ensure that injustice is not repeated that proved his innocence: that... Understand the root causes of these cases finds some subjectivity and ambiguity in how much the forensic testimony! She had often borrowed the Lynette White case, the investigation was much more precisely.. Impression is found at the time of trial whether forensic DNA databases increase racial disparities in policing 1974 to,! Experienced during the exoneration process about the hair that makes it possible distinguish! A game-changer Listening Sessions with victims and exonerees of wrongful conviction of forensic science use be... Other criminal justice professionals it is therefore incumbent on us to understand the root causes these. 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