Forensic Sciences Can Lead To Wrongful Convictions Essay

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different ways that forensic sciences can lead to wrongful convictions. The first way this can happen is through some unreliable methods that are used to link someone to a crime scene. There are many other methods besides using DNA testing to link someone to a crime like bullet markings, footprints, and finger prints. Methods like these are not as reliable as DNA testing, but have been still widely accepted to uses since they have a low error rate. Other methods which are more frowned upon using because they are not as reliable are methods like hair samples, bite marks, and handwriting. These methods have been known to have a much higher error rate and are much rarer to use since some of them are not scientifically supported (Stevens 2008).…show more content…
Because of this many people in court usually trust them when they talk about their findings, and many forensic scientists know this. This may lead to other difficulties when it comes to wrongful convictions, because there might be certain times where a forensic scientist might get paid to lie to the court about their findings, they might hold a grudge against the person who is being tried, or they may already have a large work load that makes them a little lazy or forgetful. A couple of ways forensic scientist may mislead the court are by refusing to report any conclusive evidence that they may have found, by using evidence that turns out benign and using it as actual evidence, and making not to convicting evidence seem like a very big deal. One final thing forensic science testing can do to cause wrongful convictions are the conditions of the laboratories. The testing that goes on in many of the laboratories are very delicate and must be done carefully, so it only makes sense if a lab is not taken care of that contamination can affect the results of their
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