DNA Evidence and its Application in Forensic Investigations
DNA evidence is among many scientific tools that have been provided for the investigation of forensic evidence via the analysis of DNA which is a material that makes up one's genetic code. DNA can be retrieved from their hair, blood, skin cells as well as other bodily fluids. Uniquely, each individual has a very distinct DNA profile. Identical twins could however have similar genetic coding. The uniqueness of one's DNA profiling is similar to the exceptionality of one's fingerprints to those of another person. The technology of DNA-testing was developed by a scientist, Alec Jeffreys back in 1985. Over the years, several criminal cases have been successfully resolved and the criminals have been convicted on the basis on DNA evidence. Besides convicting criminals, the DNA-testing technology has also been effectively applied in several other situations such as exonerating individuals who had been wrongly convicted on account of eye witness testimonies. However, notably there are instances when DNA does not provide full proof evidence, thus considerably unreliable.
The Impact of DNA Testing on the Criminal Justice System
DNA-testing has successfully transformed the criminal justice system for the better by providing the police department and the courts irrefutable means of identifying criminals who would have otherwise never be identified. Since the inception of this technology, in 1985, several perpetrators have been brought to book. In the subsequent years after the technology was established it was applied in solving a double homicide incidence in England as well as relate the suspect to other rape and murder cases that had remained unsolved within the area. However, it was not until 1987 when genetic evidence was used successfully in the United States in convicting a Florida rapist. In the 1990s in Goldsboro, North Carolina a series of brutal attacks specifically aimed towards the elderly was successfully resolved following the input of DNA-testing technology. On three different incidences, elderly victims were brutally raped and murdered while within the comforts of their homes (U.S Department of Justice, 1).
DNA Testing's Role in Exonerating the Wrongly Convicted
DNA samples collected especially vaginal swaps from those who had been assaulted confirmed that all three crimes had been conducted by the same culprit. However, for the next ten years, the criminal who had been dubbed "Night Stalker" had not yet been apprehended. Through the help of the National Institute of Justice a retest was done on the samples collected and thus entered into the North Carolina DNA database. Henceforth, any DNA evidence collected on a scene of crime would be compared to the thousands that were stored in the database. The Night Stalker, in 2001, was taken into custody following a shooting into an occupied dwelling. As it were, this was a crime that necessitated entry of DNA profiling into the database. Upon arrest, his DNA samples were acquired and run through the pre-existing profiles in the database. They were a perfect match, and when confronted, the Night Stalker acknowledged and confessed to the three crimes of the 1990s (U.S Department of Justice 1).
The Flaws of DNA Evidence
The Criminal Justice has apprehended and convicted the wrong culprits due to being at the wrong place at the wrong time. These people have been forced to serve sentences for crimes they did not commit, some of whom have had to face life sentences. DNA testing technology has, however, been of great helping these individuals clear their names and have also been exonerated of all crimes that they had been previously convicted for. On other instances, DNA evidence has helped to prevent the wrong individual from being accused of crimes they know nothing of, especially from an eye witness account. Often, although in good faith eye witnesses may misidentify victims of a crime leading to the incorrect person paying for mistakes they did not commit and letting free the actual offenders. On the 28th June, such an incidence nearly happened to Salvatore Prezioso who was wrongly accused of a rape case for a minor. However, DNA evidence from the crime scene indicated that Salvatore was not the suspect as earlier identified by the victim's mother and further pointed out that Larry Keiper as the perpetrator (Innocence Staff). Severally, DNA-testing takes months before accurate results are produced. Also, it might require retesting further delaying justice. This often causes individuals to be convicted and serve a considerable amount of time in jail before they are exonerated. In Prezioso's case, he was lucky as the process was rather quick and saved him from the rape accusations.
The Limitations of DNA Evidence
Every single thing, however perfect it might seem has its flaws and so does DNA evidence. Besides the successful cases it has been able to solve and helped in detaining criminals, DNA evidence can also send the wrong person behind bars. Following the murder of Lynette White in 1998, the first three culprits implicated in the murder were three men who had been wrongfully convicted. However, following DNA analysis of the crime scene in the year 2002, the results linked a very young boy incapable of such a crime as the sole victim (Elster). This served to indicate that even DNA evidence could lead to the wrong individual being punished while the real offender walks free. The young man's uncle, however, confessed to the murder and was in 2003 sentenced to life imprisonment. It's been noted that there are high chances that partial profiles may match up with those of several individuals. Similarly, although rarely, a full profile may match up with that of another individual other than the real culprit.
The Impact of DNA Evidence on the Criminal Justice System
DNA evidence has indeed been a revolutionary tool which has helped solve several cases that would have otherwise remained unresolved. Generally, despite the few recorded flaws in the technology, DNA evidence has proved to be more useful to the Criminal Justice System probably more than any other existing technology. It's also apparent that it has helped several individuals get acquitted of crimes that they had served sentences for while the real culprits walked free.
Work Cited
Elster Naomi. How Forensic DNA Evidence Can Lead to Wrongful Convictions, Jstor Daily, 2017, https://daily.jstor.org/forensic-dna-evidence-can-lead-wrongful-convictions/. Accessed 25th Oct 2018.
Innocence Staff. DNA Evidence Prevents the Wrongful Conviction of a Suspect Based on Misidentification, 2018, https://www.innocenceproject.org/dna-evidence-prevents-the-wrongful-conviction-of-a-suspect-based-on-misidentification/. Accessed 25th Oct 2018.
U.S Department of Justice. Using DNA to solve cold cases. National Institute of Justice, 2002, https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/194197.pdf. Accessed 25th Oct 2018
