Dna Evidence Case Study

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DNA Evidence Frees a Woman Convicted of Killing Her Daughter

Lynn DeJac was found guilty in 1994 of strangling her 13-year-old daughter during a night of drinking. In 2007, Ms. DeJac walked out of the Erie County courthouse free. She was the first woman in the United States to have her conviction for killing someone overturned based on DNA evidence.
Judge Michael L. D'Amico, who presided over Ms. DeJac’s trial and sentenced her to 25 years to life, set aside Ms. DeJac's murder conviction. He ruled that new tests showing the bloodstains in the room where the body of her 13-year-old daughter, Crystallynn Girard, was found contained DNA belonging to a man named Dennis P. Donahue, a former boyfriend of Ms. DeJac's. Mr. Donahue will never

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Forensic Investigation History

states that in 1953 DNA was said to have unique structures, which was discovered by Watson and Crick. Then, the author goes into detail about how the restriction fragment length polymorphism and polymerase chain reaction testing was used to identify suspects as well as victims by their DNA. This process was called DNA fingerprinting and was first used in a case that went to trial in 1987. By 1989 DNA was proved to be valid and…

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Andre Davis Case

The case that I have chosen is a case about a person named Andre Davis getting wrongfully convicted of the 1980 rape and murder of Brianna Stickle. Davis spent a lot of time in prison he spent over 300 years in prison. He had a lot of time to think while he was in there and he was determined to prove that he didn't do this crime so he filled for a DNA testing to prove it. The court accepted the request and it turned out that the blood and semen found at the crime scene did not match Davises. The…

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DNA Liability In Court Cases

these ways work, they aren’t nearly as effective as DNA. With an accuracy of over 99% DNA profiling has become one of the most important, and reliable tools law enforcement has at its disposal. DNA, also known as the blueprint of life, wasn’t described until 1953, when scientists Francis H. C. Crick and James D. Watson identified, and described the structure of DNA, which resembles a twisted ladder or double helix. They also established the role of DNA as the material that makes up the genetic code of…

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Oj Simpson Trail Case Study

A. For the OJ Simpson trail I decided I would like to study the courts component of the criminal justice system. I have chosen to study the courts part of the criminal justice system because for one this the area I am most interested learning about how they learned the information . This made me wonder how courts can help stop robberies from being the most feared and having so much violence when this happens by making the punishment for this crime more serve (Michael & Rich, 1980). B. I want…

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Dna Testing Lab Report

Introduction DNA analysis is the process in which evaluates the genetic material so that it can be used to identify individuals for use in a forensic/criminal investigation. DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material that is found in almost all organisms. It is found in the nucleus of the cell and also small amounts can be found in the mitochondria and nearly each cell in a human’s body has the same DNA. But what is DNA made up of? Well it is made up of a code of four chemical bases…

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Forensic DNA Profiling

DNA profiling technologies have had a considerable impact on how forensic science and criminal investigation have been understood, carried out, and regulated in the last 25 years. Current methods of forensic DNA profiling (known also as DNA fingerprinting and DNA typing), based on Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) amplifications of a varying number of Short Tandem Repeat (STR) loci found at different locations on the human genome, are regularly described as constituting the “gold standard for identification”…

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Neanderthals: A Genetic Analysis

“transitional species” they fall in between homo erectus and modern humans, they lived with anatomically modern humans for long periods of time, but Neanderthals eventually went extinct and homo sapiens took over (Bonvillian and Miller 2013:274-275). The evidence used to support the answer whether modern humans and Neanderthals interbred or the affiliation of the two species comes from molecular testing and genetic material obtained from Neanderthal bone found at 3 site that indicate the differences between…

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DNA Profiling

Since the first use of DNA profiling in 1985, the process has seen extensive use in the fields of forensic science and genomics. DNA profiling is a technique predominantly used in forensic science, to identify individuals based on the unique characteristics of their DNA. DNA profiling was developed in 1984 by Sir Alec Jeffreys (see Fig. 1), when he noticed that certain sequences of highly variable DNA which were non-coding, were repeated within human genes (McKie, 2009). With this discovery, he recognised…

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Gang Violence Essay

together, you get witness misidentification which has been referred to as the single greatest cause of wrongful convictions nationwide, with nearly 75% of the convictions overturned through DNA testing. There have been 260 exonerations across the country based on forensic DNA testing with 3 out of 4 involving cases of eyewitness misidentification. (Innocence Project 1999) In 1907 or 1908, Hugo Munsterberg published “On the Witness Stand”; he questioned the reliability of eyewitness identification…

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Hair Evidence Vs Fiber Evidence

After reviewing the facts of case, I do not believe the prosecution would have been able to secure a conviction without the fiber evidence. In addition to the fiber evidence, the prosecution also presented hair analysis evidence and witness testimonies (Polk, 2010). During the 1982 trial, DNA technology was in its infancy and it was not validated as a courtroom science, so scientists were only able to provide hair analysis testimony from what they observed underneath a microscope (Polk, 2010).…

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