CSI and N.C.I.S. and real trials such as the O.J. Simpson trial have brought forensic science to the forefront of the criminal justice system. Jurors want more than just eye-witness statements or officer accounts; jurors want evidence to substantiate the charges. As crime increases, society demand criminals apprehended, yet, they want fairness and accuracy in the investigation and subsequent verdicts in trials. Even though law enforcement agencies have implemented strategies to combat the increase…
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The trial of Wayne Williams began on January 6, 1982. The key evidence in the state’s case against Wayne Williams was the fiber evidence found on the majority of the victims. Also, circumstantial evidence was an important aspect in the trail. This included the testimony of several witnesses. Many testified that they saw Williams with the victims, suggesting that he had solicited sexual favors. On February 27, 1982, over a month after the trail had begun a jury found Wayne Williams guilty of two counts…
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American Intercontinental University Criminal Justice 471 Dr. James Jabbour Abstract The author of this paper is a crime scene investigator working on a homicide case she discovered a few different pieces of evidence that need to be photographed, logged, and recovered from a scene. She describes how she obtained the evidence a handgun, dried blood, and shell casings, and hair that was in the fist of the deceased…
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hannah matthews october 15, 2014 module 3.5 review 1.) The four types of evidence in a criminal investigation would be physical, documentary, demonstrative, testimony. 2.) individual characteristics would be evidence with characteristics that can be traced back to an individual item or person. An example of individual characteristics would be hair because hair can be tested to trace back to a person. 3.) Individual characteristics can be traced back to a single item or person while class characteristics…
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Assess the extent to which the criminal investigation process balances the rights of victims, offenders and society The criminal investigation process balances the rights of victims, offenders and society to a reasonable extent. The process itself includes the power of police, gathering evidence, use of technology, detention and bail. A criteria of protecting individual rights, justice and meeting society’s needs will be addressed. Police powers are chiefly outlined in the Law Enforcement (Powers…
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CSI: Crime Scene Investigations has been on the air for 12 years, and it has brought forth the behind-the-scenes actions of criminal investigations, even if its portrayals are not always scientifically accurate. This has caused an interest in the forensic sciences that has led most people to a skewed view of how a criminal investigation actually works. The reality of a criminal investigation is that it is generally more tedious and difficult than the theory of criminal investigation would have you…
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------------------------------------------------- Crime Scene Evidence Handling Melissa Factor CJ 498 Criminal Justice Capstone Professor Rachel Goguen 30JUN13 ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Abstract Crime scene yellow tape is a well-known sight. In order to preserve the integrity of the evidence of a crime scene, human contact should be avoided. Crime scenes are immediately sealed off, preventing the public from…
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that the evidence found and used in the trial isn't reliable. But bloodstain evidence found at the crime scene was inconsistent with Macdonald’s story. Investigators and prosecutors were skeptical that the junkies were the intruders because there was lack of destruction in the home, especially in the living room where Macdonald claimed he fought the intruders. In May 1970, Jeffery Macdonald was charged with the murder of his family. Later that year in October, the Army Criminal Investigation Division…
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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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Hair and fiber analysis is one of the many methods in determining someone’s innocence or guilt during a criminal trial. Hair and fibers differentiate between the type they such as a human and animal. With the analysis of hairs and fibers, it can be determined whether or not someone was murdered or attacked by an animal. The Wayne Williams case was determined due to hair and fiber analysis. Many people argued that Wayne Williams did not commit the crimes he was accused of, which was murdering both…
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