Josiah Sutton was convicted of rape. He was five inches shorter and 65 pounds lighter than the suspect described by the victim, but at trial a lab analyst testified that his DNA was found at the crime scene. His case looked like many others -- arrest, swab, match, conviction. But there was just one problem -- Sutton was innocent.We think of DNA forensics as an infallible science that catches the bad guys and exonerates the innocent. But when the science goes rogue, it can lead to a...

With the popularity of crime dramas like CSI focusing on forensic science, and increasing numbers of police and prosecutors making wide-spread use of DNA, high-tech science seems to have become the handmaiden of law enforcement. But this is a myth,asserts law professor and nationally known expert on police profiling David A. Harris. In fact, most of law enforcement does not embrace science—it rejects it instead, resisting it vigorously. The question at the heart of this book is why....

This probing analysis of three of Giotto’s major works and the patrons who commissioned them goes beyond the clichés of Giotto as the founding figure of western painting. It traces the interactions between Franciscan friars and powerful bankers and illuminates the complex interactions between mercantile wealth and the iconography of poverty.

In his 6th book in the True Crime Series, John Summit thoroughly examines the origins of DNA and how advancements in DNA analysis around the world have propelled law enforcement and crime scene investigation into a new era.DNA evidence, a mere 30 years following its initial and hesitant acceptance, has served as an incredibly powerful technique in identifying not only current criminals, but those who literally lived their lives believing they had gotten away with murder - only to h...

Fifty years ago, in 1984, George Orwell imagined a future in which privacy was demolished by a totalitarian state that used spies, video surveillance, historical revisionism, and control over the media to maintain its power. Those who worry about personal privacy and identity--especially in this day of technologies that encroach upon these rights--still use Orwell's "Big Brother" language to discuss privacy issues. But the reality is that the age of a monolithic Big Brother is ove...

Like advances in many fields, those involving genetics bring both benefits and dangers to society. Among the promised benefits is the ability to identify health issues earlier than is now the case and the improve the prospects of successful prevention and treatment. In addition, forensic applications of genetic technologies have proven a powerful tool of criminal investigation. The dangers of genetic technology lie in its ability to provide extensive and highly sensitive information about...

Forensic Science in Court explores the legal implications of forensic science—an increasingly important and complex part of the justice system. Judge Donald Shelton provides an accessible overview of the legal aissues, from the history of evidence in court, to "gatekeeper" judges determining what evidence can be allowed, to the "CSI effect" in juries.The book describes and evaluates various kinds of evidence, including DNA, fingerprints, handwriting, hair, bite marks, tool marks, f...

Rape Investigation Handbook details specific investigative and forensic processes related to sex crimes casework invaluable to those in law enforcement, the legal community, and the private sector. It takes the reader through these processes in a logical sequence, showing how investigations of rape and sexual assault can and should be conducted from start to finish. The second edition is reorganized to flow from the alleged assault to a courtroom trial. Section heads have been introduced a...

A flake of skin...a strand of hair...a fleck of saliva...a drop of blood...everywhere we go we leave behind bits of ourselves that are as unique as fingerprints. Each cell contains genetic material called DNA, which holds information that scientists can use to learn about the person who left those cells behind. In the past twenty-five years, researchers have made significant advances in all disciplines of science, including the study of genetics. As science has leapt forward, the effect on...

An English court in 1736 described rape as an accusation “easily to be made and hard to be proved, and harder to be defended by the party accused, though never so innocent. ”To prove the crime, the law required a woman to physically resist, to put up a “hue and cry,” as evidence of her unwillingness. Beginning in the 1970s, however, feminist and victim-advocacy groups began changing attitudes toward rape so the crime is now seen as violent in itself: the legal definition of rape now includ...

National DNA databanks were initially established to catalogue the identities of violent criminals and sex offenders. However, since the mid-1990s, forensic DNA databanks have in some cases expanded to include people merely arrested, regardless of whether they've been charged or convicted of a crime. The public is largely unaware of these changes and the advances that biotechnology and forensic DNA science have made possible. Yet many citizens are beginning to realize that the unfettered c...

JUDGES, FBI, DNA, & LIES is a non-fictional book that exposes the dark side of the co-mingling of science and law. Anyone who reads this book will forever be wary of the statements made by laboratory personnel and law enforcement officers testifying in court.Surprisingly, scientific evidence is susceptible to manipulation. This type of evidence has been manipulated by FBI agents and analysts who have given false testimony in courtrooms across the country. In 1995 Doctor Frederick W...