Crime Lab Essay

366 Words2 Pages
1. Discuss the underlying reasons for the rapid growth of crime laboratories in the United States since the late 1960s. The increase in violent crimes has produced more increasing amounts of physical evidence that is being recovered from crime scenes. Technology has also become more advanced within crime lab technology to meet the needs such as DNA evidence and the need to preform chemical analysis on drugs that are also widely being used today. 2. Describe the criteria for admissibility of scientific evidence as laid out in Frye v. United States. The criteria used for admissibility of scientific evidence as in the Frye v. United States was the systolic blood pressure deception test known today as the lie detector test. 3. What document offers an alternative to the Frye standard that some courts believe espouses a more flexible standard for admitting scientific evidence? This would be the Daubert standard. This is when the judge becomes the “gatekeeper” on determining whether or not is a liable expert witness threw a serious of different questionable theories and such. 4. In its decision in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., who did the U.S. Supreme Court charge with ensuring that an expert's testimony rests on a reliable foundation and is relevant to the case? (Saferstein, 2004, p.26). They assigned the judge with the task of ensuring an expert testimony is reliable and relevant to the case. 5. What is the main difference between the testimony given by an expert witness and that given by a lay witness? A lay witness must testify on events or observations that have arisen from personal knowledge, this testimony must be factual and contain no personal opinions. An expert witness is someone who is asked to testify because of a special knowledge in a certain field that is relevant to the case. 6. Describe the advantages of incorporating an
Open Document