Handling evidence properly is one of the most crucial points of any investigation. Without even intentionally doing so, mishandling of evidence could mean a case thrown out of court. Some types of mishandling of evidence would be planting of evidence, removing evidence, not following the chain of custody and unlawfully obtaining evidence. Rape cases should involve specially trained individuals, if an untrained investigator was to handle a rape case the way a homicide case was handled even more issues can arise. Reducing Ethical Considerations From arrival at a crime scene the investigator must follow only the facts and remove any emotion from considerations.
Both prosecutors and law enforcement, sometimes knowingly ignore this behavior, in hopes that their testimony will secure a conviction in their favor. Law enforcement who work closely with the crime lab in their department will often try to influence Pathologists to tailor their analysis and testing of evidence to suit their needs in assurance of a solid conviction. Consequently, Pathologists are criminally mishandling and presenting false testimony of the evidence and tests. Regardless of their underpinning of excuses, we must find some means of addressing these issues on a broader scope within the criminal justice system. Dr. Ralph Erdmann is a prime example of one who would
Personal Crime Analysis Dawn Wright CJA/354 July 4,2011 Kristin Mildenberger Personal Crime Analysis When an individual harms another individual of any age has just been committed of a personal crime. A personal crime, also known as violent crimes, which may result in an attempt to do the crime or the suspect has successfully completed the crime. Each jurisdiction are different by the way they run their units, most are running a homicide unit and a sex unit to take care of the hundreds of caseloads that are reported. Examples of personal crimes are homicide, assault, battery, mayhem, rape and statutory rape. The rates of these personal crimes vary depending on one’s judgement that has been made.
Australia’s justice system is concerned with rehabilitating those who have done wrong and preventing them from re-offending. Most jail sentences can be shortened through displaying good behaviour, showing initiative towards wanting to change and altering the thinking that led a prisoner to be locked up. Appeals boards are trained to do nothing but pick the liars from the genuinely reformed and they are rarely given reason to regret their decision. Having your name on a register for all to see instantly vilifies a person as sex offenders are painted as always being dangerous, violent rapists or clandestine paedophiles. The true monsters who do commit unspeakable acts or who are found to be a valid threat to the public are simply not unleashed upon anyone; they will not be released.
Running Head: LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX: THE OFFENDER LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX: THE OFFENDER: FINAL THOUGHTS Shara Anjelica Armprester Buffalo State College CRJ 470W Advanced Seminar in Criminal Justice Professor Glenda Kelmes December 13, 2011 Abstract Many of the policies created by the criminal justice system in the United States are created because of moral panic. In terms of the Sex Offender Registry Act there have been very little implication that ensure the convicted offender will not recidivate. Often times sex offenders location on the registry may be incorrect or community notification fail reach the community in which the offender resides. The recent concern with sex offender registry has been that punishments have been overboard and based on inaccurate measures of who the offender is. To be effective sex offender registries must be based on reliable evidence.
b. When DNA testing became more advanced prisoners that have always known they were innocent and serving long prison times or ones that were on death row for crimes that did not happen but were convicted of them as well as ones who were wrongfully convicted of crimes they did not commit these people started to petition for DNA testing. 2. The size and scope of the Wrongful Conviction Problem in the United States a. DNA testing is usually only done when it comes to high end capital cases because there is more to generate from which gives greater assistance to avoid executions. When it comes to assault, robbery, and burglary cases there will be typically more error due to eyewitness identification and circumstantial evidence.
Furthermore, blood is similar to common fluids however, blood is held together by powerful cohesive molecular forces that generate a surface tension within each drop and on an external surface (Nordby). Furthermore, investigators have recounted aspects of a crime by the use of bloodstain patterns. Like when it happened, in what area the attack took place, what kinds of weapon or weapons was used on the victim, and where or how close the attacker was to the victim. But how could we have accomplished attainable information from strings? According to forensic scientist’s, the strings themselves are not as substantial.
First and for most, to be able to identify the suspect and be able to contact them for further information or hearing information we must obtain their personal information. The other reason police get certain specific information form suspects is for statistical purposes. They use the FBI’s uniform crime report to form probabilities of which races were most likely to commit which crimes, where are they going to commit those crimes and what time of day will they possible commit them. The problem with race when determining guilt or innocence or whether to adjudicate a juvenile is that no matter what the crime when it comes to minorities most feel they are treated unfairly. They think that they system has it in for them and is biased to their ethnicity.
The Criminal Justice System locks up innocent people and yet innocent people are still getting killed. Eyewitness misidentification has proven to be the leading cause for wrongful convictions, according to The Innocence Project. The Innocence Project was founded in 1992, for the purpose of assisting prisoners to be proven innocent through DNA evidence. To date, 300 people in the United States have been exonerated through DNA testing. The Innocence Project's attorneys and Cardozo clinic students have assisted in the majority of these cases.
Deception Deception is used by law enforcement to help them gather facts or the truth about a crime committed. Deception is one of the most used tools in investigation, interrogative, and the testimonial process and some believe that telling a little “white lie” to catch a criminal is not a problem. Criminal activities are increasing at a fast rate in the United States and law enforcement needs some type of help in catching a criminal and sometimes saving a life. One of the questions posed by some not in law enforcement could be if it is ethical to lie to obtain the truth. This paper will discuss that topic along with if it is a conflict between the code of ethics and how law enforcement is conducted.