Ellie Dessart
Mr. Ippolito
Forensics C Odd
10 September 2019
Current Event 1
Citation:
Murphy, Heather. “The Jury Said He Killed Her Daughter. She Helped Clear His Name.” The
New York Times, The New York Times, 18 July 2019,
The article details the wrongful conviction of Christopher Tapp in the 1996 murder of 18-year-old Angie Dodge. At the time, police suspected a friend of Dodge who was arrested in a separate rape case. However, upon interviewing Tapp, a friend of the suspect, their suspicions shifted to him. After intense questioning and pressure from the police, Tapp confessed and was convicted of rape and murder in May 1998, despite an unmatch in DNA. The prosecutor’s case rested on the confession from Tapp, which he later renounced, and testimony from a woman who supposedly heard Tapp mention the word ‘murder’ at a party. Years later, the woman would reveal she lied under pressure. Because of the unmatch in DNA, the victim’s mother was unsettled with the conviction and strongly believed someone else, someone other than Tapp, was responsible for her daughter’s murder. After contacting the Innocence Project and creating a new DNA profile with a genealogist, Ms. Dodge helped identify relatives in a genealogy database. By examining the intersections, she came across Brian Leigh Dripps, a man who lived across the street from her daughter at the time. Investigators confirmed his DNA matched the semen at the crime scene, and after confessing to the crime, Dripps was arrested. Tapp was finally freed-- more than 20 years after his conviction.
The exoneration of Christopher Tapp was the first time genetic genealogy, a process that identifies suspects by matching crime scene DNA to relatives, has been used to clear a convicted killer. This case highlights the advancements in DNA technology over the past two decades and illustrates the power of biological evidence. Furthermore, outside the realm of science, the article also emphasizes the faults in our criminal justice system. The jury who convicted Tapp ignored the unmatch in DNA. Instead, they were moved by Tapp’s confession, which resulted in psychological manipulation and pressure from the police. Rather than look at the scientific evidence, the people involved in the case wrongly focused on false confessions and testimony, and as a result, took 20 years away from an innocent man’s life.
I found the article compelling and crucial to our study of forensic science, the law, and our criminal justice system as a whole. It is sickening to see that instead of focusing on the scientific evidence, justice in our country can rest so heavily on emotion and stories told by other people, whether or not they are true. The author, Heather Murphy, organized the piece well; she first gave an overview of the case, described Ms. Dodge’s journey to find the true killer, and then ended with the freedom of Tapp and a comment on our system. I felt the article build with tension and emotion throughout, keeping the reader intrigued as the piece went on. To improve the article, it would help if Murphy described the genetic genealogy technique in more depth. As someone new to the study of forensic science, I was a little confused on how the process works to match DNA in comparison to Codis, the FBI’s criminal database. Clarifying this new development would help other young readers better understand the case and the effect of DNA technology.
4 comments:
Madison Meehan
Current Event #1 comment
Citation:
Murphy, Heather. “The Jury Said He Killed Her Daughter. She Helped Clear His Name.” The
New York Times, The New York Times, 18 July 2019,
www.nytimes.com/2019/07/18/us/angie-dodge-christopher-tapp.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic%2BScience&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=4&pgtype=collection.
The first thing I believe Ellie did well in her current event was summarizing the article in her first paragraph. She made sure to make the key points of the article clear to the reader. After she summarized the article she made sure to connect the article to some things we are or will be learning about in forensics. She specifically mentioned how they used “genetic genealogy” to match the crime scene DNA to relatives. This is one process that can be used to help clearly convict someone of a crime, a process I hope to learn about in forensics. She clearly explained this process and other steps they took to convict the killer. Lastly, Ellie did a great job stating her opinion on the article and the topic. She clearly connected it to forensics and stated ways the article could be improved.
One thing I believe Ellie could improve on would be shortening her summary a little. Although she did a very good job explaining the article and its main ideas, she could have spent a little less time summarizing and more time analyzing and explaining. One other thing Ellie could improve on is give a little more feedback on the article. She explained that she enjoyed reading it and one thing the author could do to improve it, but I believe she could have suggested more things to change about it. Otherwise, I think Ellie did a very good job with her current event.
By reading Ellie’s current event I learned many things that will hopefully help me during this course. One thing I learned was genetic genealogy, which is “a process that identifies suspects by matching crime scene DNA to relatives.” I found this topic extremely interesting and believe Ellie did a very good job explaining and critiquing it.
Logan Glick
Forensics
Current Event Comment 1
9/9/19
Murphy, Heather. “The Jury Said He Killed Her Daughter. She Helped Clear His Name.” The
New York Times, The New York Times, 18 July 2019,
www.nytimes.com/2019/07/18/us/angie-dodge-christopher-tapp.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic%2BScience&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=4&pgtype=collection.
Ellie Dessart’s review of the classic false accusation of Christopher Tapp was very well done. I was very glad I read it because I learned a lot about how important DNA profiling can be in a criminal case. Ellie explained how Chritopher Tapp was falsely accused of a crime he did not commit just because of a false confession. It is ridiculous that the court system will focus on a false confession, that he even later said was false, over clear DNA evidence, “After intense questioning and pressure from the police, Tapp confessed and was convicted of rape and murder in May 1998, despite an unmatch in DNA.” This is angered me as it is so unfaor for this man to be convicted of a murder and rape he clearly did not commit. Ellie did a great job of highlighting this aspect of the case. Luckily, Tapp was eventually freed and Ellie really brought the story all the way around by adding in the conclusion to the crime case, “Tapp was finally freed-- more than 20 years after his conviction.” Furthermore, Ellie brings the emotion necessary for such an article as she tops off the discussion of the 20 years this man lost from his life with this excellent sentence,”Rather than look at the scientific evidence, the people involved in the case wrongly focused on false confessions and testimony, and as a result, took 20 years away from an innocent man’s life.” 20 years is a lifetime, literally, I have only been alive for 17, so it is insane how much time Tapp lost from his life.
I think Ellie did a great job with this article, but there are a couple things she could improve on. This sentence, “Instead, they were moved by Tapp’s confession, which resulted in psychological manipulation and pressure from the police,” is repetition of the rest of her paragraphs as this aspect of the case has been discussed previously a bunch of times. In order to correct this failure I would simply delete it. There was one more sentence that I felt was unnecessary, “I felt the article build with tension and emotion throughout, keeping the reader intrigued as the piece went on.” This sentence is not needed and can simply be deleted in order to be improved.
I learned a lot about how important Forensics is to the Criminal Justice System. I cannot believe a man lost 20 years off his life just because of a false statement. I chose this article because I found the story fascinating and also because I have seen the tapes of Christopher Tapp’s interrogation before on an episode of Dateline. It will change my life because now I know that what I am studying in forensics has saved a man's life before. Also, I now know how important it is to just ask for a lawyer.
Pippa Fraser
Forensics
Current Event Comment 1
9/9/19
Murphy, Heather. “The Jury Said He Killed Her Daughter. She Helped Clear His Name.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 18 July 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/07/18/us/angie-dodge-christopher-tapp.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic%2BScience&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=4&pgtype=collection.
Firstly, I think that Ellie’s summary of the article was effective because she restated the article in a way that was intriguing, and read like a story. There was tension for me, the reader, throughout the first paragraph as I reacted to the unfortunate story. For instance, “ Investigators confirmed his DNA matched the semen at the crime scene, and after confessing to the crime, Dripps was arrested. Tapp was finally freed-- more than 20 years after his conviction.” These sentences create a dramatic tone in the paragraph that kept me interested while reading. Secondly, Ellie included certain facts that I thought were essential to state, including dates and certain claims from the prominent people in the case. For example, she was specific in recalling the details in the case. “The prosecutor’s case rested on the confession from Tapp, which he later renounced, and testimony from a woman who supposedly heard Tapp mention the word ‘murder’ at a party.” This shocking statement was important to the paragraph, as she also recalls it later. This is also the third thing that she does well. Ellie, in her third paragraph includes her own commentary on the criminal justice system. “It is sickening to see that instead of focusing on the scientific evidence, justice in our country can rest so heavily on emotion and stories told by other people, whether or not they are true.” I agree with her statement and this sentence was able to sum up her piece well.
However, I thought that there were certain things that Ellie could have improved upon. Firstly, she could have been slightly less vague in some paragraphs. For instance, “Ms. Dodge helped identify relatives in a genealogy database.” This is slightly confusing to me as I wish she went into more detail regarding exactly how Mrs. Dodge was able to track down a suspect herself. Next, I thought while talking about the DNA and the actual finding of Brian Leigh Dripps, Ellie could have elaborated a little bit more. While the author themselves didn’t go into enough detail about the DNA intersections, I wish that Ellie could have described what DNA intersections even are. “By examining the intersections, she came across Brian Leigh Dripps.” This sentence felt like Ellie skimmed over the examination of the intersections.
I learned various things from Ellie’s article summary. It left me shocked, and had a lasting impression on me because the story was extreme and upsetting to me. An innocent man was kept in prison for 20 years. Her piece highlighted the flaws of the criminal justice system. I chose this because I thought appeared to be an interesting title, it was pretty heartwarming to see that the mother of the victim was able to correct what the justice system did wrong. This changes my perception of the justice system. It has many imperfections and with more of us being informed about these imperfections, we may be able to correct some of them.
Eve Balseiro
September 9th, 2019
Forensics Current Event Comment 1
Murphy, Heather. “The Jury Said He Killed Her Daughter. She Helped Clear His Name.” The
New York Times, The New York Times, 18 July 2019,
www.nytimes.com/2019/07/18/us/angie-dodge-christopher-tapp.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic%2BScience&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=4&pgtype=collection.
Ellie Desserts summary and analysis of “The Jury Said He killed Her Daughter. She Helped Clear His Name” from the New York Times was successfully encapsulated Heather Murphy’s article. The summary was especially well done, as it was thorough enough for it to be easily decipherable without dragging on too long. Specifically, she made sure to not confuse readers with all the names by staying close to the topic and giving the names necessary to fully comprehend the article. In addition to that, Ellie’s analysis of the shortcomings of Murphy’s article are spot on. When she explains that the article would have been easier to grasp had Murphy gone further in-depth on the process to match DNA comparison to the FBI’s criminal database, I completely understood and agreed with what she was saying. It was very easy for Murhpy to lose the reader at that point. Lastly, I thought Ellie was very insightful when she looked outside the article and touched upon how this case is a shortcoming of the criminal justice system as a whole.
If Ellie were to improve her current event, I believe it may have been useful to offer more feedback on the article. She stated that she found the article to successfully build tension and that Murphy could have gone further in-depth but didn’t elaborate on anything else. Though I did enjoy Ellie’s connection to the criminal justice system, I felt that it went on for slightly longer than it should have. “The jury who convicted Tapp ignored the unmatch in DNA. Instead, they were moved by Tapp’s confession, which resulted in psychological manipulation and pressure from the police. Rather than look at the scientific evidence, the people involved in the case wrongly focused on false confessions and testimony, and as a result, took 20 years away from an innocent man’s life”. These three sentences state very similar things and could have been stated in one.
From Ellie’s article, I built on my preexisting knowledge of DNA testing. For example, I had never heard of Codi’s, the FBI’s criminal database. Prior to reading Ellie’s article, I knew that DNA testing and profiling was incredibly essential to any case, but hearing of an actual person to suffer from a jury ignoring DNA evidence allows me to understand the true consequences and importance of DNA testing. This will hopefully make me more aware of how crucial DNA testing and how preserving such data can mean an enormous amount in any case. Also, I will be able to apply this knowledge to the rest of this course.
Post a Comment