Tuesday, September 12, 2017

A Closer Look at the Evidence



In Clyde Haberman’s “A Closer Look at the Evidence,” he discusses how the National Commission on Forensic Science, which had been made up various scientists, as well as judges and lawyers, was put to an end in April of this year, 2017, by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The advisory panel was initially started by the previous President, Barack Obama, with the goal to improve forensic techniques, some of which include ballistics testing, evidence from bite- marks, shoe-print comparisons as well as blood typing and analysis of hair. However, Haberman mentions the fact that errors do occur in forensic crime labs, which sometimes, would lead to miscalculating the subject of a crime. According to Max M. Houck, a former forensics expert for the Bureau of Investigation, “About 11 percent of the time, mitochondrial DNA said: ‘No, that hair actually came from someone else.’” Haberman also mentions that in  2009 the National Academy of Sciences, stated, “‘no forensic method has been rigorously shown to have the capacity to consistently, and with a high degree of certainty, demonstrate a connection between evidence and a specific individual or source.”’ Throughout Haberman’s article, he uses multiple examples from places such as a committee of the National Academy of Sciences to express how forensic evidence can be faulty, then causing those who may be innocent to be convicted of crimes.

Clyde Haberman’s article regarding evidence from forensic science is very relevant to our society. Forensic science, and DNA research is an important factor to being able to identify a suspect of a crime. Whether it be from trace evidence on objects and victims, hair analysis, ballistics testing, or other various techniques such as those mentioned in the article. With a rising crime rate, such as robberies, assaults and rape cases, in places such as Manhattan, the extensive use of forensic sciences is more present. However, without the National Commission on Forensic Science, it is questionable if the standard of laboratory work in labs will get better or worse.
I found this article interesting to read, as I was able to learn more about the current situation with forensic science. Haberman provided many sources of evidence to make his point that evidence from forensic science is not always accurate, such as findings from committee of the National Academy of Sciences. However, it appeared that the author focused mainly on the criticism of crime labs, and forensics. Also, perhaps the author could have provided more information on the National Commission on Forensic Science, as I would have wanted to know more about what their job was in a greater detail.
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New York DNA Crime Lab

Hana Eddib 09/12/17
Forensics current event 1
Sampson, Barbara A. “New York DNA Crime Lab.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 7 Sept. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/opinion/medical-examiner-new-york-city.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic%2BScience&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection.
In Barbara Sampson’s “A New York DNA Crime Lab”, Sampson published a letter written by the New York City chief medical examiner. The letter discussed the crime labs integrity with their DNA findings. They claimed to be unbiased in producing evidence that supports one party over another. The letter discussed how in previous circumstances, defense lawyers and the FBI would request usage of the “Forensic Statistical Tool” (F.A.S.T) for “high sensitivity testing.” However, the lab upgraded their technology to technology that no longer required F.S.T. They reiterated their claim that they were nonpartisan to the court and would continue to stand by forensic evidence and that their upgrades were just another way of ensuring their integrity.
This article is very relevant to our society. DNA and forensic evidence is a large indicator of a comitance of a crime. It is important that if their are any ways to improve our ability to find evidence through forensics, that we must implement those improvements. As a society, we must be present and involved in making sure our communities are safe and that criminals are serving their time. Forensic evidence is a great way to ensure the right people are charged for a crime.

The article was a very interesting read. Having the actual letter included gave readers a direct perspective of the chief medical examiner. However, the author was missing some important factors. Considering the author didn’t include any background information before publishing the letter, it was a little hard to follow the subject of it. It would’ve been appreciated had the author opted to include a slight introduction in which they discussed the topic at hand and the relevance of the letter to the topic. It also would’ve been nice to know what the response was to the letter. The response could help to give insight on how people feel about this change in technology.

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Monday, September 11, 2017

Taking the guesswork out of forensic analysis of fingermarks

Louisiana State University. "Taking the guesswork out of forensic analysis of fingermarks." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 13 June 2017. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170613111624.htm>.


For my current event report, I decided to read and analyze the article “Taking the guesswork out of forensic analysis of fingermarks,” from the online news source Science Daily. The article discusses the scientific developments of researchers Fabrizio Donnarumma, Eden E. Camp, Fan Cao, Kermit K. Murray. These scientists have developed an “infrared laser” which “takes the mystery out of the process of identifying the chemical compositions of fingermarks at a crime scene.” This instrument will allow other forensic scientists to easily and swiftly capture the marks of fingerprints without disrupting the evidence. The device would also allow scientists to remove the finger marks from a surface and then analyze the many molecules in the print, including lipids, proteins, and other genetic materials. Using these newfound features, the team is working on prototypes of more portable lasers to be easily used at crime scenes. It can also identify different substances found in explosives. The process, referred to as laser ablation, involves angling a specialized laser onto the surface that contains a fingerprint. The laser heats up the area it is directed at and causes all of the water, in proximity to the print, to become gaseous. The gaseous water brings all molecules with it when sucked into the device’s vacuum. Once all molecules are safely collected into the vacuum container, they can be analyzed and further identified. The team is also in communication with several law enforcement institutions to establish better fingerprint identifying protocol and to inform other forensic scientists about easier methods used when identifying the chemical composition of a fingerprint.
Considering the fact that this article concerns the collection and identification of molecules on fingerprints, it is evident that it plays an extremely important role in the future of forensic science. If the portable laser ablation devices are perfected and dispersed among law enforcement institutions across the world, then the processes of fingerprint identification and analyzation will be much easier and more effective. This can lead to quicker arrests and more evidence to be offered during court trials. This would surely lead to a safer world as arrests would become much more definite and conclusive. The other molecules found among the fingerprints could also aid law enforcers in the countless different types of investigations, ranging from burglary charges to homicide, depending on what molecules were found among the fingerprints. The device would also prevent any interference and tampering with the crucial, and limited, evidence.

Overall, I believe that the article “Taking the guesswork out of forensic analysis of fingermarks,” was extremely well written and equally informative. The authors were able to describe the complicated and advance scientific instrument at hand while relating back to it’s uses and how it could deeply change the world of forensic science. The authors go into amazing detail surrounding the exact functions the laser. There is even information surrounding the different molecules that could possibly be found along with the fingerprints at the scene of a crime. In an effort to improve the article, the authors should have supplied the reader with more information surrounding the development of the scientific instrument. It would be interesting to know when exactly the instrument is going to be put into use by different law enforcement agencies. The authors could have further improved the article by describing a detailed example of the laser instrument in one of its many mock experiments to the readers. This would have given the readers a better idea of the process the forensic scientists go through to set up the device and the process the instrument goes through to gather the different types of molecules.

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Where Are the Rape-Kit Nurses?

Where Are the Rape-Kit Nurses? 


Bronson, Brittany. “Where Are the Rape-Kit Nurses?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 20
June 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/06/20/opinion/rape-kit-nurses.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic%2BScience&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=7&pgtype=collection.




I decided to read, "Where Are The Rape-Kit Nurses", for my current event. In this article, it describes the lack nurses that are trained properly for taking rape kits in Las Vegas. The process of teaching the nurses and having them on-call is too expensive. Last year in Las Vegas 718 people had received sexual assault examinations, this means there were about 50-80 kits taken every month. Las Vegas has one of the highest sexual assault ratings because of the clubs and casinos that are running around the clock. They said, "the line between consent and assault are quickly blurred" in a casino. Last year from the 718 people who got the sexual assault examinations, 60 percent of them were residents. This also isn't counting the people who are too scared to come forward because they think that their insurance won't be able to cover it and they might not be able to get to a hospital that has trained nurses. Not only do people have trouble coming forward and getting an examination when they do come forward, their rape-kit might not ever get tested. In Nevada alone, there were 8,000 rape kits that were never tested that just sit in law enforcement storage rooms. Overall, there are so many rape cases that are going undetected because of the lack of training the nurses have and the availability in local hospitals. 

This article is very significant to issues that are happening today. You hear stories of young girls at college who get taken advantage of because of "miscommunication" between them and another person. These girls who do get raped, are too scared to come forward because they're afraid of what people might think of them. If they do come forward, most colleges say that they should go to the campus security before they go to the police. When they go to the security, they usually try and tell the girls that they should take a day to think about what actually happened that night. This will make the girl think that they did something wrong and they'll get intimidated into not saying anything. This is a very prevalent topic today amongst women who are trying to advocate for the girls who are too afraid to say anything after their assault. Many times, if the girl does get a rape kit and they do find the person who assaulted the girl, the guy somehow gets the charges dropped or gets the charges cut. This is one of the biggest controversial topics between men and women. 

While reading this article, I thought that the author did a great job explaining the troubles that women face while trying to get justice for themselves. One of the things I would have liked to have in the article was more information about different places in the United States, like New York, California and maybe some colleges, and how they deal with rape cases and what their system is for taking examinations. Also, I would have liked to see the different numbers of nurses in each state compared to each other to see how many of the nurses lack the training of taking these examinations. Overall, I thought that the article had a great explanation on why some girls don't come forward after their assault. 
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Friday, September 8, 2017

Traces of Crime: How New York’s DNA Techniques Became Tainted.



Kirchner, Lauren. “Traces of Crime: How New York’s DNA Techniques Became Tainted.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 4 Sept. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/09/04/nyregion/dna-analysis-evidence-new-york-disputed-techniques.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic%2BScience&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=collection.

For this current event i decided to read the article Traces of Crime: How New York’s DNA Techniques Became Tainted. In this article it discussed how the technology used to identify DNA evidence in court cases has changed from being way above the standard of the FBI to faulty microscope technique. With this new technique scientist are questioning its validity, however New York's medical examiner claims that the new method is well tested and had to be updated in order to keep up with the FBI’s changing standards. The article claims that of this new technique is indeed faulty, then many crime scene evidence would be unusable in court, hurting many cases.


This topic is relevant to modern issues because if the DNA being recorded is not correct, it will arise faulty accusations in court, along with further complicating hard cases.  The scientist found a way however to make the samples more accurate, by testing the DNA in smaller groups they were able to focus more on these small groups then let's say a bigger jumbled group. THis may semi fix the problem of accuracy, however by looking at the DNA in smaller groups slows down the process and holds back many other steps in cases. Also by starting up a new process of getting evidence also slows down the scientist who have to spend time relearning on how to use this new type of technology, rather than just being able to stick with the old standard  technique they already knew how to use.

While reading the article i think the author did a ok job on assessing the problem at hand, however there summery on the situation was very wordy and lengthy responses which just ended up being confusing to have to decipher in order to understand.  However they did do a good job at bringing up examples of cases that became more difficult with the new technology, as well as giving examples as to what the overall effect is on society.
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