New "party pill" test could help authorities

Emme Kerj

Current event article review

The article I read is about a newly discovered technique that makes it faster, easier, and cheaper for laboratories to detect “club drugs” in urine and plasma samples. The new technique was created as a result of a collaboration between Universidade da Beira Interior and Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal and Universidad de Santiago de Compostela in Spain. One of the most common “club drugs” that the article talk about is ketamine, an animal tranquilizer, which works as a sedative and a pain reliever. When people with ketamine in their system have gone to the hospital the symptoms have often been mistaken for alcohol, which has caused these people to be given the wrong treatment. This new test is also good because it allows for hospitals to keep track on the drug use. The method that is used for this new type of testing is called “gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry”. This test not only detects small amounts of the substance from samples but also the main substance that is produced when these drugs are broken down in the body, making it easier for scientists to make sure that the test is accurate. Using this new test allows scientists to detect amounts of the drug as low as 5 nanograms per millimeter. The test also only takes about 30 minutes from start to finish.

Why this new technique is so important is because these specific drugs have previously been very hard if not impossible to analyze and detect. One drug in particular, ketamine, has often been used as a date rape drug and since it has been hard to detect before in the body this new test might make it easier for rape victims to build a case against the offender. This testing is also much faster than other techniques which allows labs to work more quickly and efficiently.

I thought that the article was very interesting because making sure that drug testing is accurate is extremely important for many criminal cases. I also thought that the article did a good job explaining why this new type of testing is so good for the forensics community. One thing that I would’ve liked to learn more about is what happens during the actual process of the testing because the article only briefly explained that. I would’ve also liked it if the author drew some more parallels to different cases such as rape, and not just inebriated people going to the hospital. But overall I thought that this article was interesting.

Works cited:

Elsevier. "New 'party pill' test could help authorities keep up with trends in drug (ab)use: New test detects low levels of psychoactive drugs in urine and plasma." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 25 November 2015. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151125084008.htm>.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151125084008.htm

Facial Recognition Technology Proves Its Mettle

Michigan State University. "Facial-recognition technology proves its mettle." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 24 May 2013. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130524142549.htm>.

It was recently uncovered that Facial-Recognition technology may not be as accurate as we may think. For one, facial recognition software is very picky, if you were to use a picture in different lighting or with a varying facial expression or angle, the software may not pick up on the similarities. The fickle nature of this software means that it has much fewer applications than would would think. According to the article, facial recognition software will only really work if the suspect is facing the camera in the right lighting, otherwise efforts could prove to be unsuccessful.  This does not mean that the software is not useful, however, in an experiment at Michigan State University, the software was able to identify one of the Boston Bombers, while the older brother was not able to be identified since he was wearing sun glasses. If it came down to it, the software could be used to identify criminals if a security camera was able to get good enough footage. When the conditions are right, the accuracy of identification is said to be 99%. In addition to facial recognition software, the article also mentions software that could be used to identify and match tattoos, which could prove to be a success if facial recognition is not successful.

I believe that this article is significant to the future of forensics and our society as a whole because the technology described in it can be used to identify criminals and terrorists in the future. If it could be improved, it could prove to be a lot more useful in the future when it really is needed. I found the tattoo identification technology to be useful as well, since it could be used accurately when facial recognition proves to be fruitless.

I found this article very interesting to read, and was impressed by the technology reviewed in it, even if it did have many shortfalls. I found the tattoo identification technology to be very interesting since I didn’t know that it even existed. I think that the topics covered in this article were both relevant and useful to the identification of suspects, and will hopefully prove to make a big difference in the future.

Identifying Gender from a Fingerprint

I read the article “Identifying Gender From a Fingerprint.” It is about how in a study from the students from the University of Alabama, the team has tried to figure out ways to identify someone’s gender based on the unique fingerprints left behind during a crime scene investigation. Fingerprints for the investigators have always been a way to identify someone, and now scientists are trying to find new ways to figure out more information based on the prints. The students at the University of Alabama have tried to figure out gender by using the amount of amino acids found on the print by heating the fingerprint surface to 40 degrees celsius which causes the amino acids to lift off. The amino acids would then be sprayed with a chemical dye which oxidizes to a certain color based on the concentration. Females typically have a higher concentration of amino acids, and this test was found to work 99% of the time.

This finding can be very helpful to investigators because they can quickly identify the gender of the person who left behind the print. This can rule out suspects fairly quickly of the opposite gender. The team who performed the experiment says that this is also useful because it is quite easy to use and doesn’t require someone to be trained specially. Since in crime scenes, most contain fingerprints, it would be useful to get a lot of useful info out of a single print.

This article was quite interesting and gave a lot of background information. However, when it describes the test efficiency/how well it worked, the team stated that it worked for 99% of the time. It could have been more thorough in telling us why there was a 1% error in the testing, or what went wrong. Then it could talk of ways that the scientists are working to improve the new way to get gender (how they are going to try and eliminate the error so it will work all the time). This article could have included more quotes and include perhaps several cases where this tech was helpful.

Identifying Gender From a Fingerprint

http://www.forensicmag.com/articles/2015/11/identifying-gender-fingerprint

Augenstein, Seth. "Identifying Gender From a Fingerprint." Forensic Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.

Fingerprints have always helped a lot in the field of forensics forensics.  They help in identifying anyone who may have something to do with the crime at the crime scene.  Recently, researchers have been looking for ways to pull more information from fingerprints.  Race, and exposure to drugs and explosives have been the focus of certain studies, however, gender can now be determined as well.  This study was published by the University of Albany team. There is a very specific procedure to this that has to do with the concentration of amino acids.  First, you have to heat the fingerprint surface to 40 degrees celsius.  This will force the amino acids to separate out of the print.  Then, the sample is analyzed with a chemical dye that oxidized to a telltale color based on the concentration of amino acids.  Females have more amino acids than males.  Overall, the test proved 99 percent effective.  The team writes that, “It provides a quick male/female response and can be performed on-site.”  

This article is very significant to humanity as a whole.  These results we get by this discovery narrow down the possibilities in a suspect pool in a quick and timely manner when there is not matching fingerprint image or DNA profile in the corresponding databases.  Also, there is no need for excessive training for this procedure, so it can be used by any members of the law enforcement.  This will help police more easily determine someone guilty based on hard evidence.    

This article was very interesting to read.  It had short, simple paragraphs that helped readers clearly understand this new procedure and the ways in which it benefits us.  It was very helpful that quotes made by professionals were incorporated and not just the author's opinions.   In the end, the author mentioned why and how this new procedure could help us in the future.  He also mentioned that this way of going about forensics is still being tested and needs to be fixed.    

Forensic Science Students Examine and Document a Crime Scene

The Forensic Science class has been examining, documenting and photographing a crime scene in their current unit of study. The students work the scene in teams of two to three students. Each team is given one eighty minute period to document the scene by itemizing, describing and photographing the evidence found in the class room. When completed they will write an investigative report that will include they hypothesis as to what the evidence indicated occurred in the room.

As they move through the scene they will prepare four different crime scene forms:

[1] Crime Scene Disposition Form - in which each piece of physical evidence is assigned a unique identifying number/letter, described and earmarked for specific tests (fingerprints, DNA, drugs etc.) when the evidence is gathered and returned to the lab.
[2] Crime Scene Measurement Form - in which each piece of evidence's position is precisely located by measuring its distance from two points in the room.
[3] Crime Scene Photograph Form - in which each piece of evidence is photographed and that photograph is hyperlinked to the evidence description in the log.
[4] Crime Scene Rough Sketch Form - in which a bird's eye, not to scale replica of the crime scene and all the evidence is produced.

Bloody foot prints leading from the table where an altercation occurred.

Bullet casing.

Left side of table where the homicide victim was found seated.

Right side of table where the homicide victim was found seated.

Spent projectile on window sill behind homicide victim.

Robert catalogs the physical evidence on the table, while Daniel is entering his data into the digital forms.

Jack was given the task of measuring the positions of all the physical evidence. Daniel is assigning item numbers to the evidence, writing descriptions and deciding on what the disposition of the evidence should be once it arrives in the lab.

Jack and Robert examine the ledge behind the homicide victim

Sophia and Jack examine the evidence on the table before the homicide victim.

Building a Face, and a Case, on DNA

Gianna DiMinno Forensics

   

Building a Face, and a Case, on DNA  

I read the article, “Building a Face, and a Case, on DNA” by Andrew Pollack. The article grabbed me within the first paragraph. “There were no known eyewitnesses to the murder of a young woman and her 3-year-old daughter four years ago. No security cameras caught a figure coming or going.” (Pollack, 2015). Imagine having a wife and a daughter that was murdered, but the killer who was responsible for it was still on the streets. This article is about the importance of being able to find a perp by description, DNA, and sketches of suspects. An artist’s sketches is based on eyewitnesses descriptions which would allow the face to be generated by a computer that relied solely on DNA that was found at the scene of the crime. The police had shown the sketch of the suspect to the public, hoping for someone to know further information. Investigators are known for being able to determine the physical characteristics of crime suspects from the DNA that they leave behind which provides a powerful new tool for law enforcement.

Genetic Sleuths, which are DNA investigators, are able to determine a suspect’s eye and hair color. Eventually, they will be able to determine if the suspect had freckles, baldness, curly hair, tooth shape, and as well as age by using their DNA that was left at the crime scene. Also, computers, later in time, will be able to match faces that are generated from DNA to faces in a database of mug shots which will make the process of catching a perp so much faster. It also narrows down the suspects to a limited amount. The development of these tools are a major cost. Indiana UNiversity and Purdue University Indianapolis was just given a 1.1 million dollar grant from the Department of Justice to develop these tools. Some speculating that is going around is forensic DNA phenotyping. Some scientists have questioned the accuracy of the technology, including its ability to recreate facial images.

DNA has been used to hunt down suspects or to convict people for more than two decades. This meant matching a suspect’s DNA to the DNA found at a crime scene. But DNA phenotyping is much different. It is an attempt to determine physical traits from genetic material that was left at the crime scene. Researchers are zoning in on specific physical traits with a system called HIrisPlex. It was developed at Erasmus University MC Medical Center in the Netherlands and it is 94 percent accurate in determining if a person has blue or brown eyes. It analyzes 24 genetic variants and is about 75% accurate with hair color.

I enjoyed reading this article because it grabbed my attention quickly and it was informing. I personally believe that it would be awful not knowing who the person responsible was for killing my daughter, which was talked about at the beginning of my review. This new development of technology ables us to find the person responsible quickly and efficiently. Even though some scientists are against advancing technology because it isn’t ‘accurate’, doesn’t mean that it isn’t worth giving a shot. I think one strength in this article was the attention grabber and the part when it describes some cases that was involved with this new technology and had succeeded. One weakness about this article was that towards the middle I got a little boring because after 6 cases of learning how it was used, I understood it and it got to the point where I wanted to read how it didn’t work so I could understand the positive and negatives of this development of technology. I think these ideas are going to be very useful in society and it will help us find murderers that are walking on the streets.

Pollack, Andrew. "Building a Face, and a Case, on DNA." The New York Times. The New York Times, 23 Feb. 2015. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.

How Police Can Get Your Deleted Texts, like They Got Kyle Navin's.

http://wwlp.com/2015/11/04/how-police-can-get-your-deleted-texts-like-they-got-kyle-navins/?

Pierce, Kent. "How Police Can Get Your Deleted Texts, like They Got Kyle Navin's." WWLPcom. N.p., 04 Nov. 2015. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.

On November 3, 2015, Kyle Navin was put on trial for two counts of murder in the deaths of his parents, Jeanette and Jeffrey Navin. The parents went missing in August of this year, and the bodies were eventually found, outside a vacant house in their neighboring town of Weston, Connecticut, on October 29th. It is assumed that Kyle Navin’s motive was that he was threatened by his parents to be cut from their wills. Aside from the details of the murder itself, the article focuses on the evidence that led to Kyle Navin being formally charged. This evidence consists of text messages that the police got from his phone, even messages that had long been deleted. The deleted texts `were accessed by investigators using a new kind of software that is having a huge impact on law enforcement. The software, when connected to a cell phone, needs only 2-3 minutes to download every deleted photo, video, or text that has ever been on the phone. Computer experts say that it is possible to completely wipe out phones, but it would have to be done several times, and even then it wouldn’t guaranteed. Apparently Navin had deleted several text messages that had indicated that he had murdered his parents; the texts were recovered by computer expert investigators.

The contents of this article is extremely relevant in everyone’s lives. Most of us use cellular devices, such as iPhones, to take pictures, videos, and to communicate via text. We are usually under the expression that the texts, photos, or videos that we delete are gone forever, but this article just proves how easy it is for investigators to recover all those things in just the matter of a few minutes. It is good that investigators can use this new software program to find evidence to prosecute suspects, however, it is also shocking to see how easily computer experts can uncover past information that we had no intention for anyone to see.

I think the author did a good job presenting the case and its relevance to each and every one of us. It is interesting to see that humanly trace evidence, such as DNA from blood, is not the only evidence that leads investigators to come to conclusions on a certain case. It was amazing to read how Navin’s uncovered text messages played such a significant role in his case. The article could have gone more into depth about what the texts had said specifically, but we did get a brief idea which was enough to understand why his texts made all the difference in his trial.

Malaysian Airline Flight 17 and Forensics

This article is about the Malaysian Airline Flight 17 which was shot down over Ukraine about a year ago. Through forensic analysis it was concluded that the flight was deliberately brought down by “surface-to-air” missiles. A missile struck the front of the plane killing all three people in the cockpit instantly. The plane then crashed within 90 seconds and killed close to 300 people on board. Although the wreckage was dispersed over 50 kilometers, forensic detectives were able to find most of the remains and then reconstruct what happened to the aircraft. The weapons system was determined through fragments of wreckage and the crew member’s bodies. Through this forensic analysis, detectives were able to determine that the explosion was not due to weapons on board the aircraft. Forensic scientists were also able to recover cellphones on board which showed that there were no texts or videos taken during the flights fall to the ground, indicating that passengers were unaware of the attack.

At the time of the crash, conflict between Russia and Ukraine was increasing rapidly suggesting that perhaps there should have been more flight regulations for commercial aircrafts when traveling in this airspace. In addition, the harm of innocent civilians as the result of failing to identify whether or not the aircraft was linked to the military is now a concern to humanity. Forensic analysis was able to successfully trace the missile to its source, eliminating the anonymous nature of the strike. Also, forensic evidence was able to conclude that all passengers were unaware that the attack was going to happen due to the evidence found from the cellphones on board. This may bring some comfort to victims families that they had no idea of the events that happened.

This article was thorough in its forensic analysis and was able to clearly state and evaluate the events that occurred. It provided sufficient detail about the reconstruction of the scene and what evidence they were able to draw from doing so. However, it would have been good for more context to be provided regarding the situation between Russia and the Ukraine and why there have been such tense relations between the two nations. Overall, the article did an adequate job at stating the importance of the crash of Flight 17 and how forensics were used to determine what had occurred. 


http://www.forensicmag.com/news/2015/10/mh17-flight-shot-down-surface-air-missile-ukraine-say-investigators

New Device Can Extract Human DNA with Full Genetic Data in Minutes

At the University of Washington, the engineers and Nanofracture, a Bellevue, Washington company have designed a device that can contract human DNA from fluid samples in a simpler, more efficient and environmentally friendly way that is much better and more efficient than some conventional methods. Just by taking a swab of saliva from your mouth you can get your DNA ready for analysis in minutes. This device will give hospitals and research labs the opportunity to have much easier and faster ways of separating DNA from human fluid samples. This will help with genome sequencing, disease diagnosis, and forensic investigations! Extracting DNA is very complex, and the current procedure "is the equivalent of collecting human hairs using a construction crane." says Jae-Hyun Chung, a UQ associate professor of Mechanical engineering who is leading this research. It is an awesome opportunity to have this great technology made considering it is very complex to extract DNA. Having this technology to get the DNA quickly will be extremely beneficial. The new technology is a small, box shaped kit that is much smaller than what they use now, making it much more beneficial.

This article, New device can Extract Human DNA with Full Genetic Data in Minutes, was extremely interesting and informative. It did a great job informing me on the new technology being created at the University of Washington, with not too many words. The article also did a great job of explaining how this new DNA distinguisher is going to improve the ways we extract DNA today, and the process. One thing that could have been improved would be, they could have explained what the old technology was like in detail, so not only did we understand how the new technology will improve our methods, but also get a feel for how it used to be and how it is going to change.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130506132100.htm

"New Device Can Extract Human DNA with Full Genetic Data in Minutes."ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, . Web. 18 Nov. 2015.

Touch DNA Might Be Contaminating Crime Scene Evidence

http://www.forensicmag.com/articles/2015/10/touch-dna-might-be-contaminating-crime-scene-evidence

Augenstein, Seth. "Touch DNA Might Be Contaminating Crime Scene Evidence." Forensic Magazine. N.p., 29 Oct. 2015. Web. 05 Nov. 2015.

I read the article “Touch DNA Might Be Contaminating Crime Scene Evidence,” and it discusses “Touch DNA” and its impact on criminal cases. DNA has been a major component in criminal investigations and physical evidence. It has locked up criminals and helped scientists conclude and gather information from cases that would not have been solved. Technology is advancing and becoming more prone to errors that can affect the results of the findings, which may lead to innocent people being sent to jail. Many people do not know what touch DNA is and what it is doing to forensic studies. Touch DNA is a forensic method for analyzing DNA left at the scene of a crime. It is called “touch DNA” because it only requires very small samples, like cells left on an object after it was touched or moved. “A two-minute handshake, then handling a knife led to the DNA profile of the person who never touched the weapon being identified on the swab of the weapon handle in 85 percent of the samples.” This shows that secondary DNA transfer could possibly place someone at the scene of a crime, and possibly send an innocent person to jail. According to a study done by the Journal of Forensic Sciences, one-fifth of those experiments mentioned before contained false information. The person who had never directly touched the knife was identified as the main or only contributor of the DNA on the handle. Analysts need to be aware that this can happen and need to provide other evidence when presenting in court. A microbiologist at Pace Analytical stated that the term touch DNA is misleading and does not completely explain all the ways DNA could end up some place. This shows that the future of criminal investigations are in danger if no one fixes these problems immediately.

   The issue discussed in this article significantly affects society. For example, if you are at the grocery store and are paying the cashier and accidently touch his/her hand, it is possible that forensic scientists could find your DNA at a crime scene. Any kind of contact, whether it be on the street or in a store, could be found using touch DNA. This method could lock up hundreds of innocent people, letting the real criminals free. Also, this could interfere with criminal investigations and evidence and change the future of forensics. Scientists say that they plan to continue experiments into 2016, hopefully “reducing the two-minute handshake down to smaller time frames.” This could eventually lead to issues in the government, laboratories, and society itself.

This article was very compelling because it gave me a sense of the issues in forensics at this moment. We normally hear problems arising in the government and social life, but now we get into more detail into forensic investigations. This article provided good real-life examples that helped the reader understand how significant this problem is. Also, the article did a good job of stressing the significance of this method and how it could impact the future of criminal investigations. However, this article had its weaknesses and one of those was that it did not provide specific information about what touch DNA was and when/how/why it was used (I looked it up). This article could have been improved by going more into depth about touch DNA and what scientists are preparing to do about it. We do not know for sure how people are planning to fix this issue and this article does not talk about it. Overall, I enjoyed reading this article because it made me realize how important this issue is and how it could affect forensic determinations.

How 3D laser scanners are changing crime scene investigations

In recent forensic news, laser scanners have been proven to show effective ways of investigating crime scenes. Crime scene investigators have been using 3D laser scanners increasingly as an effective and efficient means of enhancing their crime scene investigation capabilities. The laser provides for effective responsibilities as it is shown to be an effective way to quickly document crime scenes so the evidence can then quickly be sent for lab analysis. A typical laser scan of a crime scene takes no longer than ten minutes.Prep time scales with the size and complexity of the scene, so a multi-room house would take longer. The scan itself takes minutes.

So how important is this new scanner to our society?  Well, this means that potentially more crime scenes could be processed in less field hours. Not only that, but 3d scanners can be used in documenting a car collusion quickly, which could help reduce potential officer injuries. Roadside accidents are among the most common ways officers are injured on the job. Cutting down on the time spent to collect the evidence could not only help lower the injury risk, but cut down on the traffic.

The 3D scanner proves that our society is making great steps toward technological advancements. The 3D scanner makes it so that evidence collected can be stored digitally and then used at any time investigators need. The 3D scanner gives a more “CSI effect,” wowing jurors in courtrooms, that the effectiveness and efficiency is much like what they see on TV.

I think that as a society we are making major steps in a good direction when it comes to medicine and technology. This new invention proves that we are evolving quickly and becoming more efficient and smarter with our ideas. I would have liked to learn more about the actual 3D laser itself and what it can do, I think that could have been beneficial to readers to learn more about the laser itself and what it does specifically does.

PoliceOne BrandFocus Staff. "How 3D Laser Scanners Are Changing Crime Scene     Investigations." PoliceOne. FARO Technologies, n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2015.

"Touch DNA Might Be Contaminating Crime Scene Evidence"

For today’s criminal investigations, DNA evidence has often been the proof that convicts a person or finds them innocence, solves cold-cases that would have otherwise been thought to be impossible, and usually acts as the best possible witness at a crime scene. However, as the article “Touch DNA Might Be Contaminating Crime Scene Evidence” reveals, any contact with another person, even for a brief amount of time, can place an unsuspecting person at a crime scene. A new study, titled “Could Secondary DNA Transfer Falsely Place Someone at the Scene of a Crime?”, by researchers at the University of Indianapolis created a scenario in which there is a two minute handshake. After this contact, one person handles a knife, but when the weapon’s handle was swabbed, the DNA profile of the person who never touched the knife was identified in 85% of the samples tested. According to the study, in one-fifth of these experiments, the person who never was in contact with the knife’s handle was determined to be the only or main contributor of DNA. This is why the concept of “touch DNA”--the DNA that is left behind on anything that one comes in contact with--is being reevaluated in this study. As Cynthia Cale, an author of the paper, states: “Analysts need to be aware that this can happen, and they need to be able to go into court and effectively present this evidence.” She adds that it must be explained to the judge and the jury that there are different possibilities as to why this DNA is there. An example cited in the article, relayed from Cale, depicts the case in which a California man was held for homicide for four months in 2013. This was due to the finding of his DNA underneath the victim’s fingernails. Luckily, however, it was proven that he was innocent. It was discovered that he had been hospitalized before the murder and that the paramedics who responded him were also at the homicide crime scene shortly after. The study is to be expanded in 2016 through experiments that involve DNA testing in smaller time frames instead of two minute handshakes.

As it is clear in the article, DNA now cannot be considered the purest form of evidence in order to convict or prove the innocence of a person. Some, as evident in the cases mentioned, are being wrongly accused and convicted for an action they never committed because of this transfer of DNA that places them at the crime scene. This changes the way how DNA evidence is considered. This discovery emphasizes the necessity to figure out a method to keep the innocent suspects innocent and convict the actual perpetrator.

Although eye-catching and interesting to read, improvements would be encouraged to create a stronger article. To the reader, it is obvious that the article consists mostly of quotes, which is necessary, but it would have been helpful if more detail and background on the case study was included. Also, some part of the article, particularly toward the middle paragraphs, the usage of quotes and the explanation of why “touch DNA” needs to be “rethought, in both a legal and scientific context” did not completely make sense. It took a few rereads to understand what they author intended to be the meaning. Otherwise, this article, “Touch DNA Might Be Contaminating Crime Scene Evidence”, was a new insight into the conflicts that “touch DNA” is now creating.

http://www.forensicmag.com/articles/2015/10/touch-dna-might-be-contaminating-crime-scene-evidence

Augenstein, Seth. "Touch DNA Might Be Contaminating Crime Scene Evidence." Forensic

Magazine. Advantage Business Media, 29 Oct. 2015. Web. 03 Nov. 2015.

Familial DNA searches.

In 1996 a teenager named Angie Dodge was murdered in Idaho Falls. A man was convicted for the crime after giving a confession, but police thought there was more to the crime. The man who confessed had DNA that did not match that of the DNA that was found at the crime scene. Fast forward to the present. One day in December, three men showed up at a man named Michael Usry's house. They were police officers, and they wanted to question him. After much questioning, they presented him with a warrant to take a cheek swab in order to test his DNA. Michael soon learned that he was a suspect in the 1996 murder of Angie Dodge. The only lead that they had, was that his fathers DNA had similarities to the DNA that was found at the crime scene. The police had access to his fathers DNA because he had donated his DNA to a foundation that was later sold to Ancestry.com. The database of DNA was publicly searchable, and this made it a resource for the police to use to search genetic leads of people who's DNA were not on record with the police. After 38 stressful days, it was determined that his DNA did match that of the crime scene. This situation brings the question, is familial DNA testing ethical? How long until people are wrongly convicted because of familial DNA testing? Have people been wrongly incarcerated already because of familial DNA testing? A simple accusation like the one presented in this story can easily ruin someones life, even if they are not convicted. Familial DNA testing yields an upsettingly high rate of false positives. A study done in the United Kingdom showed that in familial DNA searching, there was only a 17% rate of finding the actual offender. Many states are passing rules and regulations and even completely banning the use of familial DNA searching because of the extremely high rate of false accusations that come from it. Peoples lives have been ruined because of false accusations that were leaked to the media.

Faridabad: Fire That Killed Dalit Kids Started in Room, Not Outside, Say Forensic Experts

Ian Baxter

Current Event 6 Review

            The importance of thorough forensic examinations is underestimated, as they can have a major impact on the outcome of a crime or accident. In this article, author Varinder Bhatia proved the importance of thorough forensic examinations, in his shrewd analysis of a horrid crime scene in India. One man’s wife and children were burned alive, and only his wife is still fighting for her life in a local hospital. The man alleged that the attack was by upper caste Rajputs, and claimed that eleven men set his house on fire from the outside. However, after thorough forensic analysis, Haryana forensic experts determined that the fire was started from the inside of the building, not the outside. The forensic experts also proved numerous other claims wrong, showing, for example, that there were no traces of outside entry. However, the most important claim may be one that the eleven men accused in this horrific crime scaled the walls of the house in order to attack the man (Jitender), and his wife and two children. Forensic pointed out that there were plants next to the wall, and had the men scaled them before breaking in, there would have been a disturbance, and there was no such disturbance witnessed. While Jitender’s claims seem shaky at best, seven of the eleven men accused in the crime have been arrested.

            This article describing this very disturbing crime is so significant because it expresses the importance of thorough forensic analysis. One cannot solely rely on the claims of a victim or perpetrator involved in a crime to determine the truth about what happened, but thorough forensic analysis can ultimately find either truth or fiction to all claims in a crime. It is very tragic to hear about the family’s loss, and I read with sheer disgust at any perpetrator’s who would commit such a horrid crime, but the article more so stressed the importance of forensic analysis. Today, forensic analysis can help prove the innocence or guilt of a perpetrator, can help justice to be served, and can put all questions to rest about what happened in a crime. It is very important that shrewd forensic analysis takes place in any crime being observed.

            I definitely thought that the article could have been written a little bit better. While there probably was not much time to actually write the article given the circumstances and updates of the crime, it definitely could have been organized a lot better. As a reader, it was confusing to have so many allegations discussed here and there and forensic experts’ final verdicts on these claims everywhere. I think that had the article been more organized, with an opening paragraph describing the horrific crime, and then another paragraph describing the allegations, it would have been a much easier to follow read.

Bhatia, Varinder. "Faridabad: Fire That Killed Dalit Kids Started in Room, Not Outside, Say Forensic Experts." The Indian Express. N.p., 30 Oct. 2015. Web. 01 Nov. 2015.

Through Art and Forensics, Faces of Unidentified Victims Emerge

             The New York Academy of Art holds clay sculptures of humans who have met ugly deaths and were found as skeletons throughout New York City. As Mr. Mullins, a forensic imaging specialist, states they have all “lost their identity.” These bodies have been found on train tracks, wooded areas, and in basements. The Academy gets on average eleven new skeletons a year that have no identity. The Academy started a class that gives its students the opportunity to construct these skulls based on the remains found. The work of the artists here is a “last ditch effort” to identify these victims, and in some cases determine the killers. The city has begun trying to use the skull to sculpt a face when more traditional methods, such as fingerprinting, dental records and DNA testing, fail.

            This article has a large affect on society. If the Academy can create skulls, there is a greater chance that these unknown victims can be identified. And if they are identified, then more crimes can be solved, criminals prosecuted, and families can finally move on. In essence, each of the skulls created is a blueprint for others to look at it. The goal of this class is for people to have a chance at saying “Hey, that looks like my uncle or my cousin.” This may seem improbable, but even if it only works a few times, that allows more victims to be identified, who would have been otherwise left unidentified.

            This article goes very in depth into the class that the students at the Academy take. The author of the article is good at explaining the class, but not much else.  The article was also strong with quotes from experts. This made the article much stronger. At points the article is repetitive. The article also focuses too much on the Academy. I wish the article focused more on the results of this class than just the class itself. It would have been nice if the author told us if anyone had been identified as a result from the class.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/21/nyregion/through-art-and-forensics-students-give-unknown-victims-an-identity.html?_r=0

Kilgannon, Corey. "Through Art and Forensics, Faces of Unidentified Victims Emerge." The New York Times. The New York Times, 20 Jan. 2015. Web. 01 Nov. 2015.