Television shows like CSI, Forensic Files, and The New Detectives make it look so easy. A crime-scene photographer snaps photographs, a fingerprint technician examines a gun, uniformed officers seal off a house while detectives gather hair and blood samples, placing them carefully into separate evidence containers. In a crime laboratory, a suspect’s hands are meticulously examined for gunshot residue. An autopsy is performed in order to determine range and angle of the gunshot and time-of-death evidence. Dozens of tests and analyses are performed and cross-referenced. A conviction is made. Another crime is solved. The credits roll. The American public has become captivated by success stories like this one with their satisfying and definitive conclusions, all made possible because of the wonders of forensic science. Unfortunately, however, popular television dramas do not represent the way most homicide cases in the United States are actually handled. In Forensics Under Fire, Jim Fisher makes a compelling case that the problems in the practice of forensic science allow offenders to escape justice and can also lead to the imprisonment of innocent people. Bringing together examples from a host of high-profile criminal cases, Fisher presents daunting evidence that forensic science has a long way to go before it lives up to its potential and the public’s expectations.
Words: blood tests, criminal order, fisher people, laboratory technician, long way to go, technician laboratory, tests blood

Author: Fisher, Jim
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Illustration: N
Language: ENG
Title: Forensics Under Fire: Are Bad Science and Dueling Experts Corrupting Criminal Justice?
Pages: 00000 (Encrypted PDF)
On Sale: 2008-01-01
SKU-13/ISBN: 9780813542713
Category: History : General