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Forensic Science Under Siege

The Challenges of Forensic Laboratories and the Medico-Legal Investigation System

  • 1st Edition - February 23, 2007
  • Latest edition
  • Author: Kelly Pyrek
  • Language: English

Forensic science laboratories' reputations have increasingly come under fire. Incidents of tainted evidence, false reports, allegations of negligence, scientifically flawed te… Read more

Description

Forensic science laboratories' reputations have increasingly come under fire. Incidents of tainted evidence, false reports, allegations of negligence, scientifically flawed testimony, or - worse yet - perjury in in-court testimony, have all served to cast a shadow over the forensic sciences. Instances of each are just a few of the quality-related charges made in the last few years.

Forensic Science Under Siege is the first book to integrate and explain these problematic trends in forensic science. The issues are timely, and are approached from an investigatory, yet scholarly and research-driven, perspective. Leading experts are consulted and interviewed, including directors of highly visible forensic laboratories, as well as medical examiners and coroners who are commandeering the discussions related to these issues. Interviewees include Henry Lee, Richard Saferstein, Cyril Wecht, and many others.

The ultimate consequences of all these pressures, as well as the future of forensic science, has yet to be determined. This book examines these challenges, while also exploring possible solutions (such as the formation of a forensic science consortium to address specific legislative issues). It is a must-read for all forensic scientists.

Key features

  • Provides insight on the current state of forensic science, demands, and future direction as provided by leading experts in the field
  • Consolidates the current state of standards and best-practices of labs across disciplines
  • Discusses a controversial topic that must be addressed for political support and financial funding of forensic science to improve

Readership

Forensic DNA/genetic specialists, law enforcement and criminal investigators, crime scene technicians, private forensic consultants, general forensic community (trace experts, fingerprint, ballistics, etc.), crime laboratory directors and technicians, medical examiners, coroners and forensic pathologists, forensic nurses, prosecutors, and law enforcement, Forensic science and criminal justice 4- and 2-year college students, high school students, forensic nurses, prosecutors, defense attorneys, district attorneys, members of the criminal justice system, and interested laypersons

Table of contents

1. Forensic Science: Celebrated and Vilified

2. The Stakeholders in Forensic Science: Roles, Perspectives, and Expectations

3. An Introduction to the U.S. Forensic Laboratory System

4. The U.S. Forensic Laboratory System Under Siege

5. The Reality of the U.S. Forensic Laboratory System

6. An Introduction to the U.S. Medico-Legal Death Investigation System

7. The U.S. Medico-legal Death Investigation System Under Siege

8. The Real Story of the U.S. Medico-legal Death Investigation System

9. The Courts: Battlefield for the Truth and a Changing Paradigm

10. Not All Science is Created Equal

11. DNA: Convicting the Guilty, Exonerating the Innocent

12. The Evidence Trilogy and Forensic Science

13. The Stakeholders in Court: Judges, Juries, Experts, and Attorneys

14. The Champions of Forensic Science: Advocacy and Funding Efforts

15. The Road to Redemption: An Agenda for Reform

16. New Initiatives and the Future of Forensic Science

Product details

  • Edition: 1
  • Latest edition
  • Published: February 23, 2007
  • Language: English

About the author

KP

Kelly Pyrek

Affiliations and expertise
Phoenix, Arizona

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