Forensic Evidence in Court

Preface xvi
 
Part 1 1
 
1 An Introduction to the Admissibility of Expert Scientific Opinion 3
 
1.1 Admissibility, Reliability and Scientific Evidence 3
 
1.2 The Impact of the DNA Revolution 5
 
1.3 The Miscarriage of Justice 6
 
1.3.1 The United Kingdom 7
 
1.3.2 The United States 8
 
1.3.3 Canada 8
 
1.3.4 Australia 9
 
1.4 DNA Reveals Wrongful Convictions 9
 
1.5 The Causes of Wrongful Conviction 10
 
1.6 Unreliable Scientific Evidence 11
 
1.6.1 The Status and Expertise of the Expert Witness 11
 
1.6.2 The Expert is not Impartial 12
 
1.6.3 The Evidence was Wrong 13
 
1.6.4 Exaggerated Evaluation by the Expert 13
 
1.6.5 Unethical Behaviour 14
 
1.6.6 Human Error 14
 
1.6.7 Non-validated Methodology 15
 
1.6.8 Overconfidence in New Techniques 15
 
1.7 The Scientist and the Laboratory 16
 
1.8 Conclusions 17
 
References 17
 
Further Reading 18
 
2 Admissibility from the Legal Perspective 20
 
2.1 Admissibility, Relevance and Reliability of Evidence 20
 
2.2 Admissibility in the United States 22
 
2.2.1 Reliability and the Frye Test 22
 
2.2.2 Meeting the Frye Criterion: US v Stifel 1970 23
 
2.2.3 Admissibility and the Gatekeeper Role: The Daubert Test 23
 
2.2.4 The Daubert Trilogy 25
 
2.2.5 General Electric v Joiner 1997 25
 
2.2.6 Kumo Tire Company v Patrick Carmichael 1999 26
 
2.2.7 Post?]Daubert Hearings: US v Dennis Mooney 2002 26
 
2.3 Admissibility in Canada 27
 
2.3.1 R v Mohan 1994 27
 
2.3.2 R v Abbey 2009 29
 
2.3.3 R v Trochym 2007 29
 
2.4 Admissibility in Australia 30
 
2.4.1 R v Bonython 1984 30
 
2.4.2 Makita v Sprowles 2001 31
 
2.4.3 Dasreef Pty Limited v Hawchar 2011 31
 
2.5 Admissibility in England and Wales 32
 
2.5.1 R v Turner 1975

Craig Adam is based at the School of Physical and Geographical Sciences, Keele University, Keele, UK. He has been involved in forensic science education and research for almost fifteen years while working at Keele University. Originally a physicist by training, he has particular interests in the mathematical and statistical aspects of the discipline, in addition to his research on the physicochemical characterisation of forensic materials, document analysis and blood dynamics. He has published across all these areas, including the textbook Essential Mathematics and Statistics for Forensic Science, available from Wiley-Blackwell. He has extensive experience in developing teaching resources across the spectrum of forensic science and, over recent years, has focused on the interface between science and the court. This has led him to explore the legal, scientific and statistical perspectives driving the evolution of the crucial step in the progress of scientific evidence from the crime scene through the legal debate to its influence on the ultimate decision by the court.