Forensic Evidence in Criminal Investigations Research Paper

But if there five or ten, along with other forensic evidence, it is enough to say that an individual committed a crime "beyond a reasonable doubt."

The glove that didn't fit O.J. Simpson at his trial for the murder of his wife and another man is an example of forensic evidence that cleared someone who was falsely accused. Whether that was the correct verdict, we will never know for certain. Forensic evidence that does not "fit" an individual can just as easily remove him or her as a suspect.

The glove alone did not bring a verdict of not guilty to Simpson, but it was certainly a keystone in the defense. If he was supposed to have worn that glove when he committed the crime, and the glove is too small to fit his hand, how could he have committed the crime? It would be the same with DNA, or blood type for instance. If no matches can be made in an individual's DNA sequence, the person most probably did not commit the crime.If the blood type is wrong, it would be easy to eliminate someone. But, again, it is usually the lack of the chain of evidence that will clear someone falsely accused.

Bibliography innocence project. (2010, February 9). Cameron Todd Willingham: An innocent man executed in Texas. Retrieved March 25, 2010, from innocenceproject.org: http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/2170.php

Kiely, T. (2001). Forensic evidence: Science, and the criminal law. Cleveland: CRC Press.

Layton, J. (2005, December 2). How crime scene investigation works. Retrieved March 23, 2010, from howstuffworks.com: http://science.howstuffworks.com/csi.htm#

Merriam-Webster, Inc. . (n.d.). forensic. Retrieved March 22, 2010, from Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/forensic

PSCA International. (2009, November 11). Forensics play a 'significant' role in crime fighting. Retrieved March 23, 2010, from publicservice.co.uk: http://www.publicservice.co.uk/feature_story.asp?id=11684

Thinkquest. (2004). forensic science. Retrieved March 22, 2010, from thinkquest.org: http://library.thinkquest.org/04oct/00206/about_us.htm

U.S. Dept. Of Energy. (2009, June 16). DNA forensics. Retrieved March 24, 2010, from ornl.gov: http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/forensics.shtml.....