Why Is Oj Simpson Guilty
The O. J. Simpson murder trial is remembered for its not guilty verdict. Pundits said the reason why Simpson was found not guilty was because the officers who gathered the blood evidence did not follow department protocol. Simpson’s lawyers suggested the officers could have planted the blood evidence at Simpson’s home and in his Bronco. The trial took place in the mid-1990s when DNA was just coming into the lab and into police work. Simpson’s lawyers were able to hit the police department on the unprofessional way its forensic workers gathered and stored evidence. In 2015, there is still little professionalism in the way of collecting and storing evidence. Cole (2014) had a chapter published a book, Wrongful Conviction and Criminal Justice
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Police departments, sheriff departments, FBI labs and so on are not independent of policing agencies. What gets attention in a lab also depends on state funding. It is not uncommon to hear labs are backed up because of the lack of funds. Since there is no independent agency analyzing blood evidence, there is room for bias and for fixing tests. In Cole’s view, all evidence testing should be completed by independent labs with no interest in how a case turns out. Furthermore, there is no uniform testing, which can lead to problems when testifying in court. Moreover, there is no national regulatory agency that inspects and licenses …show more content…
First, the labs need to be moved out of police buildings and out of police hands. Second, there needs to be certain classes on forensic science that workers must have in order to become a worker. The industry needs to decide either to have employees who get a certificate from a community college or private school or a four year degree from a university. There needs to be a set way to gather evidence, test evidence, store evidence, and testify about the evidence. If everything is gathered and tested according to a set of rules, the defense attorneys at trial cannot challenge the evidence and get their client acquitted. Uniformity also should prevent innocent people from being convicted. As one of the characters on the show CSI said, the evidence will lead the authorities to the criminal. That is what properly handled evidence should do. Forensic science in the United States needs to be improved, regulated, and
Police departments, sheriff departments, FBI labs and so on are not independent of policing agencies. What gets attention in a lab also depends on state funding. It is not uncommon to hear labs are backed up because of the lack of funds. Since there is no independent agency analyzing blood evidence, there is room for bias and for fixing tests. In Cole’s view, all evidence testing should be completed by independent labs with no interest in how a case turns out. Furthermore, there is no uniform testing, which can lead to problems when testifying in court. Moreover, there is no national regulatory agency that inspects and licenses …show more content…
First, the labs need to be moved out of police buildings and out of police hands. Second, there needs to be certain classes on forensic science that workers must have in order to become a worker. The industry needs to decide either to have employees who get a certificate from a community college or private school or a four year degree from a university. There needs to be a set way to gather evidence, test evidence, store evidence, and testify about the evidence. If everything is gathered and tested according to a set of rules, the defense attorneys at trial cannot challenge the evidence and get their client acquitted. Uniformity also should prevent innocent people from being convicted. As one of the characters on the show CSI said, the evidence will lead the authorities to the criminal. That is what properly handled evidence should do. Forensic science in the United States needs to be improved, regulated, and