Using the DNA Testing of Arrestees to Reevaluate Fourth Amendment Doctrine

With the advent of DNA testing, numerous issues have arisen with regard to obtaining and using evidence developed from such testing. As courts have come to regard DNA testing as a reliable method for linking some people to crimes and for exonerating others, these issues are especially significant. The federal government and most states have enacted statutes that permit or direct the testing of those convicted of at least certain crimes. Courts have almost universally approved such testing, rejecting arguments that obtaining and using such evidence violates the Fourth Amendment. More recently governments have enacted laws permitting or directing the taking of DNA samples from those arrested, but not yet convicted, for certain serious crimes. Courts had been far more divided about the constitutionality of DNA testing for arrestees than they were for the comparable testing of those already convicted of crimes. Given the division in the holdings among both state and federal courts and the increasing importance of DNA evidence in criminal investigations, it was hardly surprising that the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case regarding the constitutionality of a Maryland statute allowing for such testing. Section II of this article will provide a brief description of the science of DNA testing as it is used in the criminal justice system. Section III will discuss the Supreme Court\u27s decision in Maryland v. King. Section IV will address the argument of the opponents of the DNA testing of arrestees - that it violates the presumption of innocence. The chief focus of the article will appear in Sections V and VI, which will respond to the arguments posed by those who claim such testing violates the Fourth Amendment. Section V will address the balancing test for such searches and seizures long employed by the Supreme Court. Section VI describes and critiques the use of the primary purpose test as an important factor in determining whether the Fourth Amendment has been violated. This test looks to whether the primary purpose of the government\u27s search or seizure was something other than to ferret out ordinary criminal wrongdoing, and only in such situations excuses the absence of individualized suspicion

An investigation into summary data of solved North American serial killer cases to identify trends within murder and disposal locations and time between estimated death and recovery

Homicide investigations require significant resources and personnel from multiple departments, therefore, it is critical to be thorough and explore all lines of enquiry to ensure that these cases do not turn cold. Many factors have been identified that are associated with increased solvability. These include, efficient use of the first 48-hours, body disposal locations, forensic awareness of the offender and decomposition rates. The aim of this review was to explore the extent at which these factors affect solvability and their resulting forensic and criminological implications, regarding time frames and methods for evidence collection, ability to apprehend and link offenders by understanding the types of killers they are through forensic awareness strategies. In the absence of these cases being solved, this review also addresses the major discrepancies noted within the structure of cold case reviews. The literature ultimately determined that further research into body disposal location, particularly, bodies disposed of in water vs. non-water environments and discovery of body since estimated time of death (within 48 hours or over 48 hours) is required. This will be carried out by investigating 54 North American serial murderers and 125 of their respective victims, active between 1920 to 2016, to identify if there are any statistically significant trends between the aforementioned variables, when broken down into indoor and outdoor cases and 8 specified time series

Forensic Intelligence

In this chapter, the term ‘intelligence’ is progressively integrated into the dominant conceptualizations that traditional forensic science laboratories implement in serving justice systems. Forensic intelligence thus expands the narrower scope of forensic science. The latter’s frame of reference eventually changes when its contribution to security studies and proactive styles of policing is envisaged. A generic forensic intelligence process is presented, which provides forensic science with a global framework demonstrating the possible collaboration between many new professions and forensic scientists who are interested in crime intelligence

Annual Report 2016-2017

https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/govpubs-tn-bureau-investigation-annual-reports/1005/thumbnail.jp

Frequency and Predictors of False Conviction: Why We Know So Little, and New Data on Capital Cases

In the first part of this article, we address the problems inherent in studying wrongful convictions: our pervasive ignorance and the extreme difficulty of obtaining the data that we need to answer even basic questions. The main reason that we know so little about false convictions is that, by definition, they are hidden from view. As a result, it is nearly impossible to gather reliable data on the characteristics or even the frequency of false convictions. In addition, we have very limited data on criminal investigations and prosecutions in general, so even if we could somehow obtain data on cases of wrongful conviction, we would have inadequate data on true convictions with which to compare them. In the second part of the article, we dispel some of that ignorance by considering data on false convictions in a small but important subset of criminal cases about which we have unusually detailed information: death sentences. From 1973 on, we know basic facts about all defendants who were sentenced to death in the United States, and we know which of them were exonerated. From these data we estimate that the frequency of wrongful death sentences in the United States is at least 2.3 percent. In addition, we compare post-1973 capital exonerations in the United States to a random sample of cases of defendants who were sentenced in the same time period and ultimately executed. Based on these comparisons, we present a handful of findings on features of the investigations of capital cases, and on background facts about capital defendants, that are modest predictors of false convictions

Predictive models as screening tools for DNA recovery from baked and burned porcine bones

Burnt bones and skeletal remnants continue to challenge the proficiency of forensic investigations in human individualization and identification. The various natural disasters and human inflicted crimes involving fire leave the forensic investigators with very little to work on. Thus, demand for practical studies to obtain useful facts for improvisation of current techniques and to overcome the short comings is a prerequisite. In this study Design of Experiments (DOE) as an investigative and screening tool to relate the different variables (burning temperature, time, thickness of flesh, presence of accelerants) involved in the burning process and to detect the probability of obtaining successful DNA identification from burnt bones is proposed. We show that high temperature and large base pair PCR primer have a significant effect on DNA retrieval and amplification. The baking study provides reproducible DNA identification with maximum retrieval temperature of 320°C for the smallest (106bp) amplicon. The study involving accelerants demonstrates that those with high specific heat capacity decrease DNA recovery, hence suggesting probable damage to DNA. Through this study the positive effect of presence of flesh for DNA recovery was also verified with a maximum DNA recovery temperature of 500°C. Utilizing all these information through DOE, predictive models were also created with regression equations to calculate positive DNA amplification and to predict the different variables respective to the burning process. These models created using porcine bones could be related for real scenarios and with more data procurement it could be used effectively in forensic investigations

Annual Report Fiscal Year 2009-2010

https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/govpubs-tn-bureau-investigation-annual-reports/1012/thumbnail.jp

Roles of DNA Molecules in Identification of Unclaimed or Missing Dead Bodies Presumed Death in Western Kenya Utilizing Comparison Standards

Medico-legal form bench-mark of health determinants and provide integrated services towards criminal justice support in health. Globally, over 44 million cases of unclaimed bodies or missing dead persons (UCBOMDPs) occur annually 88% of these cases are in Sub Saharan Africa. In Kenya and western Kenya rate of UCBOMDPs from road traffic accidents accounts 30% and 10% respectively 80% of these UCBOMDPs are associated with limited access to affordable quality comparison tests for identifications attributed to the increased prevalence of health and occupational hazards in population health. The current investigations aimed at identifying UCBOMDPs from public mortuaries by quantifying demographic data and determining DNA finger print and chemical tests (electrophoresis) using comparison standards. In Exploratory and cross sectional 235 respondents were investigated through purposive and saturated sampling using Finger print forms structured questionnaires focus group discussions (FGDs) observations and key informant interviews (KII) guides to collect data. Analyzed statistical inferences and contents analysis to saturation, results showed, 94% of mortuary service providers in tier 4 were primary and secondary education drop outs of males on contract jobs with limited access to quality services in mortuary science contrarily to females and males counterparts from tiers 5 and 6 mortuary facilities on permanent and trained. Rate of gross infection in public mortuaries and congestion had significant OD (2.2, 0.44). Prevalence of male being admitted as UCBOMDPs was significant due to being family bread winners OD (8.3, 0.12), RR (0.33), 95% CI (1.23, 1.02), significance were associated with male deliberately leaving IDs in houses due to identity. Utilization of Dactylography was significant than electrophoresis method, P value (0.67), OD (4.8, 1.3) due to high costs, procedures, DNA quantifying reagents and next of kin sampling for comparisons. Need for quality service advocacy in Department of Forensic Pathology to develop subsidized functional DNA chemical structures

Application of enhancement strategies for the improvement of discriminating forensic DNA profiles from human bones

Although DNA profiling techniques are considered a powerful method for identification, problems arise when low quantity and/or quality DNA is tested. Analyzing samples with low template DNA using standard genotyping techniques like STR typing can yield no or an incomplete profile, making conclusive identification nearly impossible. One challenging forensic sample material is bone. For example, DNA within bone can be degraded due to harsh environmental conditions even when the structure of the bone appears to be relatively well preserved. Consequently, the amount of usable DNA in bones can be limited which complicates downstream applications for DNA profiling. This study investigated techniques that would improve obtaining a discriminating DNA profile from human bones. First, the performances of three commercial DNA extraction kits were evaluated for the recovery of genomic DNA from human bones. The PrepFiler® BTA Forensic DNA Extraction Kit recovered the highest DNA yield according to qPCR data and was used for additional bone extractions. Next, purified DNA from a total of 12 bone samples was subject to genotyping methods using capillary electrophoresis (CE) as well as massively parallel sequencing (MPS) to determine which strategy would produce the most discriminating DNA profile. The genotyping techniques evaluated were: CE-based STR analysis with the GlobalFiler® PCR Amplification Kit, whole genome amplification (WGA) with the REPLI-g® Mini Kit for improved CE-based STR detection, and MPS for STR/SNP analysis using the Ion PGM™ and MiSeq® FGx™ platforms. Random match probabilities were calculated to determine the discriminatory power of the resulting DNA profiles. Although the Ion PGM™ SNP profiles had the highest RMPs, the GlobalFiler® STR profiles produced similar discriminatory power. Considering the time and labor required for MPS, one could argue STR analysis using traditional CE may be better suited for DNA profiling of challenging bone samples. However, the MPS technologies provide additional information that CE-methods can’t, such as Y-haplogroup and biogeographical ancestry predictions from SNP analyses

Annual Report Fiscal Year 2006-2007

https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/govpubs-tn-bureau-investigation-annual-reports/1015/thumbnail.jp