An American Advantage? How American and Swiss Criminal Defense Attorneys Evaluate Forensic DNA Evidence

AbstractCritics of the American system of justice sometimes perceive “inquisitorialism” as an attractive alternative. In this article we will report a comparative study investigating the way forensic DNA evidence is handled in criminal prosecutions in the Swiss and American systems, focusing particularly on the behavior of criminal defense lawyers. We will argue that the successes and failures of American and Swiss lawyers in this context offer important insights into the relative strengths and limitations of adversarial and non-adversarial legal systems

An American Advantage? How American and Swiss Criminal Defense Attorneys Evaluate Forensic DNA Evidence

Critics of the American system of justice sometimes perceive "inquisitorialism” as an attractive alternative. In this article we will report a comparative study investigating the way forensic DNA evidence is handled in criminal prosecutions in the Swiss and American systems, focusing particularly on the behavior of criminal defense lawyers. We will argue that the successes and failures of American and Swiss lawyers in this context offer important insights into the relative strengths and limitations of adversarial and non-adversarial legal systems

Evaluation of forensic DNA traces when propositions of interest relate to activities: analysis and discussion of recurrent concerns

When forensic scientists evaluate and report on the probative strength of single DNA traces, they commonly rely on only one number, expressing the rarity of the DNA profile in the population of interest. This is so because the focus is on propositions regarding the source of the recovered trace material, such as “the person of interest is the source of the crime stain.” In particular, when the alternative proposition is “an unknown person is the source of the crime stain,” one is directed to think about the rarity of the profile. However, in the era of DNA profiling technology capable of producing results from small quantities of trace material (i.e., non-visible staining) that is subject to easy and ubiquitous modes of transfer, the issue of source is becoming less central, to the point that it is often not contested. There is now a shift from the question “whose DNA is this?” to the question “how did it get there?” As a consequence, recipients of expert information are now very much in need of assistance with the evaluation of the meaning and probative strength of DNA profiling results when the competing propositions of interest refer to different activities. This need is widely demonstrated in day-to-day forensic practice and is also voiced in specialized literature. Yet many forensic scientists remain reluctant to assess their results given propositions that relate to different activities. Some scientists consider evaluations beyond the issue of source as being overly speculative, because of the lack of relevant data and knowledge regarding phenomena and mechanisms of transfer, persistence and background of DNA. Similarly, encouragements to deal with these activity issues, expressed in a recently released European guideline on evaluative reporting (Willis et al., 2015), which highlights the need for rethinking current practice, are sometimes viewed skeptically or are not considered feasible. In this discussion paper, we select and discuss recurrent skeptical views brought to our attention, as well as some of the alternative solutions that have been suggested. We will argue that the way forward is to address now, rather than later, the challenges associated with the evaluation of DNA results (from small quantities of trace material) in light of different activities to prevent them being misrepresented in court

An American Advantage? How American and Swiss Criminal Defense Attorneys Evaluate Forensic DNA Evidence

AbstractCritics of the American system of justice sometimes perceive “inquisitorialism” as an attractive alternative. In this article we will report a comparative study investigating the way forensic DNA evidence is handled in criminal prosecutions in the Swiss and American systems, focusing particularly on the behavior of criminal defense lawyers. We will argue that the successes and failures of American and Swiss lawyers in this context offer important insights into the relative strengths and limitations of adversarial and non-adversarial legal systems

Estimation forensique de l’âge des jeunes migrants - Une note sur la scientificité des méthodes employées en Suisse

Die Autoren diskutieren die Wissenschaftlichkeit der angewendeten Metho- den zur Schätzung des Alters von jungen Migranten. Sie legen den Fokus auf die grundsätzlich forensische Natur dieser Disziplin. Besonderes Augenmerk wird auf den Umgang und die Auslegung der mit dieser Art der Bewertung einhergehenden Unsicherheit gelegt. Die Autoren schlagen eine sogenannte «Bayessche» Methodologie vor im Umgang mit der Unsicherheit, sowohl aus Sicht des Experten als auch aus derjenigen der Entscheidinstanz

After Uniqueness: The Evolution of Forensic Science Opinion

Big changes are occurring in forensic science, particularly among experts who compare the patterns found in fingerprints, footwear impressions, toolmarks, handwriting, and the like. Forensic examiners are reaching conclusions in new ways and changing the language they use in reports and testimony. This article explains these changes and the challenges they pose for lawyers and judges.This is an article published as Thompson, William C., Joelle Vuille, Franco Taroni, and Alex Bidermann. "After uniqueness: the evolution of forensic science opinions." Judicature 102 (2018): 18. Posted with permission of CSAFE.</p

L’estimation de l’âge des jeunes personnes migrantes en Suisse et dans l’Union européenne : perspectives juridiques et scientifiques

Die Altersbestimmung von jungen Migrantinnen und Migranten wirft verschiedene juristische, naturwissenschaftliche und ethische Fragen auf. Im Rahmen dieses Beitrags wird zunächst der Rechtsrahmen erläutert, der Minderjährigen im schweizerischen und europäischen Recht in Asylverfahren besondere Rechte einräumt. Darauf aufbauend wird ein neuer Ansatz vorgeschlagen, der die naturwissenschaftliche Belastbarkeit der Altersschätzung von jungen Migrantinnen und Migranten verbessert und für mehr Transparenz im Entscheidungsprozess sorgt