DNA & The Judicial System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

deoxyribonucleic acid & The Judicial Sy theme - Essay pillow slipEvolution of deoxyribonucleic acid technology to solve criminal cases is not a new phenomenon. Media has extensively popularized the theory of deoxyribonucleic acid technology and its role in the fight against crime and in retributiveice. This extensive coverage is not just for the mere reason that the technology is relatively new in the judicial system, but because of its peculiar truth in convicting or exonerating suspects. Legislation has been a major issue in the application of DNA technology. These stem from incessant use of the technology in data banking to utilise DNA canvasss in post-conviction political campaigns. Originally, the test was authentic solely for determining paternity of children. Samples taken under clinical conditions were studied for genetic examine linking parents to children. The maid time DNA technology made its way into the judicial system was in 1986. Police in England asked a m olecular biologist and researcher, Alec Jeffreys to use DNA tests to verify the validity of 17 year sometime(a) boy in two cases of sexual assault in the English Midlands. The twist in the test results that proved the boy to be innocent of the offenses, and a later conviction of the real perpetrator using the same DNA test made DNA testing a technology to revere in the judicial system.In 1987, the prime(prenominal) DNA- found conviction took place in the United States. Tommy Lee was convicted in lick Courts, Florida within the Orange County for rape. The DNA test on samples of semen collected from a victim matched his DNA construct. This did not, however, change the public and judicial mindset did not take immediate effect until a gamey court ruled in favor of DNA test. In 1989, the state high court of due west Virginia ruled in favor of DNA sample tests on a rape case.... The DNA test on samples of semen collected from a victim matched his DNA construct. This did not, however , change the public and judicial mindset did not take immediate effect until a high court ruled in favor of DNA test. In 1989, the state high court of West Virginia ruled in favor of DNA sample tests on a rape case (Lazer, 2010). The first years of the ground-breaking use of DNA in administering justice did not attract dispute and public uproar. This, however, changed as the technique became more widely employ by prosecutors. Defense attorneys began challenging and disputing the admissibility of DNA tests as grounds of administering justice. Admissibility of a new technology in judicial system is determined using two universally agreed standards. These are the Daubert Standard and the Frye Standard. The first standard of admissibility, Daubert Standard originates from 1993 case of Daubert v Merrel Dow Pharmaceuticals. The court ruled during this famous legal tussle that evidence and proof must possess enough scientific reliability and validity to be admitted as relevant scientific knowledge which would be used to assist the trier of facts (Yang, 2011). The earlier standard named Frye Standard is based in a 1923 case of Frye v United States. During this important ruling, the court pronounced that in station for a novel scientific technology to be admissible, scientific evidence must be exhaustively established to have acquired general acceptance in the field that it belongs. Considering the two standards of admissibility of technology, it would be level-minded to conclude that DNA technology meets the criteria of determining admissibility. The technology belongs to the field of medicine and clinical practices (Ze-Lian & Drew, 2008). Prior to its usage in the