Source: Figure 6: This image provides a structural diagram of DNA.

Transcription

1 Source: Figure 6: This image provides a structural diagram of DNA. The double helix strand is composed of nucleotide building blocks that consist of a phosphate group, deoxyribose sugar and a complementary base pair.

2 Source: 20PCR/pcr.jpg Figure 7: This image provides an extremely comprehensive overview of the steps involved in conducting PCR. The DNA Thermal Cycler provides the proper environment in which enzymes can facilitate the exponential amplification of the DNA sample.

3 Locus Alleles Genotypes Heterozygosity Probability of Identity D18S FGA D21S D8S vwa D7S D16S D13S TH D3S CSF1PO D5S TPOX DYS Source: J.M. Butler, C.R. Hill and M.D. Coble, Variability of New STR Loci and Kits in US Population Groups, Promega Corporation Website, updated 2012, accessed Oct. 17, Table 1: This table is the abridged version of the STR loci compiled from Promega scientists. It contains only the loci utilized by CODIS in the FBI DNA database. The locus column refers to the particular STR loci within the human genome. The DYS391 is the locus that allows forensic geneticists to ascertain the gender of the sample s owner. The probability of identity column provides the probability of that particular STR belonging to an individual. For each additional STR loci typed by the forensic expert, the probability of identities would be multiplied.

4 Evidence Possible Location of DNA on Source of DNA the Evidence Baseball bat or similar Handle, end Sweat, skin, blood, tissue weapon Hat, bandanna or mask Inside Sweat, hair, dandruff Eyeglasses Nose or ear pieces, lens Sweat, skin Facial tissue, cotton swab Surface area Mucus, blood, sweat, semen, ear wax Dirty laundry Surface area Blood, sweat, semen Toothpick Tips Saliva Used cigarette Cigarette butt Saliva Stamp or envelope Licked area Saliva Tape or ligature Inside/outside surface Skin, sweat Bottle, can, or glass Sides, mouthpiece Saliva, sweat Used condom Inside/outside surface Semen, vaginal or rectal cells Through and through Outside surface Blood, tissue bullet Bite mark Person s skin or clothing Saliva Fingernail, partial fingernail Scrapings Blood, sweat, tissue Source: National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice as synthesized by Richard Saferstein, DNA: The Indispensable Forensic Science Tool, in Criminalistics, (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2011), 286 Table 2: Potential sources of DNA that can be collected during a criminal investigation.

5 Source: Figure 8: This image provides a simplistic drawing of the inside of a gun barrel. Different combinations of lands, grooves and twists are employed by companies to create a unique weapon. Source: Figure 9: Side by side comparison of two different bullet samples. (Left) The alignment of the striation marks suggests a match, indicating that the two bullets were fired from the same weapon. (Right) The incongruities with the longitudinal lines suggest that these bullets were not fired from the same gun.

6 NCIS, One Shot, One Kill, CBS, Feb. 10, 2004, written by Gil Grant, Television. Figure 10: Special Agent Kate Todd uses a pair of tweezers to extract the bullet from the wall. Criminal Cases in US District & Appellate Courts start of Fiscal Year Filed Terminated Pending at end of Fiscal Year 1960 Not given 30,617 30,462 7, ,411 29,689 26,633 27, ,906 63,042 63,595 71, ,483 68,591 67,697 73,633 Criminal Defendants in US District & Appellate Courts start of Fiscal Year Filed Terminated Pending at end of Fiscal Year 1960 NOT GIVEN ,950 43,073 37,613 40, ,572 85,122 85, , ,268 91,047 88, ,132 Table 3: This table summarizes the US Attorney Statistical Reports from 1960, 1985, 2008 and It quantifies the number of criminal cases tried in the United States during the respective years as well as the number of individuals who were charged with crimes.

7 Criminal cases filed % Change from previous year Criminal complaints received % Change from previous year Criminal matters declined Cases terminated % Change from previous year Results of terminated cases , % â 106, % â 69,931 30, % â 27,645 - guilty plea 3,310 guilty after trial 1,373 found not guilty , % â 90, % â Not given ,043 cases against 85, ,591 cases against 91, % á 155, % á 24,321 63,595 (85,083 ) * only 4% of went to trial 1 % á * in 2002, 56,658 cases were filed 166,836 3 % â * in 2002, 109,173 cases were received 26, %â 24,792 - guilty plea 4054 guilty after trial 860 found not guilty 26,479 67,697 (88369 ) *only 4% of cases went to trial 10%á 92% conviction rate 82% of sentenced to prison 1% á 93% conviction rate 81% of sentenced to prison Table 4: Summary of the US Attorney Statistical Reports from 1960, 1985, 2008 and 2010 containing a number of interesting facts highlighting the prosecutorial trends of the United States Attorneys as well as the outcomes of these criminal proceedings. 75,145 pled guilty before or during their trial; 2,995 were found guilty and 82% of them received prison sentences. This represents a notable increase of people sent to jail since Of the 82% who received prison sentences: 29.7% (19,077 people) received 61+ months 21.8% (13,964 people) received 1-12 months 20.2 % (12,958 people) received months 0.3% (215 people) received a life sentence 3 people were sentenced to death The conviction rate of US Attorneys has remained above 90% since the year Of those convicted, 97% (79,260 people) entered a guilty plea either prior to or during trial. Of the 27.0% (17,867 people) received 61+ months 24.9% (16,470 people) received 1-12 months 19.6 % (12,956 people) received months 0.3% (182 people) received a life sentence

8 5 people were sentenced to death

9 Disposition Criminal Cases in US District & Appellate Courts Total Terminated Guilty Not Guilty Dismissed ,462 24,995 (81.8%) 830 (2.7%) NOT GIVEN ,633 20,542 (77.1%) 436 (1.6%) 2,211 (8.3%) ,595 59,148 (93%) 278 (0.44%) 3,473 (5.5%) ,697 63,405 (93.7%) 254 (0.38%) 3,395 (5.0%) Criminal Defendants in US District & Appellate* Courts Total Terminated Guilty Not Guilty Dismissed ,066 29,751 (80.3%) 1,228 (3.3%) 3,659 (9.9%) ,613 28,846 (76.7%) 860 (2.3%) 3,599 (9.6%) ,083 78,140 (91.8%) 521 (0.61%) 5,101 (6.0%) ,369 81,934 (92.7%) 416 (0.47%) 4,842 (5.5%) Table 5: This summary of the US Attorney Statistical Reports from 1960, 1985, 2008 and 2010 provides the break down of verdicts obtained for criminal cases brought to the attention of US Attorneys. The data contained within these tables shows that the number of guilty verdicts has grown immensely over the years (with the exception of 1985). These trends clearly refute the first hypothesis of the CSI Effect pertaining to the increased burden on the prosecution. * For the 1960 Fiscal Year, these numbers do not include the cases tried in front of The US Appellate Court **Incidents that are classified as other constitute the remaining percent Figure 11: This graph was obtained from the 2008 US Attorney Statistical Report. It shows the increased frequency with which jail sentences accompanied a guilty verdict. Although there was a noticeable decrease in the percent of guilty people sentenced to jail, the overall increase since 1999 is suggestive of a cultural mindset that jail is an appropriate punishment for the guilty.