Most Americans have at least a passing understanding of legal procedure and forensic science. After all, the top-rated CSI and Law & Order television franchises have been around for awhile. Most people understand that law enforcement officers and prosecutors regularly rely on forensic evidence to convict felons and murders. However, a newly released federal report on the nation's crime labs calls into question the forensic results used to send many people to jail.
Despite what you see on CSI or Law & Order, TV does not always mimic reality when it comes to forensic science. Laboratory methods used to create courtroom evidence are often untested and fraught with errors, according to a report by the National Academy of Sciences commissioned by Congress. Poorly trained lab technicians, poor supervision, use of unsubstantiated analysis methods, and underfunded and ill-equipped labs were roundly criticized in the report and found to be so prevalent that report writers call for a nationwide overhaul of the U.S. forensic science community.
"Reliable forensic evidence increases the ability of law enforcement officials to identify those who commit crimes, and it protects innocent people from being convicted of crimes they didn't commit," Harry Edwards, former chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and co-chairman of the committee that produced the report, said in a statement to the press. "There is tremendous need for the forensic science community to improve."
Careful review of forensic evidence to be presented in a murder trial and dispute of its methodology and validity is just one of the keys to a successful murder defense in Los Angeles County. An experienced criminal defense attorney will thoroughly and aggressively investigate every piece of evidence submitted and every step in the prosecution's case against a client charged with murder, says expert L.A. criminal defense attorney Stephen Rodriguez. Rodriguez, who has considerable experience defending clients charged with murder, homicide and other serious felonies, explains that "A thorough investigation is the key to successfully using a defense in a murder/homicide case." When defending against a charge of murder or homicide in Los Angeles County, a criminal defense lawyer must conduct a thorough independent investigation to search out the maximum amount of evidence to support a defense. Rodiguez, who has a highly successful record in criminal defense, notes that it is critical to begin defense investigations early in the defense process, to utilize only top investigators with a proven ability to achieve successful results, and to investigate aggressively.
On Friday: More on how criminal defense attorneys handle murder cases
[...] exonerated by new evidence or DNA tests after spending years behind bars. A recent federal study (see our March 18 post) challenges the validity of forensic methodology and evidence used to send thousands of [...]