60 Minutes on Eyewitness Testimony and DNA Forensics

Posted by Osagie K. Obasogie March 31, 2009
Biopolitical Times

60 minutes recently profiled a case out of North Carolina where the eyewitness testimony of a rape victim turned out to be wrong, leading to an innocent man’s conviction and 11 year incarceration before DNA evidence proved his innocence. This is a fascinating story about how flaws in the way police collect (and produce) victims’ visual memories can lead to wrongful convictions.

But, in framing DNA evidence as an almost foolproof way to determine guilt or innocence, this segment is another interesting example of how the criticism of police investigative work tends to focus heavily on non-genetic tactics such as eyewitness testimony or ballistics while leaving DNA forensics largely unscrutinized. (For another key example, see the National Academies recent report on forensics.)

The use of DNA technologies as an exclusionary tool (as it was used in this case) raises significantly fewer questions than using these technologies to include a person as a suspect. However, an important concern remains: gut wrenching stories such as the one profiled here may unduly “gold-standardize” DNA forensics and encourage a CSI culture that doesn’t think as critically as it should about these technologies’ potential abuses.


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