As I’ve researched opinions about crime labs and forensic science, I’ve noticed an increase in negative press. I’d like to touch on this a bit in my next few posts. I think there’s always been a bit of a divide between scientists and the general public. It seems the field of forensics/criminalistics has never really been viewed accurately. Initially, people didn’t believe in it. More recently, with the addition of popular shows like CSI, people perhaps believed a little too much in it. Now, we’re swinging back around to viewing it with a certain amount of leeriness. This swing is in part due to the mounting number of cases of botched results. The science isn’t wrong, but any time a person is responsible for a piece of evidence, an element of human error enters into the picture. Unfortunately, this error can put an innocent person in prison. Take the case of Ben Laguer of Massachusetts, convicted of rape in 1983. When lab personnel intermingled his personal items with those from the crime scene, DNA contamination was inevitable. In 2005, the Houston Crime Lab came under fire for 2 analysts accused of faking drug test results. Sometimes human error is inadvertent and sometimes it is intentional, but either way it’s bad for business.
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