Key terms, Issues & Conditions for legal confessions - Essay Example

DNA Exoneration DNA Exoneration Wrongful conviction is a situation where an individual is convicted in a court of law for a crime that he or she did not commit. This is usually contributed by four major trends. The first one is eyewitness misidentification testimony where the witness confesses to have seen the individual doing the crime or leaving the crime scene. However, studies have revealed that people are most likely to recognize faces from their own race rather than from a different race.

The second one is improper or invalidated forensic science and DNA tests. The third trend is false confession and implicated statements. Lastly informants may give a wrong or unreliable testimony in return for money or special treatment. In U.S.A alone, there have been about 303 convictions that end up exonerated after proper DNA examination (Fender, 2012). In June 1994, Jacie Taylor, a 19 years old girl body was found on a bathtub in her apartment after she was raped and murdered. During the house search for any evidence that would be useful in the case, the police found a blanket with semen on the victims couch.

They also spotted and collected a bloody shirt belonging to Robert Dewey, the only and major suspect, during an interview in his apartment. The shirt was then sent to an investigations DNA laboratory for further examination (Fender, 2012). A year later a scientist from a Texas laboratory was brought before the court to testify. He said that the blood on Mr. Robert Dewey was a mixture and that some of it would be Miss Jacie Taylor’s. Mr. Robert Dewey went to prison and the evidence was contained in a laboratory in California.

In 2000, Colorado introduced new medical technological tests known as STR testing that could examine and show more complex DNA features such as double helix. They also began uploading the DNAs of all the convicts in the CODIS database. Six years later even a more refined and accurate DNA technology known as YSTR test was introduced (Fender, 2012). YSTR tests could separate female DNA from that of male in case the two happened to mix up. With this technology, Danyel Joffe the Dewey’s post- conviction attorney, with the help of New York Innocence Project had the evidence held in the laboratory in California to be re-tested.

The case was reviewed and the evidence at hand retested using a “mini filer” technology that could pull more comprehensive profiles from ruined DNA samples. The new evidence revealed that the blood on Mr. Robert Dewey’s shirt did not contain Miss Taylor’s blood. The technology also revealed that the DNA profile from the semen on the victims blanket was not Mr. Robert Dewey DNA. However, the scientist found that the DNA profile of the semen matched with that of Douglas Thames. The county prosecutor and Joffe, therefore, filed a motion to set Mr.

Robert Dewey free and his case dismissed (Fender, 2012).In conclusion this paper clearly shows how wrongful conviction can ruin an innocent individual’s life. For instant, Mr. Robert Dewey, despite his release he had a hard time finding a job and re-integrating in the society considering he is an ex-convict. It also shows how DNA testing is an important exercise in such cases. In addition, DNA testing should as well be thorough and fully detailed not to wrongfully convict an innocent individual or set free a criminal.

ReferenceFender, J. (2012). New DNA Evidence Clears Robert Dewey in 1994 Grand Junction Murder. Retrieved from http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_20518191/new-dna-evidence-clears-robert-dewey-1994-grand.