Rockingham County Attorney’s Office
Press Release
For more information contact:
Jim Reams 603-642-4249
STATEMENT FROM NATIONAL
DISTRICT ATTORNEYS ASSOCIATION REGARDING
A recent study released by
the National Academy of Sciences includes a few notorious cases in which
established forensic protocols were not followed or otherwise valid scientific
methods were not accurately reported to juries. It appears the main problem in
these cases was not bad science. Rather, good and well-established scientific
techniques were used improperly or their ability to identify suspects was
grossly over-exaggerated. In other words: Good Science, Bad People.
These mistakes have occurred.
They are extremely rare but they are unacceptable.
Prosecutors are the one party
in a trial whose sole allegiance is to the truth.
No prosecutor wants an
innocent person in the defendant’s chair, much less wrongly convicted. We hope
the NAS study will be an opportunity to re-dedicate resources that go into the
front end of criminal investigations including training on the correct
collection, analysis and admissibility of forensic evidence.
Investments
should be made in money and technology that will help ensure the police arrest
and we prosecute the right people before they get convicted. Law
enforcement officers must be trained to recognize and collect critical forensic
evidence. Forensic laboratories must be adequately funded and their
practitioners well-trained. Prosecutors who present that scientific and
technological evidence also must be well-trained to understand its proper scope
before they present it to the jury.
In other words: an ounce of prevention is still worth a pound of cure thus insuring juries are able to reach sound and just resolutions in criminal cases.
The larger question
resulting from the NAS findings is whether the study will advance commitments
to better equip, train, and fund good science and good people, or divert that
money and time to focus on the rare but unacceptable injustices that occur when
forensic science is misused by any criminal justice practitioner whether on the
part of the State or the defense bar.
There is an urban myth that prosecutors measure success largely by the number of years to which felons are sentenced to prison. Instead, we succeed when we are contributing to a safe and secure community where the residents feel justice is fairly administered. That is the whole nature of local prosecutors who are accountable to their local communities.
Most prosecutors live where we encounter both the families of victims and the families of defendants, in the supermarket check-out lines and the coffee shops. They hold us to answer for whether we helped bring real justice to every case. That is why it is so important to NDAA that resources be targeted to those areas that will help achieve justice in our communities. This should be the goal of all criminal justice practitioners.
"I urge the legislature to fully fund the State Police Lab to continue to prevent this type of problem, even during tight budget times" responded Jim Reams of the Rockingham County Attorney’s Office.