The double helix and the law of evidence
By: David H. Kaye.
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Cambridge, Mass
Language: eng
Number of pages: 330
ISBN-13: 9780674035881
Subjects: DNA fingerprinting -- Law and legislation -- United States; Forensic genetics
Description: "Bridging law, genetics, and statistics, this book is an authoritative history of the long and tortuous process by which DNA science has been integrated into the American legal system." "In a history both scientifically sophisticated and comprehensible to the nonspecialist, David Kaye weaves together molecular biology, population genetics, the legal rules of evidence, and theories of statistical reasoning as he describes the struggles between prosecutors and defense counsel over the admissibility of genetic proof of identity. Combining scientific exposition with stories of criminal investigations, scientific and legal hubris, and distortions on all sides, Kaye shows how the adversary system exacerbated divisions among scientists, how lawyers and experts obfuscated some issues and clarified others, how probability and statistics were manipulated and misunderstood, and how the need to convince lay judges influenced the scientific research. Looking to the future, Kaye uses probability theory to clarify legal concepts of relevance and probative value, and describes alternatives to race-based DNA profile frequencies."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [293]-318) and index.
Table of contents: title: Before DNA : genetic markers; title: Trial by mathematics; title: The dawn of DNA typing; title: The emergence of VNTR profiling; title: The intensifying debate over probability and population genetics; title: The initial reaction to the 1992 NRC report; title: Ending the debate over population genetics; title: Moving back to errors and relatives; title: Moving on to short tandem repeat loci; title: Transcending race and unscrambling mixed stains; title: Outside the nucleus : mitochondrial DNA; title: Stray hairs; title: Learning from DNA.