Evidence For Prosecution Research Articles

Relevance, Probative Value, and Admissibility in the Criminal Trial: Atomism, Holism, and Incoherence in the High Court

The admissibility of evidence often turns on its probative value. Probative value measures the strength of connection between the challenged evidence and the fact in issue. It may be assessed with differing degrees of atomism/holism. The High Court, at common law and under the Uniform Evidence Law, from Pfennig v The Queen to Phillips v The Queen to TL v The King, has adopted an extremely holistic approach – the trial judge should assess the challenged evidence together with other evidence. This introduces incoherence and uncertainty into the law. It contradicts the ‘importance’ admissibility criterion, under which the presence of other prosecution evidence may work against admissibility. The High Court’s holism appears to be the product of a fallacious conflation of proof and probative value. It risks the trial judge, at admissibility, trespassing on the jury’s fact-finding province.

Judicial instructions on alibis: impact on mock jury decision-making

Cloud Research (N = 320) participants read a hypothetical description of an arson and police investigation. They were randomly assigned to one of eight conditions in a 2 (presence of alibi evidence) X 2 (presence of prosecution evidence) X 2 (presence of judicial alibi instructions) between-participants design. They completed alibi believability ratings, chose a verdict and evaluated the defendant’s character. Alibis were more believable in the absence of incriminating prosecution evidence and the presence of exonerating alibi evidence. Alibi evidence also led to more positive views of the defendant. The presence of judicial instructions decreased likelihood of guilt ratings. Most participants chose a not guilty verdict, yet guilty verdicts were more common when prosecution evidence was present. Scalar verdict-confidence ratings were higher when prosecution evidence was present and alibi evidence was absent. While participant recall on the judge’s instructions were poor, they performed well on two recognition questions.

The invisible evidence: Digital forensics as key to solving crimes in the digital age

Digital transformation rapidly changes how we live our lives in the post pandemic world. Unfortunately, digital technology is not limited to law abiding organisations and citizens. Criminal organisations and individuals are quick to identify new opportunities with new technologies, and digital transformation is dramatically changing the character of crimes, terror, and other threats. The fast emergence of new crimes is facilitated by possibilities brought by disruptive technologies such as AI, Internet of Things, drones, and cryptocurrencies that can be disastrous tools in the hands of criminals. Consequently, our society needs far better capacity to prevent and investigate criminal acts to protect organisations and citizens. This brings an urgent need to proactively reform digital forensics to significantly increase our capability to meet the strain on society brought by crimes evolving in the digital transformation era. The future of forensic science is already here, characterized by a mix of opportunities and challenges. It is essential to make it harder to effectively use digital technologies for criminal activities, while leveraging the possibilities of digital technologies by those affected, law enforcement agencies, business and organisations. As digital technologies continue to evolve, we need to stay up to date with the latest developments to effectively investigate and prosecute crimes in the digital age. There is an increased reliance on digital evidence, and the amount of heterogeneous digital evidence in criminal cases keep increasing. The forensic science techniques thus become more sophisticated and play an increasingly important role. However, the scientific area is extremely broad, and beyond the capability of most forensic science labs to keep up with the technology forefront development speed. Besides an urgent need to bring up the subject to the political arena, examples of how we can meet the challenges are discussed such as by extending our cooperation, encourage and facilitate cooperation for training and education to handle the extremely broad and rapid development, working out methods for explaining and visualising evidence for the treatment and legal values of digital evidence in prosecution, and cooperation between product developers and crime investigators for swift innovation of digital forensics tools and methodologies for quickly emerging threats. This paper will highlight specific examples where modern digital techniques are used to solve crimes in the physical world as well as crimes committed in the digital domain and discuss how “good AI” can be used to fight “evil AI” and finally touch on the sensitive balance between the increased power of the new digital forensic tools and private integrity.

False memories in forensic psychology: do cognition and brain activity tell the same story?

One of the most important problems in forensic psychology is the impossibility of reliably discriminating between true and false memories when the only prosecution evidence comes from the memory of a witness or a victim. Unfortunately, both children and adults can be persuaded that they have been victims of past criminal acts, usually of a sexual nature. In adults, suggestion often occurs in the context of suggestive therapies based on the belief that traumatic events are repressed, while children come to believe and report events that never occurred as a result of repeated suggestive questioning. Cognitive Researchers have designed false memory paradigms (i.e., misinformation effect, Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm, event implantation paradigm) to first form false memories and then determine whether it is possible to reliably differentiate between false and true memories. In the present study, we review the contribution of cognitive research to the formation of false memories and the neuropsychological approaches aimed to discriminate between true and false memories. Based on these results, we analyze the applicability of the cognitive and neuropsychological evidence to the forensic setting.

Racist inferences and flawed data: drill rap lyrics as criminal evidence in group prosecutions

Drill rap lyrics are used regularly by police and prosecutors as evidence against young Black working-class defendants in UK criminal cases. Though this practice is of mounting public concern, its discursive mechanisms remain poorly understood, shrouded by the police and courts. This article exposes and explains state interpretations of drill lyrics in the preparation of serious crime cases. It considers how the state uses violent rap lyrics to build secondary liability in group prosecutions by exploiting drill’s power to invoke stereotypes and mislead the court. The author focuses on a 2020 joint enterprise murder case in London, in which she served as a rap expert, to give a concrete illustration of how the state tries to use rap lyrics of little or no relevance to incriminate. This article contends that rap-facilitated group prosecutions encapsulate processes of racist carcerality – targeting young Black people through their expressive culture – which are in need of concerted challenge and transformational change.

How Florida’s Courts Should Evaluate the Admissibility of Field Sobriety Testing and Blood THC Levels Evidence in Marijuana Impaired Driving Prosecutions

Field sobriety and blood alcohol concentration tests are proven reliable techniques to determine whether a person us under the influence of alcohol. No such technique has been developed to reliably determine whether a person is under the influence of marijuana. However, despite a lack of scientific consensus regarding the reliability of field sobriety and blood toxicology tests to determine marijuana impairment, these methods are routinely used as evidence of guilt in marijuana impaired driving prosecutions. Twenty-four states have legalized the recreational use of marijuana, and Florida appears to be set to join them in the near future. As a result of increased access to marijuana, it is logical to assume that the percentage of car accidents involving drivers suspected of marijuana impairment will rise. This comment evaluates the current state of science’s ability to detect marijuana impairment; how different states where recreational marijuana use is legal have addressed the admissibility of field sobriety and blood toxicology tests under the Daubert expert evidence admissibility principles in marijuana impaired driving prosecutions; and recommends that Florida judges exclude such evidence from marijuana impaired driving prosecutions until the underlying science is proven to be reliable.

“Something has to change”

“Something has to change”

Visum et Repertum as Evidence in Sexual Violence Prosecutions : A Criminal Law Literature Review

Sexual violence is a global problem that must be investigated and prosecuted. Visum et Repertum is a written statement made by a doctor at the official written request of an investigator regarding a medical examination of a human being, whether living or dead or a part of the human body, in the form of findings and their interpretation, under oath and for the benefit of justice. In Indonesia, Visum et Repertum is one of the valid pieces of evidence as written in Article 184 of the KUHAP, including in cases of sexual violence. This study aims to examine the application, position, and legal basis of visum et repertum as a means of evidence in cases of sexual violence in Indonesia both normatively and empirically. The sexual violence case study shows that the use of visum et repertum as evidence in sexual violence cases has its role in the prosecution process. The use of visum et repertum in cases of sexual violence is important in providing evidence to support the victim's testimony. Although crucial, visum et repertum has limited legal force and the need for additional evidence to reach material truth in the case. Overall, the findings of this study indicate that the use of visum et repertum as evidence in cases of sexual violence in Indonesia needs to be further improved to ensure justice for victims.

Непредставление доказательств частным обвинителем по уголовным делам частного обвинения влечет постановление оправдательного приговора

According to the applicable laws, privately prosecuted criminal cases are referred to minor crimes and the review thereof by a magistrate court is not challenging usually. However, justices of the peace award judgements of acquittal as a private prosecutor (victim) fails to understand its role in support of the prosecution and the need to submit prosecution evidence. And such situation may also take place if a private prosecutor (victim) is represented by an attorney who although has skills of proving in criminal cases, fails to exercise such rights in full.

Error Aversions and Due Process

William Blackstone famously expressed the view that convicting the innocent constitutes a much more serious error than acquitting the guilty. This view is the cornerstone of due process protections for those accused of crimes, giving rise to the presumption of innocence and the high burden of proof required for criminal convictions. While most legal elites share Blackstone’s view, the citizen jurors tasked with making due process protections a reality do not share the law’s preference for false acquittals over false convictions. Across multiple national surveys sampling more than 12,000 people, we find that a majority of Americans consider false acquittals and false convictions to be errors of equal magnitude. Contrary to Blackstone, most people are unwilling to err on the side of letting the guilty go free to avoid convicting the innocent. Indeed, a sizeable minority view false acquittals as worse than false convictions; this group is willing to convict multiple innocent persons to avoid letting one guilty person go free. These value differences translate into behavioral differences: we show in multiple studies that jury-eligible adults who reject Blackstone’s view are more accepting of prosecution evidence and are more conviction-prone than the minority of potential jurors who agree with Blackstone. These findings have important implications for our understanding of due process and criminal justice policy. Due process currently depends on jurors faithfully following instructions on the burden of proof, but many jurors are not inclined to hold the state to its high burden. Courts should do away with the fiction that the reasonable doubt standard guarantees due process and consider protections that do not depend on jurors honoring the law’s preference for false acquittals, such as more stringent pretrial screening of criminal cases and stricter limits on prosecution evidence. Further, the fact that many people place crime control on par with, or above, the need to avoid wrongful convictions helps explain divisions in public opinion on important policy questions like bail and sentencing reform. Criminal justice proposals that emphasize deontic concerns without addressing consequentialist concerns are unlikely to garner widespread support.

From climate science to climate action

Abstract Non-technical summary Despite 50 years of good science showing the urgency for action on remedying climate change, the business and political worlds have been exceedingly slow in actualizing climate solutions. Now excess climate-related deaths have mounted to more than 5 million people per year. In this Intelligence Briefing, we identify a few targeted driving actions through economic taxation, ending subsidies, and pursuit of legal cases for climate homicide, among many others. Scientists can play a vital role in providing supporting scientific evidence for policies and prosecutions, and model climate behaviors in their personal and professional lives. Technical summary Based on our analysis of the current global situation regarding carbon (CO2) in the atmosphere, we note that the earth has reached a dangerous 420 ppm, compared to staying under the 350 ppm necessary for human sustainability; and carbon concentration in the atmosphere is still climbing, as fossil fuel firms are continuing to delay and dilute regulatory efforts. This paper suggests action on several fronts. Governments can impose improved taxation regimes that involve unitary, windfall, and luxury taxes on carbon and the consumption of natural assets. Cutting subsidies to fossil fuel firms via COP actions can reduce carbon, by making renewable energy more competitive. We suggest recognizing the excess deaths by carbon pollution as homicide and charging responsible companies as was done in the case of asbestos and tobacco. If timely action is not taken, we caution about the potential rise of climate violence of emerging ‘new politics’ and increased global population displacement. Science, government, and business sectors need to collaborate in transdisciplinary ways to produce further actionable knowledge. Scientists can lead by example by reducing their own carbon footprints. Social media summary Fund climate action by taxing billionaires, eliminating subsidies, and suing fossil companies for climate homicide. The science community is focused on and committed to systems changes – seeking both natural systems, and social and economic systems to be sustainable. Yet systems that are in-place now producing carbon dioxide (herein aka carbon), are not taking adequate scientifically recommended actions; or worse, they are changing in the wrong directions. How can we move from producing more scientific knowledge to science-based actions, and what can scientists do to support such actions? In this Intelligence Briefing, we suggest some pathways for action.

Comment: Court’s Reluctance to Safeguard Rights of the Accused in the Ethiopian Counter-terrorism Prosecutions and its Broader Implication

Ethiopia’s former and current anti-terrorism laws recognize information obtained through court authorized interception as evidence in counterterrorism prosecutions. This comment briefly examines Federal High Court rulings in two counterterrorism prosecutions where the accused challenged the admissibility of intercepted materials into evidence for not being obtained with court warrant. Though the objections in both cases could have been easily addressed by verifying whether a court warrant was in fact issued prior to intercepting the material in question, the court did not take this course of action. In one of the cases, the court presumed that a court warrant was issued; in the other it ignored the objection altogether and admitted the contested material into evidence. The comment can serve as a basis to undertake further research on whether the courts are doing justice in enforcing rights of the accused the safeguarding of which do not require constitutional interpretation. It might also invite investigation into its broader implication on whether the courts have the readiness to meet public and legal professionals’ expectation in safeguarding human rights were they empowered in the realm of constitutional interpretation.

POLICING FORENSIC EVIDENCE

POLICING FORENSIC EVIDENCE

Efficacy of forensic technology in crime investigation and administration of justice

There have been significant advances in the forensic sciences (Narco analysis DNA mapping, polygraph, brain mapping, and new scientific instrumentation) over the last twenty-five years. However, more research is required to determine the contribution of these developments to the importance and purpose of scientific evidence in criminal case processing and prosecution. New forensic technologies have been examined in targeted research, but no studies have assessed the whole variety of scientific evidence that is available at crime scenes and its successful investigation and administration of justice. The legal system and law enforcement agencies alike are increasingly turning to forensic science for help in investigating crimes and securing convictions. However, in the Indian judiciary setting, the utility of forensic science has yet to be demonstrated in terms of the labor required and the outcomes of cases. Research in this field has tended to concentrate more on science and technology than on how individuals might effectively use forensic services/science to achieve acceptable justice results. The findings given are the result of a thorough investigation by the researcher. This document includes an overview of the research project's rationale and goals, as well as an explanation of the present state of the project's work.

COUNTERING THE VIOLATION OF THE RIGHT OF PROTECTION TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PROOF

The article presents the results of a study of the problem of overcoming violations of the constitutional rights of the defense party to participate in the evidentiary process in cases that have a public resonance by criminal procedural means. According to the principles of equality and competitiveness of the parties in criminal proceedings, the lawyer (defender, representative) of the suspect, accused defendant has the same rights in the field of evidence as the prosecution. This concerns, first of all, the right to collect and provide evidence refuting the prosecution’s version or subjecting them to reasonable doubt. As practice shows, officials conducting a preliminary investigation tend not to attach evidence from the defense to the case materials, including at the cost of direct violation of the requirements of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and procedural legislation. The grounds for refusing such admission, as a rule, do not stand up to any criticism and can be regarded as offenses of various legal nature: from disciplinary to criminal law. The defense party has the same equal right in the aspect of assessing the relevance, admissibility and reliability of evidence. In this case, we mean cases when a representative of the defense initiates a check of the compliance of the prosecution evidence with the legislative requirements. Examples of this are analyzed in detail in this article. The article is prepared on the basis of the author’s work experience as a criminal lawyer and is devoted to the analysis of the following problem. In the article, the author explores the theoretical foundations and background of the problem, using the example of criminal cases that have a public resonance, analyzes the principles that ensure equality and competitiveness of the parties in criminal proceedings, the system of rights of participants in legal proceedings based on them, their legal regulation, the most common, most typical violations of the right of the defense to participate in evidence. Next, the author examines the legal means and mechanisms (ways) to overcome these violations in the criminal process. a number of conclusions and proposals aimed at improving the legal protection of the rights of suspects, accused defendants, as well as a lawyer (defender, representative). In conclusion, based on the conducted research, the author formulates a number of conclusions and proposals aimed at overcoming the accusatory bias and violations of the rights of participants in court proceedings in cases with public resonance, improving and increasing the effectiveness of overcoming violations of the constitutional right to defense.

Landfill Identification Through High-Resolution Satellite Images and Verification Using Drone Full Motion Video (FMV)

In year 2020, a total of 2.9 million tonnes of solid waste was generated by Malaysians. The enormous solid waste generated will prompt irresponsible parties disposing it in illegal landfill by ignoring the guidelines had been set by the authorities. To prevent these illegal activities from beingidentified , the landfill is usually located in hidden areas hence difficult to detect using conventional methods. Indeed, it is a serious matter that must be borne by the government because of its negative impact on human health and the environment. Using the latest advances in remote sensing technology, the location of landfills can be identified through high-resolution satellite images and verified using drone systems with Full Motion Video (FMV) toprovide accurate information to local authorities for enforcement. Therefore, Malaysian Space Agency (MYSA) in an effort to develop a new technique to assist the authorities in the waste category verification, landfill area size estimation and identifying the nearest sensitive area affected. In this paper, a pilot test conducted in Klang Valley area in years 2019 to prove the remote sensing technology is able to make the local authority’s enforcement work more effectively and the dynamic information data acquisition is useful for prosecution evidence in court

Questioning and answering strategies in Malaysian criminal proceedings

Questioning and answering strategies in Malaysian criminal proceedings

Citizen Led Policing in the Digital Realm: Paedophile Hunters and Article 8 in the case of Sutherland v Her Majesty's Advocate

AbstractIn Sutherland v Her Majesty's Advocate, the Supreme Court unanimously dismissed an appeal which argued that the use of communications obtained by a paedophile hunter group as evidence in criminal prosecution was a violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The case raises fundamental questions of the scope of the right to private life as regards to the content of communications and the role played by private actors in the criminal justice process. This note argues that by limiting the protection of Article 8 to private communications which satisfy a contents‐based test, the Court has bypassed the Article 8(2) balancing test to the detriment of the due process rights of the accused. The note concludes that the decision opens up the prospect of the state circumventing the accused's Article 8 privacy rights by lending tacit approval to the proactive investigations of these private ‘paedophile hunter’ groups.

A clinical investigation into the ability of subjects with lung disease to provide breath specimens using the EvidenzerIRL evidential breath analyser in alcohol intoxicant driving in criminal justice evidence

The EvidenzerIRL instrument has been in use as an evidential breath analyser in the application of drink driving laws in the Republic of Ireland since 2011. The result of the analysis is used as evidence in prosecutions before the Courts in per se offences of driving under the influence of alcohol as distinct from screening results at the roadside. This study aims to assist doctors, lawyers and judges in assessing drivers' failure to provide valid evidential breath specimens. Since the introduction of the EvidenzerIRL, approximately 10% of evidential breath tests annually result in failure or refusal to provide a successful breath specimen, this is an offence under Irish road traffic laws. The presence of lung disease has been given as a reason for the driver failing to provide evidential breath specimens. The aim of this study is to assess the ability of subjects with lung disease to provide breath specimens using the EvidenzerIRL. Pulmonary function tests (PFT) were carried out on volunteers from outpatients of the pulmonary laboratory in St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin (n = 58) and a control group with no underlying lung disease (n = 19). After the PFTs all volunteers were asked to provide breath specimens using the EvidenzerIRL. Fourteen (24%) out of 58 lung disease volunteers failed to provide a breath specimen, no one from the control group was unsuccessful. Thirteen females and one male volunteer could not successfully provide. Female volunteers were more likely to fail to provide than male volunteers. A significant difference was found between the median age of successful (62.2 years) and unsuccessful (69.2 years) lung disease volunteers. Only one PFT, percentage predicted of Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second (FEV1), had a significant difference between the mean of successful (86.6%) and unsuccessful (66.5%) lung disease volunteers. A subject with lung disease was more likely to be successful than unsuccessful. Drivers' effort and operators’ guidance through the process were found to be crucial parts to a successful outcome.

Admissibility of a Video as Evidence in a Court: Its Presentation and Probative Value

To general public, all videos are perceived to be true, but they may not have probative value in the Court of law. The undertaken article analyzes the admissibility and probative value of a video presented as evidence before a court in the Criminal Justice System of Pakistan (CJSP). It analyzes the relevant law and diagnoses the problems with the video evidence through the lens of the judgments of Superior Courts. The court of law objectively ascertains that a video presented as evidentiary means bears significant relevance to the fact in question. It must be admissible under the law, and it must be proved to be genuine. To fill up the gap between a “Video” and a “Video Evidence”, there is a process, which is known as video authentication. It determines that the video contents are genuine, authentic, credible, unaltered, untampered and unfabricated. The study discusses various modes of video authentication. Precedents set by superior courts of Pakistan show that convictions have been made once the courts are satisfied with the credibility of video evidence. In the court of law, video evidence is normally presented after the completion of prosecution evidence. The video is played in court and is watched by the presence. But the researcher establishes that such process does not have legal justification. The article suggests that it would be legal and proper for the prosecution to produce the video evidence through the witness, during his evidence, who is either victim, witness, recorded and/or copied the video directly from original source such as C.C.T.V system and that witness would be subjected to cross examination.