Justice and science : trials and triumphs of DNA evidence / George "Woody" Clarke.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Clarke, George, 1951-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Clarke, George, 1951-.

Clarke, George.

Public prosecutors--California--San Diego County--Biography.

Public prosecutors.

DNA fingerprinting--United States.

DNA fingerprinting.

Forensic genetics--United States.

Forensic genetics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (232 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Brunswick, NJ : Rutgers University Press, 2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Databases of both convicted offenders and no-suspect cases demonstrate the power of DNA testing to solve the unsolvable. George “Woody” Clarke is a leading authority in legal circles and among the news media because of his expertise in DNA evidence. In this memoir, Clarke chronicles his experiences in some of the most disturbing and notorious sexual assault and murder court cases in California. He charts the beginnings of DNA testing in police investigations and the fight for its acceptance by courts and juries. He illustrates the power of science in cases he personally prosecuted or in which he assisted, including his work with the prosecution team in the trial of O. J. Simpson. Clarke also covers cases where DNA evidence was used to exonerate. He directed a special project in San Diego County, proactively examining over six hundred cases of defendants convicted and sentenced to prison before 1993, with the goal of finding instances in which DNA typing might add new evidence and then offered testing to those inmates. As Clarke tells the story of how he came to understand and use this new form of evidence, readers will develop a new appreciation for the role of science in the legal system.

Contents:

The scientist becomes a victim

A new prosecutor

The transition to DNA evidence

The fight for acceptance

A stranger rapist and a murderer : early sucess with DNA evidence

A double-edged sword : DNA for and against the prosecution

A child and a critical nightshirt

DNA and a football hero collide

Back home again in San Diego : an unusual rape case

When a match is not a match

Exonerations, databases & S.T.R.'s

A national approach

The D.A.'s office searches for innocence

DNA takes to television

The tragic case of a small child

A cold hit DNA match solves an old crime

Helena Greenwood revisited.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-281-31652-0

9786611316525

0-8135-4394-0

OCLC:

476156727