Law Commons^™

Breaking Bad Science: Due Process As A Vehicle For Postconviction Relief When Convictions Are Based On Unreliable Scientific Evidence, Vincent P. Iannece

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note argues that due process requires a new trial when scientific evidence necessary to the conviction becomes so unreliable as to call the validity of the jury’s verdict into question. Part I of this Note discusses how scientific evidence is admitted, the procedure for a convicted defendant’s postconviction relief once that evidence is deemed unreliable, and the constitutional protections that a convicted defendant is afforded under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Part II of this Note examines the divide among appellate courts as to whether the Due Process Clause requires a new trial when a …