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From A Plane Crash To The Conviction Of An Innocent Person: A Call On Lawmakers To Establish That Forensic Evidence Is Inadmissible Unless Forensic Equipment Is Developed As A Safety-Critical System, Dr. Boaz Sangero, Dr. Mordechai Halpert
From A Plane Crash To The Conviction Of An Innocent Person: A Call On Lawmakers To Establish That Forensic Evidence Is Inadmissible Unless Forensic Equipment Is Developed As A Safety-Critical System, Dr. Boaz Sangero, Dr. Mordechai Halpert
Prof. Boaz Sangero
According to existing law, a criminal conviction may be based on a single piece of scientific (forensic) evidence. Thus, for example, a DNA match could, on its own, lead to a conviction and a prolonged term of imprisonment, or even a death sentence. A testing error might result in the conviction of an innocent person. Therefore, the state has a duty to ensure that such evidence is as reliable as possible. This article protests an inconceivable situation: that the development of forensic equipment, which is designed to produce evidence that can be relied on in a criminal trial, is not …
Miranda Is Not Enough: A New Justification For Demanding "Strong Corroboration" To A Confession, Boaz Sangero
Miranda Is Not Enough: A New Justification For Demanding "Strong Corroboration" To A Confession, Boaz Sangero
Prof. Boaz Sangero
Following research conducted in recent years—some of it regarding evidence obtained through DNA testing—no doubt remains that, in reality, innocent persons are convicted of crimes and that, in a significant number of these cases, wrongful convictions are solely based on the out-of-court confessions of accused persons obtained by police interrogators.This Article discusses existing law regarding confessions and convictions based on confessions. While this body of law deals in a relatively satisfactory manner with the fear that the confession is involuntary (primarily, through Miranda rules), unfortunately, it does not adequately address the serious fear of false confessions.The Article is designed to …
Why A Conviction Should Not Be Based On A Single Piece Of Evidence: A Proposal For Reform, Boaz Sangero, Mordechai Halpert
Why A Conviction Should Not Be Based On A Single Piece Of Evidence: A Proposal For Reform, Boaz Sangero, Mordechai Halpert
Prof. Boaz Sangero
This article illustrates a serious flaw in the conventional legal approach enabling a conviction based solely on one piece of evidence. This flaw derives from a cognitive illusion referred to as “the fallacy of the transposed conditional.” People might assume a low error rate in evidence only leads to a small percentage of wrongful convictions. We show that, counterintuitively, even a very low error rate might lead to a wrongful conviction in most cases where the conviction is based on a single piece of evidence. Case law has indicated some awareness of this fallacy, primarily when considering the random match …