Criminology

The O.J Simpson trail case was one of the most publicized criminal trails held in Los Angeles County, California Supreme Court. It is considered to be the longest criminal trail held in the California history. The case involved the double murder of Nicole Brown, ex- wife of O. J. Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman on June 12, 1994. The case included extensive investigative forensic reports and these reports proved to be the prime evidence in this trail.

The evidence that was retrieved by the police was crucial to nail O J Simpson. Famous forensic geneticists examined the samples that were gained by the police. The hair samples that were procured from Goldmans body were matched with the DNA samples of O.J. Simpson. There was blood stained shoeprints near the murder scene, the crime lab examined the shoeprints and concluded it that it belonged to a man with a shoe size of 12 O J Simpson had a shoe a size of 12. Furthermore there were blood stained socks found in O J Simpsons bedroom. His white bronco also had blood stains. The blood stains were tested and its DNA matched to that of the two victims.

The prosecution was confident with their evidence against O J Simpson. However, a strong fight by the defense made the DNA evidence seem weak and inefficient to indict O J Simpson. With the repeated questioning of the laboratory scientist, one point was highlighted that the person who carried the vial of blood to the lab was just a trainee and had done a major error of carrying that vial of blood in his lab coat for a day before handling it to the scientists. The glove found in O J Simpsons property contained blood samples of the two victims. However, the glove found by the prosecution did not fit O J Simpson and consequently the defense argued that If it doesnt fit, you must acquit. The defense argued that the police handled the blood samples so casually and with such utter disregard that to make judgments based on the forensic evidence would be against the court of law. Due to lack evidence O J Simpson was later acquitted and charged not guilty.

The prosecution could not represent their evidence in the best way as they could, as their strongest point later proved on to be their weakest. They were charged with tampering with the evidence and also of sample switching because they did not handle the DNA evidence with care. Their own misdoing proved to a breather for O J Simpson because he was later acquitted of all charges.

The trail proved that extensive DNA analysis has to be accompanied with proper collection of evidence. The reliability of the evidence should be at such, that it can be never be questioned as it proves to a crucial point in such a criminal investigation.  DNA analysis is one of the latest technologies in the field of science and rarely exhibits any error. However, the results in the lab can prove futile if the evidence is not handled properly.