Contested Identities: Science, Law and Forensic Practice

In an introduction to a special journal issue on the forensic applications of recently developed DNA-profiling methods, the technical & legal background of the single-locus probe & Polymerase Chain Reaction techniques used in the 1995 O. J. Simpson murder trial are described. Controversies surrounding both techniques are discussed relevant to specific court cases that have raised questions about the effectiveness of forensic procedures, controls, & methods of statistical estimation. The Simpson verdict indicated that the testimony of credible experts had created reasonable doubts about the reliability of DNA evidence. Topics addressed in this issue include credibility of expert testimony, the intersection between science & law, transformation of laboratory techniques into forensic tools, & historical comparisons between fingerprint & DNA identifications. Taken together, they show how legal disagreements provide complicated challenges to widespread assumptions about the certainty of scientific evidence & the people who analyze it. J. Lindroth