Historical Overview of Murder Investigation Techniques

4.2.12 WC: 191694 Chapter 13: Using Science, Law, Logic and Experience to Disprove Murder Introduction In 18__, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. taught us that the life of the law has not been logic—it has been experience.” Recent experience has dramatically changed the way murders are prosecuted and defended. I have been part of that change, having been involved in some of the most significant homicide cases over the past half-century. The crime of murder is as old as human nature. Virtually every important work of fiction and non- fiction includes accounts of murder, or murder trials and of unsolved homicides. The Bible recounts the murder of Abel by Cain. That crime was solved by God questioning Cain: “Where is your brother Abel?” Cain’s evasive answer—“Am I my brother’s keeper?”—convinced God, and the reader, of Cain’s guilt. Shakespeare’s “perfect” murder is committed by Hamlet’s uncle pouring poison into the ear of the king. That crime too is solved by provoking the killer into demonstrating his guilty conscience. Both the Bible and Shakespeare also recount cases in which innocent people are framed by planted evidence: Potaphor’s wife frames Joseph; and Iago frames Desdemona. Dostoevsky creates an interrogator so subtle that Raskolnikov needs to confess. Sherlock Holmes solves murders through observation, deduction and primitive science. In 19" Century America, sheriffs would tell uneducated suspects that if the corpse bled in their presence, it proved their guilt. Then came the lie detector, ballistics testing, fingerprint matching, and other techniques that purported to be based on science. Throughout history, there has been extensive reliance on eyewitnesses, informers and accessories. Now we have DNA. DNA and other recent scientific developments have cast doubt upon all the previous techniques of solving homicide cases. Defendants who had been convicted on the basis of confessions, eye witness testimony, ballistics, fiber, hair, fingerprint, voice analysis, accomplice testimony and other “reliable” indicia of guilt have been exonerated by DNA and other recent scientific breakthroughs. Some who were not even suspected have now been convicted on the basis of this new science. The pervasive presence of surveillance cameras and other means of recording events has also contributed to the increasing accuracy of detecting homicides and other serious crimes, as has more sophisticated forensic testing and better crime laboratories, though problems with the latter persist. Every technique for solving homicides can also be used to defend against false charges of homicide. Every prosecutorial sword can become a shield in the hands of an astute criminal defense lawyer. ° Whether he knew it or not, Holmes was echoing the views of the 15" Century Jewish sage Isaac Abravanal who observed that “experience is more forceful than logic.” ° Porgy and Bess 179 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_017266