科学美国人60秒 SSS Forensic Science: Trials with Errors
时间：2019-01-20 作者：英语课 分类：2017年Scientific American(三)月
“We have increasing doubts about this evidence, but we don’t feel yet that we have the scientific knowledge and basis to exclude it altogether.”
Jed Rakoff, United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York. He spoke 1 about forensic 2 evidence—and the need for it to actually be based in science—at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement 3 of Science in Boston on February 18th.
In 2009 the National Academy of Sciences issued a report critical of a lot of the forensic evidence in the courtroom.
“Most fundamentally…the report said that what was really lacking was testing and research. And thus they questioned whether any of this could be called science and they also questioned whether it was really that accurate…
But forensic evidence is still widely admitted, even when the science behind it may be lacking.
I think courts continue, despite their doubts, to admit this evidence…and that is still the feeling…that, eh, it’s still better than nothing, it’s still useful evidence, it has some degree of objectivity that’s not present in much lay testimony 4. And therefore it is useful. The problem of course is it comes heralded 5 as science, and that gives it a weight that is probably disproportionate.
I had a case, this was before the National Academy report, but it’s sort of illustrative of what I’m talking about…United States versus 6 Glynn. In that case, the government put on a tool-mark expert to testify that the markings on the shell that had been found at the scene of the crime matched the markings inside the barrel of the gun that had been found under the defendant’s bed…and I asked him, for example, what’s your error rate and what’s the error rate of this methodology that you’re using. And he said zero. And I said zero? And he said yes. And I said how can it be zero. And he said well, in every case I’ve testified, the guy’s been convicted.”
—Steve Mirsky
- They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
- The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
- The report included his interpretation of the forensic evidence.该报告包括他对法庭证据的诠释。
- The judge concluded the proceeding on 10:30 Am after one hour of forensic debate.经过近一个小时的法庭辩论后，法官于10时30分宣布休庭。
- His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
- The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。
- The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
- He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。
- The singing of the birds heralded in the day. 鸟鸣报晓。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King. 嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。 来自《简明英汉词典》