Likelihood ratios for lawyers…I didn't go to law school for this

With the proliferation of probabilistic genotyping software in forensic DNA analysis, prosecutors are faced with the challenge of understanding complex statistical conclusions and their corresponding meanings. Unlike many scientists, lawyers rarely learn statistics in college or law school; statisti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inWIREs. Forensic science Vol. 2; no. 3; pp. e1366 - n/a
Main Author Valerio, Raymond
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Hoboken, USA John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.05.2020
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
Subjects
Attorneys
Biology
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
ethics
Interdisciplinary aspects
Jurisprudence
Law schools
lawyers
Legal education
Meaning
statistics
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Summary:With the proliferation of probabilistic genotyping software in forensic DNA analysis, prosecutors are faced with the challenge of understanding complex statistical conclusions and their corresponding meanings. Unlike many scientists, lawyers rarely learn statistics in college or law school; statistics are neither a subject on state bar examinations nor a topic in any core continuing legal education course. Therefore, when faced with complicated DNA comparison statistics, prosecutors may unknowingly present misleading—or even incorrect—arguments to the fact finder. In this primer, I explain how to fairly argue probabilistic genotyping statistics in forensic DNA analysis. This article is categorized under: Jurisprudence and Regulatory Oversight > Communication Across Science and Law Forensic Biology > Ethical and Social Implications Forensic Biology > Forensic DNA Technologies Jurisprudence and Regulatory Oversight > Interdisciplinary Collaboration
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ISSN:2573-9468
2573-9468
DOI:10.1002/wfs2.1366