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Justice and Science: Trials and Triumphs of DNA Evidence

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"Justice and Science" by George "Woody" Clarke is a history of the
introduction, implementation, fortes & foibles of using DNA in criminal
cases in San Diego, CA.

San Diego County was one of the first counties in the United States to start using the "science" of DNA to bring to "justice" criminals and its implementation had an impact on the national level. It touches on the use of DNA that provided exoneration to those wrongly convicted.

This book uses non-technical words to explain DNA and how it is used in
court. It is a history of the challenges of using DNA in the San Diego
County Court system. It covers how DNA presentations in "just the facts"
often put jurors to sleep and how this was overcome. It only touches on the almost mythical that DNA results mean guilt to jurors.

The book is weak in not detailing the "CSI affect." Criminal TV Programs, like CSI - Crime Scene Investigation - present DNA evidence as a quick and easy process that can be conjured up in time and the space of a hour program. These TV programs often use DNA equipment that does not even exist or is not certified or available in criminal research labs. I will say nothing more about how real life is not scripted into an exciting TV adventure.

I was disappointed that the book did not cover more of the creative ways
that investigators have used DNA in looking for suspects in criminal
investigations. The use of DNA sampling of plants and other organics found at crime scenes would have been interesting. The use of public and
semi-public databases is not even mentioned in suspect research.

The book is also lax on not presenting the challenges to recover fragile DNA from limited samples and the limitations of the early DNA lab processing. It does not cover the possible need to retest or resample DNA evidence that was not usable in previous cases using the more accurate lab processes today.

Covering the areas cited above would have had made this book more durable to history. Overall, "Justice and Science" is good in covering the early
history and challenges of using DNA inside the criminal court system.