Les potentielles sources d’erreurs au niveau des preuves d’ordre scientifique
Several causes can be listed to explain a miscarriage of justice. The present work focuses on the mistakes made in the scientific expertise admitted in court. For the literature review, we present an overview of the various errors that can occur throughout the legal process; from of the crime scene to the presentation of scientific evidence in court. Secondly, the analysis is based on actual cases where several convicts were acquitted following the discovery of errors made by a forensic pathologist. The latter made serious mistakes during the autopsy, in his analyzes and his testimony. We focus on how medical expertise is presented by the expert, on the way the value of the scientific evidence is ruled and also how the lawyers deal with this scientific expertise. We find that many errors could have been avoided by using a probabilistic approach. Some responsibility also goes to criminal justice system players who must be vigilant towards the scientific evidence and not see it as an absolute truth.
Témoignage expert Miscarriage of justice Scientific expertise Expert testimony Forensic science Forensic evidence