Is science trustworthy?
Scientific evidence can play a crucial role in a guilty conviction. Many people trust science because, unlike humans, it doesn’t have a reason to lie.
While there may be nothing wrong with trusting science, there can be issues when it comes to trusting scientists.
Here is why thousands of convictions are being overturned after science was used to put them behind bars.
Rogue chemists created criminals
Four years ago, it was discovered that two Massachusetts drug lab chemists contributed to thousands of wrongful convictions when they admitted to tampering with evidence.
In one of the cases, a drug lab chemist admitted to being high on crack at work every day for nearly ten years. The chemist also admitted to taking drug samples home with her and then diluting the remainder of the samples in the lab as to not raise suspicion.
Despite her best efforts, lab employees soon noticed that samples were missing and reported it to the police.
Since the discovery, over 28,000 drug convictions that the chemists handled have been dismissed.
Court to consider dismissing even more convictions
But the public defenders and civil rights attorneys aren’t satisfied.
They want the court to throw out every case that went through the drug lab in question, not just the ones that the rogue chemist worked on. The attorneys have brought the case before Massachusetts’s highest court who will decide later this year whether or not to dismiss more convictions.
Cases like these prove that no investigation is foolproof. While you want to be able to trust the people who are conducting the investigation, everybody makes mistakes and falsified evidence can put innocent people behind bars.
If you’ve been wrongfully accused of a crime, an aggressive defense attorney can help you to determine if there were errors made in your case and how you can reclaim your name.
