The Impact Of Scientific Evidence In The Causes Of Wrongful Convintions

As a scientific form of evidence in litigation,expert opinion plays an important role in the determination of facts in judicial judgment,and therefore has an important influence on the formation of unjust,false and wrong cases.In recent years,most of the wrongful convictions corrected in China are closely related to the omissions of expert opinions.However,compared with other direct causes of wrong cases,the problems in the field of identification have not been paid enough attention by the academic circle,especially in the area of the combination of law and science,there is a research vacuum.This thesis intends to use the methods of empirical research,comparative research and interdisciplinary research,combined with the specific cases of unjust,false and wrong cases and overseas experience,to provide some concrete ideas for the prevention and correction of China’s criminal judicial expertise system.The first chapter analyzes the concept,generating process,characteristics and particularity of the expert opinion in the field of evidence,and focuses on the analysis of the thinking logic of the expert opinion.Forensic expertise is not only a process of investigation and research with special knowledge,but also a process of logical reasoning and proof.The characteristic of logical thinking of expert opinion is both "retrospectivity" and "probability",which tests the logical reasoning ability of expert and the judgment of fact ascertainer,which causes considerable risk to the fact ascertainment of judicial judgment.In addition,this chapter also illustrates the practical influence of expert opinion in criminal justice.The second chapter selects 20 miscarriages of justice that have aroused widespread concern in China in the past ten years,and adopts the method of case study to empirically analyze three problems that are prominent in the field of forensic expertise in criminal miscarriages of justice and need to be solved urgently.The three problems are the identification of materials,the cross-examination and certification of appraisal opinions,and the same identification.The reasons behind the three factors not only involve the basic principles/technical defects of judicial appraisal itself,but also involve the management of appraisal institutions,the adoption of appraisal opinions in litigation,law enforcement,judicial subjects and other institutional factors.In the third chapter,the author makes a comparative study of the forensic science in the United States and the judicial expertise system in Germany.The NAS reform in the United States and the innocence Project have very important reference significance for the judicial expertise system reform in China.Chapter four combines the practical problems in China’s judicial practice and the experience of foreign judicial expertise model,this thesis puts forward some suggestions to reduce the defects of criminal misjudgment.First of all,continue to improve the unified management system of forensic appraisal,strengthen the public welfare and independence of forensic appraisal institutions,and enact the Judicial Appraisal Law as soon as possible to fix the practical experience and reform results,so as to inject impetus into further reform.Secondly,implement the system of expert witnesses appearing in court and the system of expert assistants,strengthen the training of judges’ expert knowledge and the examination of the evidence ability of expert opinions,so that the cross-examination and certification process of expert opinions play its due role in preventing unjust cases.Finally,emphasis should be placed on the scientific principles,technical specifications and experimental quality control of appraisal opinions to improve the scientific nature and reliability of the non-human level of appraisal opinions.