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Justice and Science
Price: $21.95
First Paperback Edition
Subtitle:Trials and Triumphs
of DNA Evidence
Author:
George "Woody"
Clarke
Subject:
Science, Law
Paper ISBN: 978-0-8135-4501-1
Pages: 232 pages
Publication Date: March 2009
Praise for Justice and Science
"Clarke's account of the
rise of DNA evidence is engaging and well paced, and the author comes
across as likable and genuinely humble - a rarity in a book of war
stories.”
—Michael O'Donnell, San Francisco Chronicle
"From his work as part of
the prosecution in the 1995 O.J. Simpson murder trial to his star
billing on TV’s America’s Most Wanted, former San Diego prosecutor
Clarke has been party to some of the justice system’s most visible,
controversial and melodramatic moments. He puts that populist knack to
work in this nonfiction page turner that should appeal just as much to
true crime buffs as those concerned with the workings of the criminal
justice system. Now a leading world expert on the use of DNA in
establishing probable guilt or innocence, Clarke describes himself as
an unlikely pioneer; after avoiding science in college, one of his
early assignments as a legal researcher was to defend the admissibility
of DNA typing in a rape case. Helpfully, his sketchy science background
allowed him, once he had mastered the material, to make a presentation
that’s easily understandable by judges and juries, as well as readers.
Full of suspenseful true-crime accounts tracing the capture and
conviction of murders and rapists, as well as the successful
exoneration of the wrongly convicted, this title has real best-seller
potential."—Publishers Weekly
Description:
It happens in America every four decades and it is about to
happen again. America's demand for change in the 2008 election will
cause another of our country's periodic pol.
George "Woody" Clarke has been renowned for years in legal
circles and among the news media because of his expertise in DNA
evidence. In this memoir, Clarke chronicles his experiences in some of
the most disturbing and notorious sexual assault and murder court cases
in California. He charts the beginnings of DNA testing in police
investigations and the fight for its acceptance by courts and juries.
He illustrates the power of science in cases he personally prosecuted
or in which he assisted, including his work with the prosecution team
in the trial of O.J. Simpson.
Although Clarke spent much of his career as a prosecutor, he
also covers cases where DNA evidence was used to exonerate. He directed
a special project, proactively examining over six hundred cases of
defendants convicted and sentenced to prison before 1993, with the goal
of finding instances in which DNA typing might add new evidence and
then offered testing to those inmates.
Databases of both convicted offenders and no-suspect cases
demonstrate the power of DNA testing to solve the unsolvable. As Clarke
tells the story of how he came to understand and use this new form of
evidence, readers will develop a new appreciation for the role of
science in the legal system.
About the Authors:
George “Woody” Clarke served
as a prosecutor in the San Diego district attorney’s office from 1982
to 2003. He has appeared frequently on national television, he has
co-starred on America’s Most Wanted with host John Walsh, and he
lectures internationally on forensic DNA evidence. For the past three
years he has been a judge of the Superior Court in San Diego
County.
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Price: $21.95
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