Verified Document

Forensic Accounting Term Paper

Ethics Forensic Science Legal and Ethical Issues in Forensic Science

When most people think about the conviction of criminals, scientific evidence provides some of most credible evidence available. Scientific evidence is generally considered to be fail-safe by a majority of the public. However, this is not always the case. There are many errors that can occur during the scientific accumulation of the evidence. Furthermore, there are also some cases in which the evidence is purposefully altered to provide leverage for either party in a trial to further their personal ambitions. There are also cases of negligence in which the evidence was simply not handled to the appropriate standards. Whatever the case may be, when peoples' lives are on the line, there are clear legal and ethical requirements for forensic scientist that must be upheld at all times. This analysis will focus on a few examples of unethical or illegal behavior that occurred in this profession.

Falsifying Evidence

One example of illegal and unethical behavior is the act of falsifying evidence by a forensic scientist. Most people would assume that a forensic scientist would have to be coerced into falsifying evidence; maybe there was a financial reward, maybe someone threatened the safety of the forensic scientist's family member, or possibly the forensic scientist used to get beat up by a potential suspect in elementary school. All of these scenarios in which evidence would be falsified would be appalling, yet would still be understandable on some level. However, not all forensic scientist have a real motive when falsifying evidence.

In a recent case, Massachusetts state chemist Annie Dookhan,...

As the New York Times sums up, "Prosecutors say Ms. Dookhan declared drug samples positive that she had not bothered to test, tampered with evidence, forged signatures and lied about her credentials to enhance her standing in court as an expert witness. In all, her actions may have tainted more than 40,000 drug samples involving thousands of defendants (Beiser, 2013)."
As a result, said the judge who sentenced Dookhan to three to five years in prison, "Innocent persons were incarcerated…. Guilty persons have been released to further endanger the public, millions and millions of public dollars are being expended to deal with the chaos Ms. Dookhan created, and the integrity of the criminal justice system has been shaken to the core (Beiser, 2013)." As a result of this illegal and unethical negligence, more than three hundred people convicted partly thanks to Dookhan's work have since been released. It appears that Dookhan's motive for putting her job on the line, peoples' lives at stake, and the safety of the public in question was just shear laziness and professional negligence.

Ethics in Forensic Testimony

In most trial settings juries and individual jurors consider the testimony of a forensic expert virtually infallible unless otherwise proven. There is often a good reason to believe an ethical analyst. If they are ethical then they have an obligation to the truth as well as an obligation not to mislead the jury, defense, or the state when testifying before the court, or when preparing their reports relating to their analyses of forensic evidence…

Sources used in this document:
Works Cited

Beiser, V. (2013, November 25). When Crime Labs Go Criminal. Retrieved from Pacific Standard: http://www.psmag.com/science/crime-labs-go-criminal-70638/

Dutelle, A. (N.d.). Ethics and Forensic Science. Retrieved from Evidence Technology Magazine: http://www.evidencemagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=453

Refuge, J. (2011, June 24). Ethics and Training in Forensic Science. Retrieved from Crime Scene Investigator: http://www.crime-scene-investigator.net/ethicsinforensicscience.html

Rogers, T. (2004). Crime scene ethics: souvenirs, teaching material, and artifacts. Journal of Forensic Science, 307-311.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Forensic Accounting Is a Special Subsection of
Words: 2063 Length: 7 Document Type: Essay

Forensic accounting is a special subsection of accounting that goes beyond the typical job description of an accountant. Forensic accountants use their work in courtroom and other legal settings to help. Their primary roles are litigation support and investigative accounting (Zysman, 2012). To do this, forensic accountants combine accounting, auditing, and investigative skills. However, conducting investigations is only one component of a forensic accountant's job description; they also have to

Forensic Accounting in Practice Over
Words: 876 Length: 3 Document Type: Research Paper

This means laying out for the jury and the judge the role of different parties and how this contributed to illegal activities. It is at this point when everyone can understand the full context of the case. (Singleton, 2010) (Golden, 2011) Analyze the legal responsibility a forensic accountant has while providing service to a business. The legal responsibility of a forensic accountant is to determine when fraudulent activities have taken place

Forensic Accounting Skill Set for
Words: 1680 Length: 6 Document Type: Term Paper

The forensic accounting done on Koss reveals the importance for a business's auditing firm's responsibilities. It also shows that an auditing firm is liable to face legal charges for failing to find a fraud in their accounting activities in a business. The forensic accounting carried out on Koss revealed that the Vice President Sujata and the former Senior Accountant, Julie Mulvane, engaged in a range of accounting fraud cover ups

Forensic Accounting in Practice
Words: 2031 Length: 6 Document Type: Term Paper

roles of forensic accountants in preventing and detecting fraud within a business community. The paper highlights the requisites and basic responsibilities of a forensic accountant. The paper also makes references on the special cases where forensic accountants have assisted in fraud detection and prevention. Overview of Forensic Accounting Forensic accounting is the specialty area of accounting used to train an individual to develop the special accounting skills to detect and prevent

Forensic Accounting Goldman Sachs Securities Fraud Case
Words: 1655 Length: 5 Document Type: Research Paper

Goldman Sachs Forensic accounting Fraud at Goldman Sachs The recent recession and financial scandal brought to light many unethical, illegal, and quasi-legal practices of the major investment firms. One example of this was the Goldman Sachs securities fraud case, in which the firm was accused of creating and selling bundled mortgage investments in an instrument that was intended to fail and which the company' bet against' with a desire to make a profit

Forensic Accounting Concept In India
Words: 2127 Length: 8 Document Type: Essay

Essay Topic Examples 1. The Evolution of Forensic Accounting in India:     This topic could explore the historical development of forensic accounting in India. It would cover early accounting fraud cases, the emergence and refinement of forensic accounting techniques, and the eventual establishment of professional bodies and standards in India. The essay could also examine the catalysts for growth in this field within the Indian economic and legal landscape. 2. Role of Forensic

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now