The use of physical evidence in the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault cases
The use of physical evidence in the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault cases
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Issue Date
2002
Authors
Cain, Isaac Todd
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Abstract
While the crime of sexual assault continues to increase in the United States each year, there is a need for improved protocols used in the investigation of sexual assault. The major focus of sexual assault protocols of law enforcement agencies and medical communities throughout the nation, including those in San Diego County, have primarily targeted the proper collection of physical evidence and the increased care of the sexual assault victim. Little focus, if any, has been directed to the importance of the forensic laboratory findings from the physical evidence that is collected from the victims, suspects, and crime scenes in sexual assault investigations, and the relationship of these findings to suspect identification and law enforcement outcomes. This study reviews 77 sexual assault cases with physical evidence that received laboratory examination from the San Diego Police Department Forensic Biology Unit between the years of 1998 and 1999. Based on the results of this study, it is apparent that physical evidence from sexual assault investigations plays an important role in the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault cases, physical evidence, by itself, can be used as an investigative tool, and current protocols involving physical evidence from sexual assault investi gations should be improved.
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Forensic sciences