If you are taking the unit 3 controlled assessment, these are the exact model answers I used which got me an A grade. These are well developed answers, without links to the brief (as that is relevant to your exam).
AC2.4 Assess key influences affecting the outcomes of criminal cases
Link to Brief
EVIDENCE
Only physical or testimonial evidence presented in court may be used as evidence. It
is up to the magistrate or jury to determine how much weight to give to each piece
of evidence. In England and Wales, the law states that the prosecution must bring
evidence to prove their claim, which is known as the burden of proof. The defence is
not required to prove anything, but in practice, they will try to cast as much doubt
on the evidence as possible. In reaching a decision, the jury or magistrate must
consider all physical and testimonial evidence presented in court by witnesses. The
police must persuade the CPS that there is sufficient evidence, and the CPS must
believe that a successful conviction is possible. The prosecution team bears the
burden of proving that the suspect is guilty. In the Amanda Knox case DNA from a
bloody bra strap helped to identify a suspect.
Although some evidence, such as DNA and fingerprints, are considered extremely
reliable and admissible in court, there is always the possibility that this evidence will
become contaminated. For example, in the case of Adam Scott he was falsely
charged with rape due to contamination of a DNA sample. Scott was arrested and
charged with rape on October 23, 2011.The evidence was a partial DNA profile
created by LGC Forensics (LGC) and believed to be from a single rape victim sample
at the time. This was later revealed to be an error caused by contamination during
laboratory testing. The British Transport Police had sent in a saliva sample following
, an alleged 'spitting incident' in Exeter. At the same time, swabs from the Manchester
woman who was attacked were sent to the lab. The contamination appears to have
occurred when DNA was extracted from the saliva sample for further analysis. The
plastic tray containing the saliva DNA samples was then reused when the rape
victim's samples were also run for DNA extraction. After isolating Scott's DNA from
the contaminated sample tray, it was run through the UK's DNA database, yielding a
partial match. As a result, the forensic report from LGC concluded that the likelihood
of the DNA being from someone unrelated to Scott was 'approximately one in one
billion.'
Evidence can sometimes be mislabelled, causing its significance to be overlooked at
first. And the Stephen Lawrence case is an example of this. Stephen Lawrence was a
black British teenager from Plumstead in southeast London who was killed in a
racially motivated attack at the age of 18. Yvonne Turner, a forensic science
assistant, mislabelled a jacket belonging to Gary Dobson, a suspect in Lawrence's
fatal stabbing in April 1993. She went on to incorrectly record that no fibre tapings
were taken from Dobson's jacket - a yellow and grey bomber jacket - and a cardigan.
Evidence obtained from Dobson's cardigan and jacket as a result of scientific
advances, as well as David Norris' trousers and a sweatshirt, are critical to the
crown's case that the two men were part of a group of white youths who attacked
Lawrence 18 years ago. These mistakes had led to them not being convicted.
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