The law professor Mike Redmayne, who has died of cancer aged 47, was a pioneer in criminal justice scholarship whose research into the use of forensic evidence in legal proceedings started to appear once the courts began to admit DNA analysis in criminal trials from the late 1980s onwards.
He readily conceded that forensic testing made for more secure convictions, and that many wrongly convicted defendants would never have been exonerated without it. But Mike’s work made us think about the drawbacks as well as the advantages of courts relying on testimony provided by forensic experts. In his book Expert Evidence and Criminal Justice (2001), he pointed out the potential risks involved when courts allow lawyers to call on expert witnesses, and when lay jurors have to evaluate what those witnesses tell them.
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