中美刑事错案中司法鉴定致错的比较研究

A Comparative Study on Forensic Expertise Mistakes Resulting for Wrongful Convictions Between China and the United States

刑事诉讼中,司法鉴定的错误可能会导致错案的发生。在中、美两国的司法实践中,同时存在着大量由于司法鉴定错误而引发的刑事错案。虽然分属不同法系,但受到某些共性原因的影响,两国在鉴定错误方面具有明显的共通性,这一点在实证数据分析中具有明显体现。司法鉴定的错误形式纷繁复杂,对它们进行系统的分类,有助于了解错误的实践样态并分析错误的形成原因,更有利于开展针对性的预防工作。为预防刑事错案的发生,降低鉴定中的错误率是重要途径,美国的刑事司法正为此做出改变,其中一些具体的司法建议和实践中的改革措施可能对我们有所裨益。

In criminal judicial proceedings, forensic identification mistakes may result in wrongful convictions, and there are wrongful convictions caused by forensic identification mistakes both in American and in Chinese judicial practice. Although China and America have different legal systems, there is commonality in forensic expertise mistakes in the misjudged criminal cases, which is evidently reflected in the empirical data analysis. To systematically classify the different forms of forensic identification mistakes may help to understand the mode of forensic expertise mistakes and to analyze the reasons of it, which will helpful to prevent the mistakes. The American judicial criminal justice is taking measures to reduce the error rate in the forensic identification, which is a key method of the prevention of wrongful convictions. Some of the specific judicial proposals and reforming measures in American judicial practice may be beneficial to the forensic identification in China.