Databases of both convicted offenders and no-suspect cases demonstrate the power of DNA testing to solve the unsolvable. George “Woody” Clarke is a leading authority in legal circles and among the news media because of his expertise in DNA evidence. In this memoir, Clarke chronicles his experiences in some of the most disturbing and notorious sexual assault and murder court cases in California. He charts the beginnings of DNA testing in police investigations and the fight for its acceptance by courts and juries. He illustrates the power of science in cases he personally prosecuted or in which he assisted, including his work with the prosecution team in the trial of O. J. Simpson.

Clarke also covers cases where DNA evidence was used to exonerate. He directed a special project in San Diego County, proactively examining over six hundred cases of defendants convicted and sentenced to prison before 1993, with the goal of finding instances in which DNA typing might add new evidence and then offered testing to those inmates.

As Clarke tells the story of how he came to understand and use this new form of evidence, readers will develop a new appreciation for the role of science in the legal system.

"Woody's book appeals to both scientists -- because he's knowledgeable about forensic DNA analysis -- and laypeople -- because he writes clearly, simply, and with authority. It should be mandatory reading for anyone who works with forensic DNA issues."

A page-turner. Clarke's book is informative and entertaining.

"This is a well-written and detailed review of the history surrounding the implementation of forensic DNA science into the criminal justice system in the U.S. Judge Clarke has written a book that should be read by lawyers, scientists, and students interested in how DNA evidence has become the profound and nearly universal ingredient of modern criminal trials."

This book succeeds as a memoir -- a report from someone with unique and extensive experience and with first-hand knowledge of many parts of a significant chapter in modern legal history. ORThis is a fitting memoir penned by one of the legal pioneers who introduced prosecutors to DNA evidence.

Intended for general audiences, Justice and Science conveys in clear and understandable prose the basic ideas behind new DNA technologies. Through an absorbing case-study approach, Clarke provides a useful service to the public, some of whom may serve on juries, with his easily assimilable account of the strengths and weaknesses of new DNA methods that have helped to bring about justice by convicting felons and freeing the innocent.

"Clarke's account of the rise of DNA evidence is engaging and well paced, and the author comes across as likable and genuinely humble - a rarity in a book of war stories."

"Getting caught up in the author's story-telling, you almost miss the fact that you are being hand-fed the development of categorizing and comparing DNA, each discovery bringing the technology ever closer to fulfilling its incredible potential. Once he has us abreast of what DNA can do today, Clarke leaves us with our eyes fixed on the future."

From his work as part of the prosecution in the 1995 O.J. Simpson murder trial to his star billing on TV's America's Most Wanted, former San Diego prosecutor Clarke has been party to some of the justice system's most visible, controversial and melodramatic moments. He puts that populist knack to work in this nonfiction page turner that should appeal just as much to true crime buffs as those concerned with the workings of the criminal justice system. Now a leading world expert on the use of DNA in establishing probable guilt or innocence, Clarke describes himself as an unlikely pioneer; after avoiding science in college, one of his early assignments as a legal researcher was to defend the admissibility of DNA typing in a rape case. Helpfully, his sketchy science background allowed him, once he had mastered the material, to make a presentation that's easily understandable by judges and juries, as well as readers. Full of suspenseful true-crime accounts tracing the capture and conviction of murders and rapists, as well as the successful exoneration of the wrongly convicted, this title has real best-seller potential. (Jan.)