DNA: Forensic and Legal Applications. Lawrence Kobilinsky, Thomas F. Liotti, and Jamel Oeser-Sweat. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2005, 364 pp., hardcover, $89.95. ISBN 0-471-41478-6.

This book offers a comprehensive review of the steps and processes that surround DNA evidence making its way into court. It spans from the crime scene itself and the collection of evidence, through to the presentation of that evidence in court and its potential use in postconviction cases. The book begins with a historical look back on the use of identification as a forensic tool starting from eyewitness identification to fingerprints to DNA identification. What follows is an obligatory description of DNA and how the structure of DNA and DNA processes lend themselves as tools for …