DNA

Project Innocence

A New Orleans man named Bobby Ray Dixon was charge a life sentence for crimes he never committed. Bobby Ray Dixon was charged of committing Rape and murder. He was charged with a lifelong sentence that he would only serve thirty years of before he was supposed to be exonerated. The reason why I say this is that Bobby Ray Dixon died five weeks before he was supposed to let go free. Bobby Ray Dixon was threatened with the death penalty if he didn’t confess. So on a confession that didn’t match the evidence he was sentenced and thrown in jail.

DNA technology has gone a long way in the last 30 years. We can easily test anything at a crime scene such as blood, sperm, hair, and fingerprints.  Newer lab technologies include creating profiles for each crimes DNA information. This allows cases to be reopened in order to look at the DNA evidence, making it much easier for people who seek to be exonerated to do so. In 1990 DNA technology was available only if you had a lot of it to test and had access to a high tech laboratory. Now even the littlest bit of DNA is enough to test in anyway. More importantly DNA is better recorded, tested, and used now than it was 20 or so years ago. So as you could imagine this makes using DNA for crime cases the most reasonable way to convict someone.

This story as well as other stories I have heard or read have really opened up my mind to the world of exonerated people. Before we learned about DNA testing I had never realized that this many people are put in prison are innocent. However it has made me realize that our justice system isn’t very well structured and doesn’t like admitting to a mistake. DNA evidence has really made me realize how important science is in crime cases. It is inevitable truth that will always ether prove innocent or guilty.  

Lucy

Lucy had an interesting story; it was about the relationship that Lucy shared with humans as well as the change that apes go through when they have to live in the wild again. The story was especially touching with Lucy because of how different she was than a regular chimp. Lucy was had the mental capacity to lie and name objects based off her experiences as a human.  Lucy had many people who were highly involved in her life, those people were her original owners, but then Janis who was most important.

Lucy was very human like. Lucy was able to lie, which most apes aren’t capable of. Lucy also named things after something that had a similar feel, color, smell, or sound. The transition for Lucy was very hard; she lost hair and was very uncomfortable with herself around other apes. The transition that I speak of happened when she was released back into the wild. Lucy couldn’t adjust to her new life for a long time. Lucy took two years to adjust to the island. Lucy however always remembered Janis when she came to the island to visit.

We can learn a lot from Lucy. Lucy was very loving and caring. She taught humans that these animals were able to communicate their love with understanding and language. Lucy was special because of how she reacted when she was left on the island. Lucy has made me think deeply about animals like chimps, apes, and gorilla’s. I have a dog named Sam who acts differently around me when I’m sad or angry. So this feeling that this ape gives off must be very inspirational. The thing that I will think further about is why humans choose dogs and cats to share close relationships with when an animal such as a chimp could be way easier to train, and could understand you way better than any dog or could.