Bayesian Networks and the Value of the Evidence for the Forensic Two-Trace Transfer Problem

• NCJ Number: 242041
• Journal: Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 57 Issue: 5 Dated: September 2012 Pages: 1199-1216
• Author(s): Simone Gittelson, M.Sc.; Alex Biedermann, Ph.D.; Silvia Bozza, Ph.D.; Franco Taroni, Ph.D.
• Date Published: September 2012
• Length: 18 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Technical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Forensic scientists face increasingly complex inference problems for evaluating likelihood ratios (LRs) for an appropriate pair of propositions.

Abstract

Forensic scientists face increasingly complex inference problems for evaluating likelihood ratios (LRs) for an appropriate pair of propositions. Up to now, scientists and statisticians have derived LR formulae using an algebraic approach. However, this approach reaches its limits when addressing cases with an increasing number of variables and dependence relationships between these variables. In this study, we suggest using a graphical approach, based on the construction of Bayesian networks (BNs). The authors first construct a BN that captures the problem, and then deduce the expression for calculating the LR from this model to compare it with existing LR formulae. The authors illustrate this idea by applying it to the evaluation of an activity level LR in the context of the two-trace transfer problem. Their approach allows them to relax assumptions made in previous LR developments, produce a new LR formula for the two-trace transfer problem and generalize this scenario to n traces. Abstract published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons.