Dr Carole McCartney

Senior Lecturer

Photo of Dr Carole McCartney

I established an Innocence Project at the University of Leeds in 2005.

I am an EU Marie Curie international research fellow until Sept. 2012 working on a project entitled 'Forensic Identification Frontiers'.

I am an adjunct research fellow at the Australian Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security, at Griffith University, Queensland, where I was based 2009-2011.

I am an associate editor for Criminology & Criminal Justice and an author on the ‘International Wrongful Convictions’ Blog.

Scholarly and Research Interests

I have written on Australian justice, Innocence Projects, legal education, and DNA and criminal justice.

I was project manager for the Nuffield Council on Bioethics report 'The Forensic Uses of Bio-information: Ethical Issues' and PI on the Nuffield Foundation project on 'The Future of Forensic Bioinformation'.

I have also carried out research projects on legal and forensic science education.

Teaching

In 2007, and again in 2008, I was awarded University Teaching Fellowships.

I teach the following topics at undergraduate and postgraduate level:

forensic process
criminal law
criminal evidence
principles of criminal law

PhD Supervision

I currently supervise PhD students in the area of DNA and the law, and forensic science effectiveness.

I am happy to consider promising research degree candidates in the following fields:

forensic evidence
miscarriages of justice
criminal justice and criminal process

Key Publications

Books

McCartney, C (2006) Forensic Identification and Criminal Justice: Forensic Science, Justice and Risk (Willan Publishing: Cullompton).

Journal Articles

McCartney, C. (forthcoming, Autumn 2012) ‘Of Weighty Reasons and Indiscriminate Blankets: The Retention of DNA for Forensic Purposes.’ Howard Journal of Criminal Justice.

McCartney, C. with Williams, R. and Wilson, T. (2011) ‘Transnational exchange of forensic DNA: viability, legitimacy, and acceptability.’, European Journal of Criminal Justice Research and Policy 17(4). pp.305-322.

McCartney, C. with Cassella, J. (2011) ‘Lowering the Drawbridges: Forensic and Legal Education for the 21st Century’, 2(2) Forensic Science Policy and Management 81-93.

McCartney, C. (2006) The DNA Expansion Programme and Criminal Investigations, 46(2), British Journal of Criminology, pp.175-192.