Angel of Death or Lady of the Lamp? Statistics in the Criminal Courtroom.

Christmas lecture in Danish Society for Theoretical Statistics

Steffen LauritzenSpeaker: Steffen Lauritzen

Title: Angel of Death or Lady of the Lamp? Statistics in the Criminal Courtroom.

Abstract: In February 2015, a Danish nurse was arrested on suspicion of murdering three patients during her watch. She was tried in the local court (Byretten i Nykøbing Falster) in the spring of 2016, where she was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.  The case was appealed and in the country court (Østre Landsret) in 2017 the verdict was changed to attempted murder and the sentence converted to 12 years of imprisonment.

Part of the evidence presented in court was of a statistical nature, comparing mortality rates during her working hours with mortality rates at other times. The lecture will present and discuss this evidence, draw parallels  and contrasts to similar international cases, and give other examples of the use of statistical reasoning in the criminal courtroom.