What is FORENSIC SCIENCE? Forensic science is the application of science to criminal and civil laws need to supply accurate and objective information that reflects what happened at the crime scene

CIVIL LAW Deals with disputes between individuals and/or organizations in which compensation is awarded to victim Burden of proof falls on plantiff “preponderance of evidence”

CRIMINAL LAW Deals with crime and legal punishment of criminal offenses “beyond a reasonable doubt” Burden of proof falls to state/government

Diversity of Professions Criminalistics Engineering science General Jurisprudence Odontology Pathology/biology Physical anthropology Psychiatry and behavioral science Questioned documents Toxicology But even this list is not exclusive!!

Earliest record of forensics: – In China, a manuscript titled Yi Yu Ji (“A Collection of Criminal Cases”) – Murder/arson case Woman suspected of murdering husband; she claimed he died in an accidental fire No ashes in mouth – created an experiment to see why this would be

HISTORY OF FORENSICS 1686 – Marcello Malpighi – first recorded notes about fingerprint characteristics 1775 – Carl Wilhelm Scheele – test for detecting arsenic in corpses – 1806 – Valentin Ross discovered a more precise method

HISTORY OF FORENSICS Mathieu Orfila – “father of forensic toxicology” – 1814 – first scientific treatise on detection of poisons and their effects on animals 1839 – James Marsh – toxicological evidence first used at trial

Alphonse Bertillion – Devised the first scientific system of personal identification in 1879 – Anthropometry – series of body measurements – Replaced by fingerprinting in early 1900s – “father of criminal identification”

Francis Galton – Conducted first definitive study of fingerprints and their classification – 1892 – First statistical proof of uniqueness of fingerprints

Sherlock Holmes – Created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – First published in late 1800s – Helped to popularize scientific crime-detection methods

1901- Dr. Karl Landsteiner – Discovered that blood could be grouped into different categories (blood types) 1915 – Dr. Leone Lattes – Developed simple procedure to determine blood type from dried bloodstains

1910 – Albert Osborn – Developed the fundamental principles of document examination – “Questioned Documents” – Responsible for acceptance of documents as scientific evidence

Calvin Goddard – US Army colonel – Used a comparison microscope to determine if a particular gun fired a bullet – Refined techniques of firearms examination

Walter McCrone – Utilized microscopy and other analytical methodologies to examine evidence Hans Gross – Wrote the first treatise describing the application of scientific principles to the field of criminal investigation – Pioneer advocate of use of scientific method in criminal investigations

Edmond Locard – Incorporated Gross’ principles within a workable crime laboratory – Founder and director of Institute of Criminalistics at the University of Lyons

Locard’s Exchange Principle – Cross transfer of materials occurs when two objects come in contact with each other

Sir Alec Jeffreys – Developed the first DNA profiling test in 1984 – Most significant modern advance in forensic science was discovery and refinement of DNA typing

The Crime Lab History – – Oldest forensic crime lab in U.S. – LAPD created in 1923 by August Vollmer Vollmer also headed the first U.S. university institute for criminology and criminalistics – 1932 – FBI (under director J. Edgar Hoover) organized a national laboratory Now the world’s largest forensic lab

The development of crime laboratories in the United States has been characterized by rapid growth accompanied by a lack of national and regional planning and coordination. Approximately 350 public crime laboratories operate at various levels of government – federal, state, county, and municipal.

The ever increasing number of crime laboratories is partly the result of the following: – Supreme Court decisions in the 1960s responsible for police placing greater emphasis on scientifically evaluated evidence – Crime laboratories bombarded with drug specimens due to accelerated drug abuse – The advent of DNA profiling

Technical Support The technical support provided by crime laboratories can be assigned to five basic services.

1. Physical Science Unit Incorporates the principles of chemistry, physics, and geology to identify and compare physical evidence Drugs, glass, paint, explosives, soil

2. Biology Unit Applies the knowledge of biological sciences in order to investigate blood samples, body fluids, hair, and fiber samples Identify and perform DNA profiling

3. Firearms Unit Investigates discharged bullets, cartridge cases, shotgun shells, and ammunition of all types

4. Document Unit Provides the skills needed for handwriting analysis and other questioned-document issues Handwriting and typewriting on questioned documents to ascertain authenticity or source

5. Photographic Unit Applies specialized photographic techniques for recording and examining physical evidence

Optional services by Full-Service labs – Toxicology Unit – examines body fluids and organs for the presence of drugs and poisons – Latent Fingerprint Unit – processes and examines evidence for latent fingerprints – Polygraph Unit – conducts polygraph or lie detector tests (more common now for criminal investigator) – Voiceprint Analysis Unit – attempts to tie a recorded voice to a particular suspect Involves telephoned threats or tape recorded messages – Evidence-Collection Unit – dispatches specially trained personnel to the crime scene to collect and preserve physical evidence

Other forensic services: – Forensic psychology Examines relationship between human behavior and legal proceedings – Forensic odontology Help identify victims based on dental evidence when the body is left in an unrecognizable state – Forensic engineering Concerned with failure analysis, accident reconstruction, causes and origins of fires or explosions – Forensic computer and digital analysis Identifying, collecting, preserving, and examining information derived from computers, cell phones, etc.

The Scientific Method A process that uses strict guidelines to ensure careful and systematic collection, organization, and analysis of info Basic steps: – Formulate a question worthy of investigation – Formulate a reasonable hypothesis to answer the question – Test the hypothesis through experimentation – Upon validation of the hypothesis, it becomes suitable as scientific evidence

Skills of a Forensic Scientist Must be skilled in applying the principles and techniques of the physical and natural sciences to the analysis of the many types of evidence May provide expert court testimony An expert witness is an individual whom the court determines possesses knowledge relevant to the trial that is not expected of the average person.

The expert witness is called on to evaluate evidence based on specialized training and experience that the court lacks expertise The expert expresses his/her opinion in relation to the findings Forensic scientists also participate in training law enforcement personnel in proper recognition, collection, and preservation of physical evidence

The Frye Standard The Frye v. United States decision set guidelines for determining the admissibility of scientific evidence into the courtroom. To meet the Frye standard, the evidence in question must be “generally accepted” by the scientific community.

Frye Not Absolute In 1993 case of Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceutical, Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court asserted that the Frye standard is not an absolute prerequisite to the admissibility of scientific evidence. Trial judges were said to be the “gatekeepers” for admissibility of evidence and expert testimony.

Daubert Criteria for Admissibility Whether the scientific technique or theory can be tested Whether the technique has been subject to peer review and publication The techniques potential rate of error Existence and maintenance of standards Whether the scientific theory or method has attracted widespread acceptance within scientific community