1. Ethical Standards in Forensic Science

2. Legal Responsibilities of Forensic Science
Follow procedures
Obey the rules of evidence
Maintain impartiality
Stay within the legal, scientific boundaries
On the other hand, we also have to follow procedures, obey the rules of evidence, maintain impartiality, and stay within the legal, scientific boundaries.
Forensic scientists have to report whatever they observe and whatever they find, no matter what they believe.
Report what you observe, whatever you find, no matter what you believe.
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3. Character of Forensic Scientists
Unprejudiced and impartial
Objective
Have sufficient education and training
Forensic scientists are inclined toward the view that their function is to employ scientific procedures to unearth factual information about the physical evidence in a case, regardless of which side the evidence supports.
Most forensic scientists think of themselves as unprejudiced and make every effort to ensure that their work is objective.
They think of their results as a way of providing information to the court, rather than to one side or the other.
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4. Key Terms
Ethics – the branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions, and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions.
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5. Key Terms (continued)
Expert Witness – the Forensic Scientist and or Crime Scene Technician presenting the findings of a crime investigation in a court of law

6. Ethical Guidelines for Analyzing Physical Evidence
Adequate examination
Interpret and/or evaluate findings
No excessive testing to falsely enhance results
Use valid, reliable standards of comparison
Use accurate, reliable equipment
Precise
Reproducible
Make adequate examination and analysis of evidence
Do not use excessive testing to needlessly enhance results
Use only methodology currently accepted in the field(s) of expertise at the time of the analysis
Use only valid, reliable, standard materials for comparison
Use accurate, reliable equipment demonstrating precision and reproducibility
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7. Ethical Guidelines for Interpreting Physical Evidence
Don’t confuse scientific facts with opinion
Don’t state conclusions and opinions beyond the area(s) of personal expertise
Do not confuse scientific facts with opinion in reports and testimony
Qualify and explain opinions and conclusions appropriately, especially in gray areas (where the results are less than positive or negative)
Do not extend conclusions and opinions beyond the area(s) of personal expertise; don’t claim any false qualifications
Assign the proper weight and certainty to opinions and conclusions
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8. Ethical Guidelines for Reporting Physical Evidence
Personal interest or gain should not bias or distort a report or testimony
Never claim results and/or accomplishments not your own
Avoid misleading or ambiguous language and terms easily misconstrued
Never allow personal interest or gain to bias or distort a report or testimony
Never claim results and/or accomplishments not your own
Limit reports and/or testimony to the opinions and conclusions that can be properly drawn from the examinations and analyses
Avoid misleading or ambiguous language or terms easily misconstrued or misunderstood
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