Forensic Science Chapter 1 Test Ultimate Study Guide

Ted Bundy

A law student who systematically targeted young women across multiple jurisdictions and was executed in 1989.

Bite-mark evidence

Forensic evidence used in Bundy's conviction, later criticized for its scientific validity.

Forensic science

The application of scientific methods, principles, and techniques to investigate crimes and examine evidence suitable for court.

Alphonse Bertillon

Developer of anthropometry, a systematic method of personal identification using physical measurements.

Locard's Exchange Principle

States that whenever two people or objects come into contact, a mutual transfer of material occurs.

Frye Standard

Mandated that scientific techniques must be generally accepted within the relevant scientific field to be admissible in court.

Daubert Standard

The Supreme Court standard requiring federal judges to determine the relevance and reliability of expert scientific testimony.

Circumstantial evidence

Evidence that implies a fact indirectly, requiring inferences to connect it to a proposition.

Direct evidence

Evidence that directly establishes a fact without needing inference.

Expert witness

An individual with specialized knowledge or training qualified to express expert opinion testimony.

Lay witness

An ordinary citizen whose testimonies are restricted to firsthand knowledge and observations.

CODIS

An electronic database system for DNA profiles maintained by the FBI.

The Innocence Project

An organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals, primarily through DNA testing.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Federal agency investigating offenses involving firearms, explosives, and federal alcohol/tobacco violations.

Toxicology Unit

Analyzes biological specimens to detect drugs, alcohol, poisons, and other toxic chemicals.

Francis Henry Galton

Pioneer of fingerprint identification and established the uniqueness of fingerprint patterns.

Dr. Karl Landsteiner

Discovered the ABO blood groups and laid the groundwork for serological blood typing.

Dr. Leone Lattes

Devised a method for determining blood types directly from dried bloodstains.

Sir Alec Jeffreys

Developed DNA fingerprinting, allowing individual identification using DNA variation.

Photography Unit

Documents crime scenes and evidence using specialized photographic techniques.