Criminal Forensics - Units 1 and 2

Frye

Evidence must be generally accepted to be admissible

Daubert

The trial judge is the “gatekeeper” for determining if evidence is admissable

Joiner

Experts must limit their opinion to straightforward extensions of data

Kumho

Expert needs to have the same level of intellectual rigor as any other expert in the field

Aphonse Bertillion

Created Anthopometry (ID by body measurement)

Arthur Conan Doyle

Published Sherlock Holmes

Francis Galton

Identifies ways that fingerprints could be found

Calvin Goddard

Perfected the comparison microscope

Alexndre Lacassagne

Principal founder in medical jurispundence and criminal anthropology

Karl Landsteiner

Discovers human blood groups

Leone Lattes

Develops first test for ABO blood groups

Edmond Locard

“Every contact leaves a trace”

Matheiu Orfila

Developed modern toxicology

Sung T’zu

Found uses with insects

Teichmann and Takayama

Simple tests for finding prescense’s of blood

Forensic Science

Application of the scientific method and techniques to law and criminal justice

Fields

Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Earth Sciences, Mathematics, Psychology, Anthropology

Locard’s Exchange Principle

A criminal in contact with an object or person, a cross transfer of evidence occurs

Principle of Individuality

Even though two objects might look the same, nothing is exactly the same

Physical Evidence

Any material object that plays some role in litigation, introduced in trial, intended to prove a fact based on the object’s demonstrable physical characteristics

Class Characteristics

Properties of evidence that can only be associated with a general group and not with a common source

Individual Characteristics

Properties of evidence that can connect a sample and standard to a common source

Physical Evidence must be..

Recognized, Collected and Preserved

Triangulation

Measure from two fixed points to your piece of evidence as well as the distance between the two points

Exclusionary Rule

Any evidence found through an illegal search cannot be used as direct evidence in court.

Fruit of the Poisonous Tree Doctrine

Any evidence found through an illegal search also cannot be used to find other evidence