Criminal justice unit 1

Forensic science

application of science to those criminal and civil laws that are enforced by police agencies

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

had a considerable influence on popularizing scientific crime detection methods through his fictional character Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes

first who applied the newly developed principles of serology, fingerprinting, firearms identification, and questioned document examination

Mattieu Orfila

considered the father of forensic toxicology

Alphonse Bertillon

The first scientific system of personal identification. Began to develop the science of anthropometry,

Francis Galton

Undertook the first definitive study of fingerprints and developed a methodology of classifying them for filing

Leone Lattes

devised a simple procedure for determining the blood group of a dried blood stain

Calvin Goddard

The U.S. army colonel, refined the techniques of such an examination by using a comparison microscope. Indispensable tool of the modern firearms examiner

Albert S. Osborn

his development of the fundamental principles of document examination

Hans Gross

the application of scientific disciplines to the field of criminal investigation. He detailed the assistance that investigators could expect from the fields of microscopy, chemistry, physics, mineralogy, zoology, botany, anthropometry, and fingerprinting

Edmund Locard

Locard persuaded the police department in Lyons, France to give him two attic rooms and two assistance to start a police laboratory

J. Edgar Hoover

the FBI, under his dictatorship organized a national laboratory that aimed to offer forensic services to all law enforcement agencies in the country.

FBI’s Forensic Science Research and Training Center

dedicated to conducting research to develop new and reliable scientific methods

California model system

integrated forensic laboratories consisting of a regional and satellite facilities

Britain system of local laboratories

A national system of regional laboratories under the direction of the government’s home office

Single most important factor in the expansion of forensic services in the U.S.

The demand for laboratories ot perform drug analysis

A more recent impetus leading to the growth and maturation of crime laboratories has been

the advent of DNA profiling

Four major Federal crime laboratories

have been created for the purpose of assisting in the investigation and enforcement of criminal laws

The FBI maintains the largest crime laboratory in the world

The Drug Enforcement Administration Laboratories are responsible for…

the analysis of drugs seized in violation of Federal Laws

The laboratories of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have responsibility for…

analyzing alcoholic beverages and documents related to tax law enforcement and for examining weapons, explosive devices, and related evidence

The U.S. Postal Inspection Services …

maintain s laboratories concerned with criminal investigations relating to the postal service

Physical Science Unit

The physical science unit applies principles and techniques of chemistry physics, and geology to the identification and comparison of crime scene evidence.

Biology Unit

The biology unit is staffed with biologist and biochemist who apply their knowledge to the identification and DNA profiling of dried bloodstains and other body fluids, the comparison. of hairs and fibers, and the identification and comparison of botanical materials such as wood and plants

Firearms Unit

The examination of firearms, discharge bullets, cartridge cases, shotgun shells, and ammunition of all types in conducted by the firearms unit

Documentation Ecamination Unit

the handwriting and typewriting on questioned documents are studied by the documentation unit to ascertain authenticity and or source

Photography Unit

A complete photographic laboratory is maintain to examine and record physical evidence. Its procedures may require the use of highly specialized photographic techniques.

Toxicology Unit

Body fluids and organs are examined by the toxicology group to determine the presence or absence of drugs and poisons

Evidence Collection Unit

The unit dispatches specially trained personnel, either civilian and/ or police, to the crime scene to collect and preserve physical evidence that will later be processed at the crime laboratory

Frye vs. United States

the court stated the thing from which the scientific deduction is made must be sufficiently established that have gained feneral acceptance in the particular field in which it belongs

Daubert vs. Merrell Dow Pharmaceutical inc

the U.S. Supreme Court asserted that the general acceptance, or Frye standard, is not an absolute prerequisite to the admissibility of the scientific evidence under the Federal Rules of evident

Kumbo Tire Co.

Carmichael, the court unanimously rules that the gate keeping role of the trial judge aplied not only to scientific testimony, but to all expert testimony

Coppolino v. State

Wide discretion that the Daubert ruling apparently gives to trial judges in matters of scientific inquiry

Expert witness

an individual whom the court determines possesses knowledge relevant to the trial that is not expected of the average lay person

Trial courts

also know as judges have broad discretion in accepting an individual as an expert witness on any particular subject

The weight that a judge or jury will assign

Just as imortant maybe the witness;s demeanor and ability to explain scientific data and conclusions clearly, concisely, and logically to a judge and jury composed of nonscientists

Significance of findings

Views expressed are accepted only as representing the expert’s opinion and may later be accepted or ignored in jury deliberations

Relevant evidence

specially trained evidence collection technicians

These technitions are trained by the laboratory staff to recognize and gather pertinent physical evidence at the crime scene

Forensic pathology

This field involves the investigation of sudden, unnatural, unexplained, or violent deaths

The manner which death occurred is classified is five categories

natural, homicide, suicide, accident, or undetermined

Rigor mortis

manifests within the first 24 hours and disappears within 36 hours

Liver mortis

occurs when the human heart stops pumping and the blood begins to settle in the parts of the body closest to the ground

Algor mortis

the process in which the body temperature continually cools after death until it reaches the ambient or room temperature

Forensic Anthropology

a specialty is concerned primarily with the identification examination of human skeletal remains

Forensic entomology

insects

Forensic odondology

teeth

Forensic engineering

explosions, accident reconstruction, and failure analysis