Who helped advance fingerprint, firearms, and hair analysis?
Victor Balthazard
Who was credited with developing a probablility model that showed fingerprints are unique (10^60 chance of 2 people having same patterns)?
Victor Balthazard
Who developed an advanced photographic method of comparing markings on bullets?
Victor Balthazard
What is the identification of suspects using 11 body measurements?
Anthropometry/bertillonage
Who created anthropometry?
Alphonse Bertillon
When was anthropometry popular?
1883-1900s
Who was the first forensic scientist that used fingerprints to solve a case?
Alphonse Bertillon
Who was the cousin of Charles Darwin?
Sir Francis Galton
Who developed the first classification for fingerprints?
Sir Francis Galton
What is used to describe one of the features found in fingerprints in the US?
Galton Ridge
Who is credited with establishing examination of firearms evidence in US?
Galvin Goddard
Who coined the term of "criminalistics"?
Hans Gross
What does criminalistics refer to?
The forensic analysis of physical evidence
Who wrote Kriminologie?
Hans Gross
What is Locard's exchange principle?
Every contact leaves a trace
Who created Locard's exchange principle?
Edmond Locard
Who is the founder of forensic toxicology?
Mathieu Orfila
Who spent a good deal of their time studying poison?
Mathieu Orfila
What poison did Mathieu Orfila spend the most time studying?
Arsenic
What is the adversarial system?
Two positions arguing for acceptance
What is a judge and jury also called?
Finder of fact/trier of truth
What is the scientific method?
Data based and founded on concepts taken collectively through a series of steps
What is the first step of the scientific method?
Formulate hypothesis
What is the second step of the scientific method?
Test hypothesis using observation or experimentation
What is the third step of the scientific method?
Based on results, revise hypothesis and repeat previous steps
What is the fourth step of the scientific method?
Continue until the data is in agreement with hypothesis
What is the first thing a forensic scientist should do?
Distinguish evidence from coincidence
What is the second thing a forensic scientist should do?
Rank alternative results based on the basic principles in applied sciences
What is the third thing a forensic scientist should do?
Allow for certainty and probabilistic considerations wherever appropriate through this ranking
What is the fourth thing a forensic scientist should do?
Disallow hypotheses more extraordinary than facts
What is the fifth thing a forensic scientist should do?
Pursue specific details
What is the sixth thing a forensic scientist should do?
Pursue testing by addressing smallest logical component of the hypothesis one at a time
What are the opinions of Charles Sander Pierce?
Contrite Fallibilism
What is contrite fallibilism?
The awareness of how much we do not know and the humility to acknowledge the possibility of making mistakes
Who normally works as private consultants?
Forensic anthropologists/engineers
What are public laboratories?
Laboratories funded by governments
What are private laboratories?
Businesses designed to make a profit
What do most private laboratories specialize in?
DNA and forensic toxicology
What is the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner tasked with?
Death investigations and houses laboratories associated with performing autopsies
What will the office of the Chief Medical Examiner also have?
Toxicology laboratories to analyze postmortem samples
What do full-service laboratories cover?
DNA, drug analysis, firearms and toolmarks, trace evidence, fingerprints
What is an example of a full-service laboratory?
FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia
What is a small branch laboratory?
Laboratory that focuses on one type of evidence
What are the jobs of a forensic scientist that is also a police officer?
Respond to crime scenes, process and collect evidence, deliver evidence for further testing
What is accreditation?
A laboratory that agrees to work according to professional standards and proves that it can and does operate this way
What does accreditation also require?
Re-accreditation on a set schedule
What is certification?
A forensic scientist that has completed a written test covering their discipline
What board covers the most diverse set of forensic disciplines?
American Board of Criminalistics
How does certification begin?
Passing a multiple-choice test
What can you do after certification?
To be further certified in a specialty area
What does this level of certification require?
A successful completion of yearly proficiency tests
Mathieu Orfila
(1787-1853) Founder of forensic toxicology, studied poisons and worked on the Marie Lafarge poisoning case
Sir Francis Galton
(1822-1911) Developed the first classification system for fingerprints, published the book Fingerprints in 1892 and described the loop, arch and whorl of fingerprint patterns
Hans Gross
(1847-1915) Generalist who believed in diverse approaches to forensic science and published the first forensic science textbook, Criminal Investigations, in 1893.
Victor Bathazard
(1852-1950) Paris Medical Examiner who advanced fingerprint, firearm and hair analysis, showed that fingerprint are unique to the 10^60 and used photography to help identify bullets
Alphonse Bertillion
(1853-1914) Developed anthropometry and was the first to solve a case using fingerprints
Edmond Locard
(1877-1966) Established a forensic lab in Lyons France in 1910, founded the Locard Exchange Principle and focused on trace evidence
Calvin Goddard
(1891-1955) Established the study of firearms evidence in the US, established a variety of police labs in the US and invented the comparison scope.
Anthropometry
System of identification of suspects involving 11 body measurements + descriptions + photos
Criminalistics
Describes forensic analysis of physical evidence
Locard Exchange Principle
Every Contact Leaves a Trace
Juan Vucitech
(1891) Who began the first fingerprint files
The Henry Classification System
Classification for fingerprinting in all European Countries
1 in 64 billion
Sir Francis Galton's odds for two fingerprints being the same
The scientific method
System in which forensic scientists work
The adversarial system
System in which lawyers work
Finder of fact
Judge or jury who determines "right" in a case
Civil Cases
Occur between individuals and must show a preponderance of evidence (51%)
Criminal Cases
Occur when laws have been broken, the government in the prosecutor and and guilt but be shown beyond a reasonable doubt (99%)
Felony
Serious criminal case, possibility of greater than 1 year in prison
Misdemeanor
Minor criminal case, possible of a fine or less than 1 year in prison
Voir Dire
Qualifications of a scientists given in a court of law
Subpoena
A statement requiring someone to appear in court and stating the when and where the trial will be held
Gilbert Thomas
(1882) Who used fingerprints officially in the US for the first time
Dr. Henry Faulds
(1880) First to come up with a classification system based on fingerprints
1892
When was the first fingerprint identification made
1901
When was the idea of fingerprinting introduced to England/Wales
Karl Landsteiner
Discovered ABO blood typing and received the Nobel Prize in medicine for this work in1930.
Alec Jeffreys
Geneticist who developed DNA testing
Colin Pitchfork
First criminal convicted by DNA evidence
William Hershel (1856)
The first to use fingerprinting as a method of identification
Forensic Nurse
Trained to treat trauma patients (assaulted), take blood and tissue samples, collect evidence, photograph and measure wounds
Rules of Evidence
Exclusionary rules that filter out irrelevent/prejudiced information
Frye Standard
New methods must be generally accepted by scientists
Federal Rules of Evidence
Allows expert witnesses to explain techniques in court
Daubert Trilogy
Judge becomes gatekeeper to determine the admissibility of evidence while following a court framework
Direct Evidence
Evidence that establishes something without further work (eyewitness testimony)
Circumstantial Evidence
Evidence that requires reasonable inferences to be drawn (DNA found at a crime scene)
Class characteristic evidence
Evidence that doesn't indicate a specific individual (shell casings, sneaker prints)
Individual characteristic evidence
Evidence that does indicate a specific individual (fingerprints, DNA)
Associative Evidence
Things found at the crime scene that can be matched to an exemplar (standard)
Biological Evidence
Human (or other) tissues used to identify a person or animal. Includes DNA testing.
Chemical Evidence
Includes drugs, explosive, toxicology ect...
Trace Evidence
Random stuff left at a crime scene and taken from a crime scene due to Locard's Exchange Principle
Fingerprint Evidence
Fingerprints and their identification and developments
Impression Evidence
Impressions on the ground caused by footwear, tires, ect...
Firearm and Tool Mark Evidence
Fired bullets, casings, Gun Powder Residue, impressions left by tools ect...
Questioned Documents
Examining documents for forgery
Primary Crime Scene
Site of first criminal activity in a case
Secondary Crime Scene
Site of following criminal activity in a case