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What types of physical evidence are commonly encountered at crime scenes?
Blood, semen, saliva, documents, drugs, explosives, fibers, fingerprints, firearms, glass, hair, impressions, organs, paint, petroleum products, plastic bags, powders, serial numbers, soil, and minerals.
What is the primary purpose of identification in physical evidence analysis?
To determine the physical or chemical identity of a substance with near absolute certainty.
What is a comparison analysis in forensic science?
The process of determining whether a suspect specimen and a standard/reference specimen have a common origin.
What does the term probability refer to in the context of evidence?
The frequency of occurrence of an event.
What are individual characteristics in forensic evidence?
Evidence that can be associated with a common source with an extremely high degree of probability.
What are class characteristics in forensic evidence?
Evidence that can be associated only with a group and never with a single source.
Why is physical evidence significant in investigations?
It corroborates events with data that is nearly free of human error and bias.
What is the role of databases in forensic science?
To link suspects to crimes through comparative analyses of physical evidence.
What does the product rule do in forensic analysis?
It multiplies together the frequencies of independently occurring genetic markers to determine the overall frequency of occurrence for a genetic profile.
What is the purpose of the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS)?
To maintain a national fingerprint and criminal history system.
What is CODIS in the context of forensic DNA analysis?
The Combined DNA Index System that allows for the exchange and comparison of DNA profiles.
How can physical evidence exclude individuals from suspicion in a crime?
If the evidence collected at a crime scene does not match the standard/reference samples from a suspect.
What common types of physical evidence are subject to analysis?
Blood, documents, drugs, explosives, fingerprints, fibers, firearms, hair, paint, soil, and more.
What does the term Rapid DNA refer to?
A process for developing DNA profiles from a buccal swab in under 90 minutes.
What kinds of physical evidence generally possess individual and class characteristics? Provide examples.
Individual characteristics: fingerprints, tool marks; Class characteristics: paint chips, blood type.
Why is the assessment of physical evidence important in the courtroom?
It can significantly influence juries who may perceive it as reliable and trustworthy in establishing guilt or innocence.
What is one challenge faced by forensic scientists regarding class evidence?
The inability to assign exact or approximate statistical probability values for comparisons.
In forensic analysis, what is the role of personal experience for scientists?
It is relied upon when interpreting the significance of class physical evidence.
What is the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)?
A national centralized repository and resource center for missing persons and unidentified decedent records.
What is the significance of the forensic examination of documents?
To determine authenticity or source.
