Introduction to Forensics

Indoor Crime Scene Pictures

1) Entry Shots

2) Overall Shots

3) Medium Range Shots

4) Close-up shots

Outdoor Crime Scene Pictures

1) Overall shots

2) Medium Range

3) Close-up

Vehicle Pictures

1) front of the vehicle

2) straight on towards the back

3) each corner of the vehicle

4) open the doors and take the interior (headline to the floorboard)

5) 21 photos total

Tire Tracks, Show Prints, Tool Mark Pictures

1) Best done in black and white to capture shadows

2) Take at 90 degree angle so that they can be enlarged to a 1:1 print without distortion

Pathology

investigating sudden, unnatural, unexplained, and violent deaths

• Medical examiners and coroners

• Cause of death, time of death, identity of victim, the nature of injuries present, why and how injuries occurred

Accounting

reconstructing the “books” to trace what financial transactions have transpired (fraud or embezzlement)

Anthropology

the identification and examination of human skeletal remains by determining the victim’s gender, age, and race

Geology

determining the location of soil samples

Entomology

The study of insects and their relation to criminal investigation

• Relates time of death and place of death

Psychology

the relationship between human behavior and crime

• Where a “profiler” works

Engineering

failure analysis, accident reconstruction

Identification

processes and examines evidence for latent fingerprints

Firearms

examines firearms, discharged bullets, cartridge cases, shotgun shells, and ammunition of all types. This section also deals with tool impression marks

Toxicology

examiens body fluids and organs for the presence or absence of drugs or poisons

Evidence Collection

a group of people who are specially trained to go to crime scenes and collect and preserve physical evidence that will later be processed at the crime lab

Trace

applies principles and techniques of chemistry, physics, botany, biology, and geology to the identification and comparison of all manners of crime scene evidence including hairs, fibers, paint, glass, soil, GSR (gunshot residue) and anything else that doesn’t “bleed or shoot”

DNA/Serology

applies DNA technology in the areas of blood and physiological fluids and tissues

Questioned Documents/Document Examination

analyzes handwriting, typewritten, or computer generated documents. They also analyze inks and papers.

Protections of our Person

• 4th Amendment

• the police cannot arbitrarily stop a person

• Stop and frisk laws permit an officer to stop and question a person on the reasonable suspicion that the person has committed, is in the process of committing, or is about to commit a crime.

• A frisk is different than a full-blown search

Protections for our Home

• 4th Amendment

• A person’s home is their castle so police cannot normally enter a home without a warrant.  

• The warrant must state who or what the officer is to search for.

• There are exceptions to the warrant requirement

Exceptions for a search warrant

• Consent: a person must give an officer permission to search

• Search pursuant to a lawful arrest: officer follows proper arrest procedure based on facts leading to a strong and reasonable belief of the suspect’s guilt

• Exigent Circumstances: knowledge of dangerous or unlawful activity in a private building that would necessitate an officer entering to stop the activity

• Hot Pursuit: a police officer chasing a suspect, usually right after the commission of a crime

Protection of our Consversations

• 4th Amendment

• police cannot listen in on private conversations without a warrant

Protection of our Vehicles

• 4th Amendment

  • under some circumstances, no warrant is required to search a car

Presentment or indictment by a Grand Jury

• 5th Amendment

• a group of citizens who look at the evidence to decide if there is enough evidence to continue criminal proceedings

• decides whether to continue or discontinue proceedings

No Double Jeopardy

• 5th Amendment

• A person cannot be tried twice for the same charge

• A person whose conviction is appealed and reversed because the trial was improperly conducted can be retried if there is other/new evidence presented.

The right to due process

• 5th Amendment

• The person as the right to be treated fairly from the beginning to the end of the criminal process

• fair treatment is defined as no violation of the Bill of Rights

The right to a speedy trial

• 5th Amendment

• Does not refer to a specific time frame

• relates to how the trial proceeds (length of delays, reason for delays)

Right to a public trial

• 5th Amendment

• A criminal trial is a public process

• You cannot demand that the trial be closed to the public

• the media has the right to attend a criminal trial

Right to an impartial (fair) jury

• 5th amendment

• A jury will be set in place when a person can be sentenced to prison for more than 6 months

• A juror cannot be a person who has already made up his or her mind about the case

• A juror cannot be excluded for arbitrary reasons such as sex or race

Information on the specific charges

• 5th Amendment

The right of confrontation with the witnesses against the accussed

• 5th amendment

• the defendant has the right to question and cross-examine people who are testifying against them

The right to compulsory process

• 5th Amendment

• The court can order a person to come to court to testify and give evidence in a case

The right to counsel

• 5th Amendment

• A person charged with a crime has the right to the aid of an attorney

• A person can waive this right and choose to defend themselves

No Excessive Bail

• 8th Amendment

• a sum of money which a person accused must pay in order to be released from jail while charges are pending

• to ensure that the defendant returns to court

• factors that could go into setting the amount of bail:

  • The kind of crime committed

  • Whether the person has fled before

  • The ties a person has to the community

No cruel or unusual punishment

• 8th Amendment

• punishment must not involve unnecessary and wanton infliction of pain

• must not be grossly out of proportion to the severity of the crime

• the death penalty is still contested regarding wether it is cruel and unusual

• death is a punishment only applicable to the crime of murder

Court Clerk

• Civilian position

• Administrative assistant to the judge

• Organizes judge’s calendar and court files

• Checks in the attorneys

• Makes sure everything is ready prior to the judge entering the courtroom

Judge

• Ensures the law is followed during the trial

• Gives instructions to the jury, defines law and rules for the jury

• Determines which evidence is admissible (can be used)

• Can determine the outcome of case if it is a misdemeanor case or a bench trial (a trial without a jury)

• Establishes court rules and procedures

• Listens to witness testimony

• Determines guilt or innocence (if bench trial)

Witness

• While on the stand, provides the honest truth (takes an oath)

• Recounts the facts without embellishments (no opinions, etc)

Court Reporter

• Responsible for typing the manuscript while the court is in session

Counsel Table

Where the defendant and plantiff with their attorneys sit

Jury

• Arbiter of facts

• Evaluates the evidence

• Determines if the suspect is guilty or not guilty

Defendant

• Person charged with the crime

• Person or entity that is facing a civil lawsuit or that has been accused of a crime

Plantiff + Prosecutor

• The victim

• Initiates lawsuit

• In a civil case: plaintiff is typically an individual

• In a criminal case: plaintiff is typically the state

• Prosecutor

• Attorney representing the plaintiff

  • In a civil case: 

  • In a criminal case:

Baliff

• Usually a marshal or sheriff

• Escorts the suspect in and out of the courtroom

• Calls the court to order

• Responsible for security 

• Administers oaths to witnesses and jurors

• Closes the court

• Maintains supplies for use during the court

Attorney Podium

Where attorneys stand to talk

Public Area

where the public can sit and watch the trial

Locard Exchange Principle

The perpetrator of a crime will bring something to the crime scene and will leave with something from it, and both can be used as forensic science.