Forensic Science & Crime Scene Investigation Review

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering forensic anthropology, DNA profiling, ballistics, crime scene processing, latent fingerprints, trace analysis, bloodstain pattern analysis, death investigation, and forensic jurisprudence.

Parkman-Webster Case

A historic murder case involving a doctor murdered at Harvard Medical School.

William Maples

Forensic anthropologist who stated: 'A forensic anthropologist is not a medical doctor, though he has a Ph.D. and has studied anthropology in college. We specialize in the human skeletal system, its changes through life, its changes across many lifetimes, and its variations around the world.'

Taphonomy

The study of the way degradation of an organism affects its surrounding environment and how the environment affects degradation of the organism.

NAGPRA

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

Ante-Mortem Injury

An injury sustained before death that shows signs of healing.

Bear Claw

An animal skeletal element that is commonly mistaken for a human hand.

Y-STR

A specific type of DNA testing that indicates ancestry or heredity along the male line.

Familial DNA Testing

A DNA testing method commonly employed in cases involving missing persons and unidentified remains.

Colin Pitchfork

The first individual to be convicted of a crime using DNA fingerprinting.

Touch DNA

A type of DNA evidence that is typically very small in quantity, making it difficult to obtain a complete profile.

Stippling

Burned and unburned powder patterns (also called tattooing) observed on the skin, used as the primary method for determining range of fire.

12 o'clock Position

The specific cylinder position that must be marked and documented when removing cartridge casings from a revolver.

Perforation

The condition occurring when a bullet passes completely through an object.

Graze Wound

A wound produced when a projectile moves along the surface of the skin without fully penetrating.

Penetration

The condition occurring when a bullet enters an object and becomes lodged in the target.

Terminal Ballistics

The subfield of ballistics that studies the behavior and effects of a projectile once it strikes a target.

Chain of Custody

The detailed chronological recording of an item of evidence, including who collected it, who examined it, when it was opened, and any alterations that occurred during processing.

Transitory Evidence

Temporary evidence at a crime scene that is easily lost or degraded over short periods, such as squeegee marks.

Rectangular Coordinates

A crime scene mapping method that involves measuring the distance from an evidence item using two perpendicular measurements to non-parallel walls.

Baseline Method

A mapping technique that involves setting a line at a fixed datum point and measuring the distance along that line as well as perpendicular distances from the line to items of evidence.

Elevation Sketch

A crime scene sketch viewpoint that portrays a wall or vertical surface.

Polar Coordinates

A surveying-based crime scene mapping method that relies on angular measurements and distance determinations using a sighting device.

Henry Faulds

A researcher generally recognized as the first to suggest that fingerprints are unique and could be utilized to solve crimes.

Francis Galton

A cousin of Charles Darwin credited with helping establish fingerprinting over Bertillon measurements (anthropometry) for personal identification.

Edward Henry

The developer of the first truly viable and widespread systematic fingerprint classification system.

Ten-Print Examiner

A fingerprint specialist who compares and evaluates prints originating exclusively from known fingerprint cards and official records.

ACE-V

The standard scientific methodology used in fingerprint examination: Analysis, Comparison, Evaluation, and Verification.

Permanence

The fundamental fingerprint principle establishing that friction ridge arrangements remain unchanged throughout an individual's lifetime.

Saw or Drill Marks

A category of tool marks created when an implement penetrates or cuts completely through a surface or object.

Compression Tool Marks

Tool impressions formed when a harder implement is forced directly into a softer material.

Trace Evidence

A broad, catch-all category for microscopic or transfer materials transferred during a crime, including hairs, fibers, glass, paint, polymers, soils, and pollens.

Xi Yuan Lu

A 13th-century Chinese forensic manual attributed to Song Ci, translated as 'The Washing Away of Wrongs' or 'Collected Cases of Injustice Rectified.'

Transfer Stains

A class of bloodstains produced by contact between a bloody surface and another object, including wipe, swipe, and pattern transfers.

SWGSTAIN

The Scientific Working Group on Bloodstain Pattern Analysis, established in 2002 to create standardized protocols and terminology.

Angle of Impact

The acute angle formed between the path of a blood drop and the target plane, calculated mathematically as $\arcsin\left(\frac{\text{width}}{\text{length}}\right)$.

Toby Wolson

The forensic analyst who developed the 'Road Mapping' method for photographic documentation of complex bloodstain scenes.

Holistic Evaluation

An investigative principle requiring that a crime scene be analyzed by considering all parts and evidence in context as a unified whole.

Undetermined Death

A manner of death classification applied when death is confirmed, but there is insufficient information available to determine the circumstances of how death occurred.

Unclassified Death

A manner of death applied when the physical mechanism (such as a gunshot wound) is evident, but the exact intent or surrounding circumstances remain uncertain.

Frye Test

A legal standard (the 'General Acceptance Test') requiring that a scientific technique or principle must be generally accepted in its relevant scientific field to be admissible in court.

Daubert Test

The current evidentiary standard used in federal courts and Florida requiring four reliability criteria to be demonstrated before expert testimony is admitted.

Suppression Hearing

A pretrial court proceeding in which the defense requests that specific evidence be excluded from trial on the grounds that it was unlawfully obtained.