Forensics finals

What is the estimated height of a person with a femur bone measuring 45 cm?

165.25 ± 3.72 cm

How many degree days accumulated today if the high was 100°F and the low was 98°F?

44

What does the word 'forensics' mean?

Belonging to, used in, or suitable to courts of judicature; an argument.

What is Locard’s Exchange Principle?

Every contact leaves a trace.

Which evidence does not have individual characteristics?

Glass.

What is the primary crime scene?

The site of the original or first criminal activity.

True or False: Exculpatory evidence includes a person as a source.

False.

What is the primary responsibility of a forensic scientist?

To perform scientific analyses and report the results.

What is consistent about crime scenes?

Their variety.

What is the major goal of working a crime scene?

To reconstruct the events that generated the collected evidence.

What is NOT a strength of the crime scene sketch?

It allows for accurate reproduction of color.

What must occur each time evidence changes hands?

The chain of custody must be updated with signatures and times.

What must be done to the evidence before it is collected?

It must be photographed and sketched.

What measurement method uses perpendicular lines from two walls to locate objects?

Rectangular Coordinates.

Why is it important to take perpendicular measurements in indoor crime scenes?

To determine the horizontal and vertical distance between objects.

Which search method is best for large outdoor scenes with uneven terrain?

Line or strip search.

What is the main advantage of the zone search method?

It is useful for areas with multiple rooms or barriers.

Which search method focuses on the center of the scene?

Spiral search.

What is evidence?

Court-approved information that the trier of fact is allowed to consider when determining a defendant's guilt or innocence.

What is an exemplar?

A known standard collected by investigators.

What is an example of an exigent circumstance?

A scream for help behind a locked door.

What are class characteristics in physical evidence?

Features shared by an entire group or class of objects.

What is an example of 'class only' evidence?

A fiber from a piece of clothing.

What allows for the individualization of evidence?

The presence of a DNA sample.

What makes hair with an attached root more useful as evidence?

The root provides individual characteristics, such as DNA.

What is a drawback of using amido black to develop prints?

It can only be used once, so you only have one chance to develop the print properly.

Arch fingerprints have how many deltas?

None

What is the central pocket loop whorl?

e.

Which one is the plain whorl?

b.

Which one is the ulnar loop-left hand?

d.

Which one is the double loop whorl?

c.

Does amido black turn blank color when reacting with oils?

False.

What percentage of people have loop fingerprints?

65

What is a latent print?

A print left on a soft material.

When dropping through the air, a blood drop is what shape?

Spherical.

What can blood spatter analysis tell us?

Everything except who the blood belonged to.

What is a spike in blood spatter analysis?

An extension of the blood that is attached to the main droplet.

What is a passive fall?

Formed when blood drops at a 90-degree angle due to gravity.

What is a wipe pattern?

The transfer of blood from a moving source onto an unstained surface.

What can you infer about the blood drop causing the splash?

It hit the surface at an angle.

What is cast-off considered?

High-velocity blood spatter.

What does a spatter pattern indicate?

The object on which the pattern sits has been moved.

What is an arterial spurt?

a.

What is the transfer pattern?

e.

What does the Adler test do in the presence of blood?

Turns blue.

What color does phenolphthalein turn in the presence of hemoglobin?

Pink.

What is the most common fluid found at a crime scene?

Blood.

What can we use to determine the point of origin of multiple blood drops?

The angle of impact.

Which of the following should be used for naming the immediate cause of death?

Cardiac arrest

  Respiratory arrest

  Failure to thrive

  Multi-organ failure

All of the above.

What is not a manner of death?

Myocardial infarction.

Which factor is NOT used by a pathologist to estimate PMI?

Color of the deceased's clothing.

What does rigor mortis refer to?

Stiffening of the body.

What does livor mortis refer to?

Pooling of blood at the lowest part of the body.

What is natural death?

Death caused by disease without any trauma.

What describes accidental death?

Death due to unintentional trauma.

What defines suicide in terms of death?

Death due to self-inflicted injury with intent to die.

What defines homicide?

Death due to the direct action of another person.

What do medicolegal forensic entomologists do?

Determine minimum postmortem interval using insect species.

If there is a difference between the minimum post mortem interval calculation and the actual time of death, the medicolegal entomologist has made a mistake in calculation.

False.

What does post-decay refer to?

When all remaining flesh is removed and the body dries.

Will maggots migrate away from the body?

False.

What is the correct order for stages of decomposition?

Fresh → Bloated → Active Decay → Post-decay → Dry Stage → Skeletonization.

What are the life stages of the fly in order?

Egg, Larva-first instar, Larva-second instar, Larva-third instar, Pupa, Adult.

The black blow fly takes 11 days to go from egg to adult. We know this because we reared it at 27°C and observed its developmental time. It's threshold temperature is 6°C. How many degree days does it take the black blowfly to go from egg to adult? (Just put the number, don't add any letters)

231 degree days.

Does the coronal suture go over the head?

True.

Do all humans have the same number of bones?

False.

What is the main bone used to identify forensic ancestry?

Skull.

What method replaced the Spencerian method?

Palmer method.

What is Garland movement?

When a pen moves overhand or clockwise.

Indented writing, also known as second-page writing, is the impression from the writing instrument captured on the sheet above the original paper.

false

As is true for any mechanical device, use of a printing device will result in wear and damage to the machine’s moving parts.

True.

What is the most common method of serial number application?

Stamping.

What is fire?

A rapid oxidation process that produces heat and light.

What is the flashpoint?

Temperature where a liquid produces ignitable vapors.

The temperature at which a liquid gives off suicient vapor to form an ignitable mixture at its surface is called the fire point. 

False

What does soot presence indicate?

Whether combustion was complete or incomplete.

What is a dangerous byproduct of incomplete combustion?

Carbon monoxide.

What is spoliation?

Using fire to cover up another crime.

Where does the most charring in a fire occur?

At the upper area of burning.

In a light bulb, the swell of the glass points where?

Towards the heat source.

Does DNA stand for bonucleic acid?

False.

What bonds base pairs together?

Hydrogen bonds.

What do genes do?

Direct the production of a specific protein.

Where is DNA found in a cell?

Not only in the nucleus.

SNPs stands for what?

Single nucleotide polymorphisms.

STRs stands for what?

Short tandem repeat.

What is the chance you inherited the exact same DNA from your parents?

50%.

What are fraternal twins essentially?

Siblings born at the same time sharing about 50% DNA.

When was the Controlled Substances Act established?

1970

What does THC stand for?

Tetrahydrocannabinol.

What is an opiate?

A class of drugs causing euphoria and relieving pain.

What is the most widely used drug in the U.S.?

Marijuana.

What is a 1st degree burn?

Sunburn.

What is a 2nd degree burn?

Blister.

What is a 3rd degree burn?

Subcutaneous tissue damage.

What is a 4th degree burn?

Burning of underlying muscle without bone damage.

What is a 5th degree burn?

Bone is burned but not charred.

What is a 6th degree burn?

Charred bone.

How many bones does an adult have?

206

What is an adulterant?

Substance found within another substance not allowed for legal reasons.