1 Unit 1: Introduction to Forensic Science. 1- Criminalistics, 10e Richard Saferstein © 2011, 2007,...

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Unit 1: Introduction to Forensic Science

1-Criminalistics, 10eRichard Saferstein

© 2011, 2007, 2004, 2001, 1998, 1995 Pearson Higher Education,Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. • All Rights Reserved.

In its broadest definition, forensic science is the application of science to criminal and civil laws.

Forensic science owes its origins to individuals such as Bertillon, Galton, Lattes, Goddard, Osborn, and Locard, who developed the principles and techniques needed to identify or compare physical evidence.

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When a crime has been committed, law enforcements team members have many methods to discover who is responsible◦ Interview potential witnesses and others who might know

victims or suspects◦ Gather physical evidence at the scene of the crime

Barriers placed around area to keep evidence from being destroyed, changed, or removed

No false evidence should be brought in to make a person look guilty

Photograph scene before removing and labeling evidence◦ Experts are brought in to examine the physical evidence

Bullets, bloodstains, fingerprints etc.

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Forensic comes from Latin “forensis” meaning public forum.

Refers to anything that has to deal with the court of law

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Provide law enforcement organizations with a vast array of information about casework under investigation

Can compare traces of hair, grease, paint, or glass left at a crime scene with those found in a suspect’s possession

Can offer information about what an explosive was made of, how it started, what kind of tire left a track in the dirt, and where soil on a shoe came from

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Must be at home in the courtroom as well as the laboratory

May be called upon to give their conclusions in court

Experts must have reached their conclusions by methods proven reliable and that were properly conducted using working equipment run by a qualified operator

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Autopsy – post mortem (after death) examination of a body, usually by a doctor who specializes in this branch of science, known as a medical examiner

First known took place in 44 B.C. in ancient Rome◦ Julius Caesar stabbed to death stabbed to death in

the senate house. Physician named Antistius determined that only one of the 23 stab wounds caused his death.

Autopsies remained unpopular in many cultures because of the widespread belief of leaving the dead intact

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Position of the coroner – an appointed official who holds inquiries into unexpected deaths, is one of the oldest public offices.

Date back to about 900 A.D. in England

First coroners were “keepers of the pleas of the crown,” later shortened to “crowner,” then “coroner.”

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First Forensic Book His Duan Yu (The Washing Away of Wrongs)

1248, China

Described ways of discerning natural deaths from unnatural ones◦ Suggested that damaged cartilage on the neck on

pressure marks on the throat indicated death by strangulation



Other Important Dates… 1590 – Holland’s Zacharias Janssen created

first compound microscope; used in the 1800’s to present to study microorganisms and blood samples

1810 – Eugene Francois Vidocq an escaped convict offered his services to the French police. Eventually supervised a force of 20 detectives later known as la Surete, or Security



1850 – Scottish Immigrant Allan Pinkerton founded Pinkerton’s Detective Agency in Chicago, Illinois. With advancements in photography, had the country’s largest collection of mug shots



1879 – Alphonse Bertillon developed an anthropometric system of criminal identification◦ Anthropometry – the study of the human body by

measurement used by anthropologists to compare and classify human beings

Called “Bertillonage” this system was widely used until fingerprints became an accepted forensics tool in the early 1900’s



1910 – Edmond Locard (France) established the world’s first forensics laboratory.

Proclaimed the “principle of interchange,” person committing a crime always leaves something behind and always carries something away



Mathieu Orfila—the father of forensic toxicology. Alphonse Bertillion—devised the first scientific

system of personal identification in 1879. Francis Galton—conducted the first definitive

study of fingerprints and their classification. Leone Lattes—developed a procedure to

determine blood type from dried bloodstains. Calvin Goddard—used a comparison microscope

to determine if a particular gun fired a bullet. Albert Osborn—developed the fundamental

principles of document examination.

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Walter McCrone—utilized microscopy and other analytical methodologies to examine evidence.

Hans Gross—wrote the first treatise describing the application of scientific principles to the field of criminal investigation.

Edmond Locard—incorporared Gross’ principles within a workable crime laboratory.

Locard’s Exchange Principle—states that when a criminal comes in contact with an object or person, a cross-transfer of evidence occurs.

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The development of crime laboratories in the United States has been characterized by rapid growth accompanied by a lack of national and regional planning and coordination.

At present, approximately 350 public crime laboratories operate at various levels of government—federal, state, county, and municipal.

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The ever increasing number of crime laboratories is partly the result of the following:◦ Supreme Court decisions in the 1960s

responsible for police placing greater emphasis on scientifically evaluated evidence.

◦ Crime laboratories inundated with drug specimens due to accelerated drug abuse.

◦ The advent of DNA profiling.

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The technical support provided by crime laboratories can be assigned to five basic services. ◦Physical Science Unit incorporates the

principles of chemistry, physics, and geology to identify and compare physical evidence.

◦Biology Unit applies the knowledge of biological sciences in order to investigate blood samples, body fluids, hair, and fiber samples.

◦Firearms Unit investigates discharged bullets, cartridge cases, shotgun shells, and ammunition.

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◦ Document Unit provides the skills needed for handwriting analysis and other questioned-document issues.

◦ Photographic Unit applies specialized photographic techniques for recording and examining physical evidence. Some crime laboratories may offer the optional services of toxicology, fingerprint analysis, voiceprint analysis, evidence collection, and polygraph administration.

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Optional Services by Full-Service Labs◦ Toxicology Unit examines body fluids and organs for

the presence of drugs and poisons.

◦ Latent Fingerprint Unit processes and examines evidence for latent fingerprints.

◦ Polygraph Unit conducts polygraph or lie detector tests.

◦ Voiceprint Analysis Unit attempts to tie a recorded voice to a particular suspect.

◦ Evidence-Collection Unit dispatches specially trained personnel to the crime scene to collect and preserve physical evidence.

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A forensic scientist must be skilled in applying the principles and techniques of the physical and natural sciences to the analysis of the many types of evidence that may be recovered during a criminal investigation.

A forensic scientist may also provide expert court testimony.

An expert witness is an individual whom the court determines possesses knowledge relevant to the trial that is not expected of the average person.

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The expert witness is called on to evaluate evidence based on specialized training and experience that the court lacks the expertise to do.

The expert will then express an opinion as to the significance of the findings.

Forensic scientists also participate in training law enforcement personnel in the proper recognition, collection, and preservation of physical evidence.

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The Frye v. United States decision set guidelines for determining the admissibility of scientific evidence into the courtroom.

To meet the Frye standard, the evidence

in question must be “generally accepted” by the scientific community.

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However, in the 1993 case of Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceutical, Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court asserted that the Frye standard is not an absolute prerequisite to the admissibility of scientific evidence.

Trial judges were said to be ultimately responsible as “gatekeepers” for the admissibility and validity of scientific evidence presented in their courts, as well as all expert testimony.

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In Daubert, the Supreme Court offered some guidelines as to how a judge can gauge scientific evidence:

1) Whether the scientific technique or theory can be (and has been) tested.

2) Whether the technique or theory has been subject to peer review and publication.

3) The technique’s potential rate of error.

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4) Existence and maintenance of standards controlling the technique’s operation.

5) Whether the scientific theory or method has attracted widespread acceptance within a relevant scientific community.

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A number of special forensic science services are available to the law enforcement community to augment the services of the crime laboratory.

These services include forensic psychiatry, forensic odontology, computer science, and forensic engineering.

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After a human body expires there are several stages of death.◦ Rigor mortis results in the shortening of muscle

tissue and the stiffening of body parts in the position at death (occurs within the first 24 hours and disappears within 36 hours).

◦ Livor mortis results in the settling of blood in areas of the body closest to the ground (begins immediately on death and continues up to 12 hours).

◦ Algor mortis results in the loss of heat by a body (a general rule, beginning about an hour after death, the body loses heat by 1 to 1-1/2 degrees Fahrenheit per hour until the body reaches the environmental temperature).

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Forensic Psychiatry is an area in which the relationship between human behavior and legal proceedings is examined.

Forensic Odontology involves using teeth to provide information about the identification of victims when a body is left in an unrecognizable state; also investigates bite marks.

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Forensic Engineering is concerned with failure analysis, accident reconstruction, and causes and origins of fires or explosions.

Forensic Computer Science involves the examination of digital evidence.

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