All About Evidence

Question 1

Opinion Evidence

Answer 1

A forensic scientist offers their opinion as part of the body of evidence being considered in the case

Question 2

Locard’s Exchange Principle

Answer 2

Every contact results in leaving behind a trace of something, or evidence

Question 3

Transfer Evidence

Answer 3

Exchange of material that is the evidence of an interaction

Question 4

Inclusive Evidence

Answer 4

Evidence that is included in the population of items that came from the crime scene

[Example: Dirt and grass on a pair of shoes supports the idea that a crime took place at a baseball field, and adds individual to a list of people that could have been at the field]

Question 5

Exclusive Evidence

Answer 5

Evidence that is excluded from the population of items that came from the crime scene

[Example: If neither person lived in the city where the baseball field was located] I don’t fucking know this doesn’t make any sense to me

Question 6

Indeterminate Evidence

Answer 6

Evidence that doesn’t help answer the question related to location

[Example: Beach sand on shoes found at the baseball field]

Question 7

Testimonial Evidence

Answer 7

Another term for eyewitness evidence

Question 8

Physical Evidence

Answer 8

Raw material; needed by forensic scientists for processing

Question 9

Admissibility

Answer 9

Quality of being acceptable or valid as evidence

Question 10

Who decides if scientific evidence is admissible?

Answer 10

The court

Question 11

Admissible Evidence

Answer 11

Is reliable and relevant to the case at hand; the methods used are scientifically accurate and reliable

Question 12

Frye Standard

Answer 12

A procedure, technique, or principle must be generally accepted by the scientific community

Question 13

Daubert Standard

Answer 13

Scientific techniques should be tested, subject to review by other scientists, and the error rate should be known

(Aka the judge is responsible for determining if the evidence is relevant)

Question 14

Gatekeeper

Answer 14

Term used to refer to the judge who is in charge of determine admissibility

Question 15

Admissibility under the trilogy model is judged on…

Answer 15

Reliability and utility

Question 16

Inculpatory Evidence

Answer 16

Shows guilt of a suspect

Aka incriminating evidence

Question 17

Exculpatory Evidence

Answer 17

Shows innocence of a suspect

Question 18

Circumstantial Evidence

Answer 18

Could have arisen for non-criminal reasons

ie a defendant’s blood is found at a crime scene and linked to her by DNA results; the DNA alone does not speak innocence or guilt, but more information can be inferred from this

Question 19

Deductive Reasoning

Answer 19

Equivalent of mathematical reasoning;
the core concepts must be true, ie a bloodstain test comes back with the amelogenin type of X, X. Only females have an amelogenin type of X, X, so the bloodstain pattern must have come from a female

Question 20

Inductive Reasoning

Answer 20

Uses existing data to make predictions and generalizations

For example, most serial killers are men, so an investigation into a series of murders might start based on the theory that the killer is male

Question 21

Abductive Reasoning

Answer 21

Based on gathering what is known and using this information to come up with the simplest and most likely explanation

Question 22

Direct Evidence

Answer 22

Shows a fact to be true unless disproven

Question 23

Indirect Evidence

Answer 23

Evidence is transferred from the source to the location between one or more intermediate objects

Question 24

Standard Exemplar

Answer 24

Pure material of a commercial origin

Question 25

Control/Blank Exemplar

Answer 25

Material without apparent transfer, used to document background noise and contamination

Question 26

Elimination Exemplar

Answer 26

Material known to be from non-culprits, used to quickly eliminate non/evidence

Question 27

Individualization

Answer 27

Process of giving a piece of evidence or its source a specific unique identity based on individual characteristics

Question 28

The basic hypothesis tested during evidence identification

Answer 28

That an exemplar and an unknown are the same (easily falsifiable)

Question 29

Contrite Fallibilism

Answer 29

Awareness that we can never prove something 100% and there may be alternative explanations

Question 30

Evidence Analysis Process

Answer 30

Detection
Preservation
Comparison/Identification
Association
Reconstruction

Question 31

Comparative Analyses

Answer 31

Determines whether two things are the same across different features, such as appearance or physical/chemical characteristics

Question 32

Reference/Known Exemplar

Answer 32

Intact materials collected from suspects or scene

Question 33

Type I v Type II error

Answer 33

Type 1 errors are more severe, and can cause false incrimination

Type 2 errors can cause false exoneration, and are less severe than Type 1 errors

Question 34

Probative Value

Answer 34

Probability of evidence to reach its proof purpose of a relevant fact in an issue

Question 35

Class Characteristic

Answer 35

Trait(s) shared by all members of a class of objects

ie all round objects are circular

Question 36

Conflicting Evidence

Answer 36

Contradicts other evidence or theories

Question 37

Corroborating Evidence

Answer 37

Evidence that confirms other evidence or theories

Question 38

Direct vs Circumstantial

Answer 38

Direct has a low probability of fallibility, while circumstantial has a high probability

Question 39

Real Evidence

Answer 39

• Collected at Scene
• Processed and presented as authentic
• Allows jury to draw their own conclusions

Question 40

Demonstrative Evidence

Answer 40

• Scene documentation
• Created after analysis
• Explains the scene of explains an analysis

Question 41

Kumho Tire

Answer 41

Daubert factors apply to all experts

Question 42

Joiner

Answer 42

Scientific evidence must be specifically relevant

Question 43

Conclusive Evidence

Answer 43

Evidence so overwhelming that it proves either guilt or innocence

Question 44

Derivative Evidence

Answer 44

Discovered through illegal means, and as such, cannot be used in trial

Question 45

Foundational Evidence

Answer 45

Determines the admissibility of other evidence

Question 46

Proxy Data

Answer 46

Data seen as remnants of an event

Question 47

Controls

Answer 47

Materials with a known source; used for comparison with unknown evidence

Question 48

Coincidental Associations

Answer 48

Two things which have never been in contact with each other, however have items on them that are analytically indistinguishable at class level