Chapter 1

Question 1

A hearing to determine if evidence will be admissible

Answer 1

Admissibility hearing

Question 2

A system in which opposing arguments are presented to the party that makes the decision (trier of fact)

Answer 2

Adversarial system

Question 3

A cradle-to-grave document that tracks evidence

Answer 3

Chain of custody

Question 4

Evidence that alone proves nothing directly; requires additional inference to prove a fact in dispute

Answer 4

Circumstantial evidence

Question 5

Law that deals with disputes between parties

Answer 5

Civil law

Question 6

To assign an exhibit of evidence or other object to a group of like objects based on descriptors such as chemical and physical properties

Answer 6

Classifications

Question 7

Associating two or more items or exhibit of evidence to one and only one possible source

Answer 7

Common source

Question 8

Law that deals with crimes committed against society as defined by law and administered by government

Answer 8

Criminal law

Question 9

A court ruling on admissibility that among other things tasked judges with the role of gatekeeper for admissibility of scientific evidence and expert testimony

Answer 9

Daubert decision

Question 10

An admissibility hearing based on the Daubert standards held to determine if scientific evidence and testimony is going to be admitted into the court proceeding

Answer 10

Daubert hearing

Question 11

Three cases - Daubert, GE v. Joiner, and Kuhmo Tire related to the admissibility of scientific evidence; all three are federal cases

Answer 11

Daubert trilogy

Question 12

Evidence known to a person directly by personal knowledge

Answer 12

Direct evidence

Question 13

Evidence that by itself excludes a person or a possibility

Answer 13

Exclusive evidence

Question 14

The question that directs a forensic analysis; the question that dictates how a piece of evidence is analyzed and what data is provided. The forensic question may or may not be the same as the scientific and legal questions

Answer 14

Forensic question

Question 15

A rule of admissibility of scientific evidence and expert testimony that relies on general acceptance by the Scientific community

Answer 15

Frye rule

Question 16

The role of the judge in regards to the admissibility of scientific evidence under the Daubert hearing

Answer 16

Gatekeeper

Question 17

Under the Frye decision, the criteria for admitting scientific evidence

Answer 17

General acceptance

Question 18

The second case in the Daubert trilogy; the ruling in the case stressed the need to weigh the relevancy of the data to the question at hand

Answer 18

General Electric v. Joiner (GE v. Joiner)

Question 19

An exhibit for which there is no prior knowledge or outward signs that point to its consumption. Forensic samples are often treated as general unknowns even if there is some prior knowledge

Answer 19

General unknown

Question 20

A term with various meanings in forensic science including linking a piece of evidence to a single source (such as a fingerprint to a person) or identification of a chemical compound using libraries and reference materials

Answer 20

Identification

Question 21

Evidence that by itself includes a person or a possibility

Answer 21

Inclusive evidence

Question 22

Linking a piece of evidence to a single source

Answer 22

Individualization

Question 23

The third decision in the Daubert trilogy; the ruling extended scope of Daubert and the judge’s gatekeeper role to all expert testimony, not just scientific

Answer 23

Kuhmo Tire v. Carmichael

Question 24

The question that is at the center of a case or court proceeding

Answer 24

Legal question

Question 25

That which has gone before; previous rulings and approaches made by courts and supported over time

Answer 25

Precedent

Question 26

In the forensic context, the applicability of the data or information to the question at hand

Answer 26

Relevancy

Question 27

In a court or legal proceeding, the person or persons that make the ultimate decisions; can be a judge or jury

Answer 27

Trier of fact

Question 28

Analytical testing that utilizes relatively large quantities of liquid reagents

Answer 28

Wet chemical methods