Exam 1 introduction

Question 1

fallabilism

Answer 1

an awareness of what you do not know and a certainty of what you do know. (I know what I know, and I know what I don’t know)

Question 2

Coroner

Answer 2

a government or judicial official who
makes an inquiry into the death and complete the certificate of death. The coroner assigns a cause and manner of death and lists them on the certificate of death.

a rudementary way of dealing with the dead by examining the body, lisitng the cause of death, and signing the death cirtificate.

Question 3

Medical examiner

Answer 3

A Medical Examiner is a forensic pathologist (a medical doctor with subspeciality training) with particular expertise in investigating violent, sudden and unexpected, suspicious or unattended deaths. A Coroner is an elected or appointed public officer whose chief duty is to certify the cause of death

Question 4

cause of death

Answer 4

a disease or injury that initiated the lethal chain of events, however prolonged or brief, that led to the death of the person.

How the person died (like from a gunshot wound or from being stabbed)

Question 5

Mechanisim of death

Answer 5

why the person died

Question 6

Manner of Death

Answer 6

What caused the death

Question 7

The four manners of death

Answer 7

Natural: age, diseases
Accidental: car accident
Suicidal: self-inflicted harm
Homicidal: intent, harm caused to the victim

Question 8

What are the autopsy process steps

Answer 8

1) incisions made on the chest, abdomen, and head
2) removal or organs
3) collection of specimens for testing
4) film and photography

Question 9

Autopsy limitations

Answer 9

Religious
cultural
time sensitive
next to kin objecting

Question 10

Scientific (real) evidence

Answer 10

physical, consisting of things that link a suspect to the crime;
Blood, fingerprints, weapons

Question 11

non-scientific (testimonial) evidence

Answer 11

testimonial evidence is made under oath
things like photos, sketches, or eye-witness testimony

Question 12

voir dire

Answer 12

the examination of a professional’s background, training, and experience (usually in a court of law)

Question 13

ad hominem

Answer 13

an attack on the person giving the testimony and not what the person is saying

Question 14

Direct examination

Answer 14

the initial questioning of a witness, by the party that called them to the stand

3) lay the foundation for admissibility of evidence
2) in criminal court testimony from a forensic pathologist is basically required
3) the forensic pathologist is subject to ad hominem attacks from opposing counsel.

Question 15

what are the Frye standards for admissibility

Answer 15

• Frye commonly refers to the general acceptance test
• Scientific methods that are generally accepted are admissible
• General acceptance of rules
• But is limited in new scientific advancements or specializations of disciplines

Question 16

What is the Daubert standard of admissibility and what considerations are taken with them

Answer 16

o Whether the theory or technique can be and has been tested
o Whether it has been subject to both peer review and publication
o The known or potential error rate of the method
o The existence and maintenance of standards controlling its operation
o Whether it has attracted widespread acceptance withing the relevant scientific community

Question 17

What are the general tasksfor a forensic scientist?

Answer 17

1) Identify human remains (main job)
2) Document the cause of human death
3) Recover human remains
4) Assist in criminal investigations with scientific analysis of evidence

Question 18

Compare the difference between the standard scientific method and steps in a forensic investigation.

Answer 18

Standard scientific method goes by: hypotheses, test, experiment, data collection, and analyze
For a forensic investigation since it is an uncontrolled environment with the experiment being the crime scene. So the method would be: analysis, data collection, experiment, test, and hypotheses.

Question 19

Steps in a forensic investigation

Answer 19

• Cause of death
• Gather witness testimony
• Review medical history
• Conduct autopsy
• Toxicology/DNA testing
• Correlate photographic evidence
• Make case report
• Testify if needed

Question 20

Explain the difference between scientific and non-scientific evidence

Answer 20

The difference between Scientific evidence and non-scientific evidence is that scientific evidence consists of real, physical evidence that links the suspect to the incident while non-scientific evidence consists of statements/testimonies made under oath, photos, sketches, or eye-witness statements.

Question 21

Admissibility of evidence standards

Answer 21

Frye: known as “general acceptance test”. scientific methods are usually accepted and are admissible. Scientific methods that are not sufficiently established are not admissible. Scientific community is the gatekeeper of determining evidence admissibility.

Daubert: Whether a theory or technique can be and has been tested; Whether the theory or technique has been subject to both peer review and publication; The known or potential error rate of the method; The existence and maintenance of standards controlling its operation; and whether it has attracted widespread acceptance within the relevant scientific community. The judge is the gatekeeper in determining evidence admissibility.