FIS Exam 2 Flashcards
What do document examiners do most of their time?
What is an example of an erasure?
What type of instrument detects indented writing?
What detects for altered or obliterated writings?
Video Spectral Comparator
Obliterating = scratching out
A written document asking to be produced is an example of what?
Requested exemplar
Dis-advantages- handwriting may be altered to disguise
Advantages- the process is controlled
What is examined in machine made documents?
Factory errors, defects in printing mechanisms
What is a characteristic used to compare handwriting samples?
Distancing, slantings, height, connections
Can a questioned document examiner determine the emotional mindset of the writer?
No
Age and gender cannot be determined eitherq
What are the three types of signatures?
hand printing, stylized, and mixture
What type of fingerprint pattern is used to determine the Henry Classification Value?
Whorls
What is the formula for the Henry Classification Value?
Evens + 1/ Odds + 1
Patent Print
visible to the naked eye
Latent Print
invisible to naked eye
Plastic Print
3D impressions
Loops are the most common fingerprint pattern, what type of loop form ridges that enter/exit toward the little finger?
Ulnar Loop
What type of loop form ridges that enter/exit toward the thumb?
Radial loop
What is the difference between a plain arch and a tented arch?
Plain arches do not have a a deep delta extending upwards
What is a whorl?
A pattern that is completely circular and does not extend to the edges of the finger
What is a Central Pocket Loop
It appears as a loop, but has a pocket in the center resembling a whorl.
During which stage of development are friction ridges formed?
Fetal Development
At what point do friction ridge patterns change?
They do not, they may grow, but the pattern will stay the same.
Name a chemical visualization method of latent prints on porous surfaces
Ninhydrin
When was fingerprinting first used in the US?
1902
What levels are used to identify fingerprints to an individual?
Level 2 may be used, but level 3 will be as well
In firearms analysis, what is “rifling”?
Lands and grooves
Striations, used to individualize a bullet to a firearm, are produced from what part of the firearm barrel?
Made by lands and grooves
Raised portion on the bullet is called groove mark.
What is the purpose of the magazine?
Holds a large quantity of ammunition
What type of firearm does not have lands and grooves?
Shotgun
What is first done during a firearm examination?
Check for safety
What residue is used to determine distance of fired weapon using the Greiss Test?
What are the three components to gunshot residue?
What are the components of ammunition?
What type of impression is left on a clean surface?
What type of impression is left on a dirty surface?
How many points need to be compared for impression evidence?
What type of casting is most commonly used?
What is the first step in collection of footwear impressions?
Does a toolmark make the same impression every time?
Marks made by a lateral force parallel to the surface are called?
Marks made perpendicular to the surface are called?
What chemical is used to restore serial numbers?
An arrangement, orientation, or shape of macroscopic toolmark features that are consistent with a particular shape of tool surface is an example of what type of class?
What is disrupted when the surface is stamped with an alphanumeric dye?
crystalline structure
What is a questioned document and how is it analyzed?
What do question document examiners do and how?
How is handwriting disguised?
What is the difference between a request and non-request exemplar?
What causes erasures, obliterations, charred, and indented writings and how they are detected?
How are the age of documents determined?
Where do fingerprints come from, how are fingerprints left behind?
What are the different techniques used in processing latent fingerprints? When is each technique used?
How are fingerprints identified? What is IAFIS?
What is the difference between a handgun and a shotgun?
Can toolmark and firearm evidence be unique?
How is ammunition fired through the barrel?
What type of microscope is used for firearm comparisons?
How is impression evidence individualized?
