Intro to Forensic Science

Question 1

What is the definition of forensic science?

Answer 1

Science applied to matters of law

Question 2

What is the burden of proof in a civil case versus a criminal case?

Answer 2

Civil = a preponderance of the evidence

Criminal = beyond a reasonable doubt

Question 3

What is an indictment?

Answer 3

A document that states that a person has been formally charged with a serious crime

Question 4

What are the three levels of courts that can issue an indictment?

Answer 4

1. Local/Trial
2. State
3. Federal

Question 5

A guilty verdict is known as a —— whereas a not guilty verdict is known as an ——.

Answer 5

conviction, acquittal

Question 6

Is it possible for a defendant to be charged in both civil court AND criminal court?

Answer 6

YES (usually the civil case follows that criminal case but they CAN occur at the same time as well)

Question 7

Can a defendant be indicted at different levels such as local, state and federal?

Answer 7

Yes, all three!!! And they also can occur at the same time or at different times

Question 8

List the six major forensic disciplines found in a typical crime lab and describe what each one does:
Drug chemistry

Answer 8

Examines and identifies the presence of illegal drugs on items of evidence

Question 9

List the six major forensic disciplines found in a typical crime lab and describe what each one does:
Biology/DNA

Answer 9

Examines items of evidence for the presence of blood and other body fluids; can also then perform DNA testing on those body fluids to determine who could (or could NOT) have contributed to the body fluid found on the evidence by comparing to the DNA profiles of known persons

Question 10

List the six major forensic disciplines found in a typical crime lab and describe what each one does: Patterned evidence

Answer 10

Examines patterns on items such as tire marks, footwear impressions, handwriting, etc for individual characteristics. Can compare these characteristics found on evidence samples to the characteristics of known sources.

Question 11

List the six major forensic disciplines found in a typical crime lab and describe what each one does:
Latent fingerprints

Answer 11

Examines fingerprints (latent meaning invisible to the naked eye that have been detected using methods such as fingerprint powders or superglue fuming) whether latent OR visible to identify individual characteristics. Can compare prints to known individuals or enter them into a database to try to connect multiple crimes involving the same person.

Question 12

List the six major forensic disciplines found in a typical crime lab and describe what each one does:
Micro/Trace

Answer 12

Uses microscopes to examine very small items only visible with a microscope such as glass (auto, window, etc), hairs, fibers, gunshot residue, etc. Can use a comparison microscope to compare evidence samples to known samples.

Question 13

List the six major forensic disciplines found in a typical crime lab and describe what each one does:
Firearms/Ballistics

Answer 13

Examines bullets and cartridge casings to help determine the model and caliber of weapon used in a crime. Can upload images to bullets/cartridge cases to a database to try to connect crimes where the same weapon was used. Can also compare bullets/cartridge cases recovered from a crime scene to bullets/cartridge cases fired by a known weapon to determine if that weapon was used in the crime.

Question 14

In what country was the first written record of a forensic science manual discovered?

Answer 14

China

Question 15

Why was the Renaissance Period so important to the growth of forensic medicine (and medicine in general)?

Answer 15

The Catholic church lifted the ban on the dissection of cadavers which greatly increased anatomical knowledge.

Question 16

What is anthropometry (also known as Bertillionage)?

Answer 16

Anthropometry is the classification of offenders by taking a number of body measurements.

Question 17

What was the MAIN problem with Bertillionage in terms of classifying offenders?

Answer 17

Bertillionage (anthropometry) didn’t account for the fact that a person’s measurements change as they age. Therefore, you could never have a juvenile database OR be able to compare a juvenile offender’s measurements to an adult offender’s measurement.

Question 18

What forensic discipline eventually replaced Bertillionage?

Answer 18

Fingerprints

Question 19

Describe the contributions to forensic science of the following individuals:
Erasistratus:

Answer 19

Greek physician who noted that his patients’ heart rates increased when they lied to him (laying the foundation for the polygraph)

Question 20

Describe the contributions to forensic science of the following individuals:
Alphonse Bertillon:

Answer 20

Father of criminal identification; developed anthropometry (Bertillionage) which was classifying offenders by their body measurements

Question 21

Describe the contributions to forensic science of the following individuals:
Mathieu Orfila:

Answer 21

Developed the discipline of forensic toxicology

Question 22

Describe the contributions to forensic science of the following individuals:
Francis Galton:

Answer 22

Developed the discipline of fingerprint analysis

Question 23

Describe the contributions to forensic science of the following individuals:
Calvin Goddard:

Answer 23

Developed the discipline of firearms analysis; also pioneered the use of the comparison microscope

Question 24

Describe the contributions to forensic science of the following individuals:
Edmund Locard:

Answer 24

Founded the first crime lab; discovered the Principle of Evidence Exchange

Question 25

Describe the contributions to forensic science of the following individuals:
Karl Landsteiner:

Answer 25

Discovered the ABO blood group types; considered to be the father of forensic serology and DNA analysis

Question 26

Define what is meant by “Locard’s Principle of Evidence Exchange”:

Answer 26

Basically that every contact leaves a trace. In other words, every person that enters a crime scene will take materials with them AND leave materials behind

Question 27

Is Locard’s Theory of Evidence Exchange always true in theory? Why or why not?

Answer 27

YES the Theory of Evidence Exchange ALWAYS occurs even if it’s at a molecular level. However, this exchange cannot always be detected by modern forensic science techniques (though it is always detected on crime TV shows which is NOT reality).