Intro to Forensics Flashcards
How does the brain take observations and process them?
Since memory fades with time, we will only remember a very small number of details. The way we remember things, however, can also change.
4 lobes of the brain
-Frontal lobe
-Parietal lobe
-Occipital lobe
-Temporal lobe
Frontal Lobe
Associated with reasoning, planning, parts of speech, emotions, and problem solving
Parietal Lobe
Associated with movement, orientation, recognition, perception of stimuli
Occipital Lobe
Associated with visual processing
Temporal Lobe
(auditory section) associated with perception, memory and speech
Deductive Reasoning
Deriving the consequences from facts using a series of logical steps
Eye Witness Testimony
Three main stages in memory where error could occur
-encode(occurance of event)
-Storage( event is stored for a specific duration)
-recall(retrieval of event)
Eye witness testimony 2
most states have accepted eyewitness accounts as “flawed” Science and do not allow a person(s) to be convicted based solely on eyewitness accounts.
They are however still used as “leads” to HELP convict as suspect
The Innocence Project (6 common causes of wrongful convictions)
-eyewitness misinterpretation
-incorrect forensics
-false confessions
-official misconduct
-Use of informants
-Inadequate defense
Dr. Edmond Locard
-known as father of forensics
-Established the first forensics laboratory in Lyon France in 1910
-Lovard’s exchange principle
Locard’s Exchange principle
When a person comes in contact with an object(or another person) A cross transfer of physical evidence can occur.
cross transfers create evidence
Evidence solves crimes
The exchanged materials indicate that the two entities were in contact
Direct Evidence
Eyewitness Accounts
Police Dashboard
Video Surveillance
Voice Recordings
Signed Ransom Notes
Reports (toxicology, lab, etc)
Includes first hand observations
Circumstantial evidence(indirect evidence)
Prints (fingerprints, bite marks, tire prints)
DNA
Ballistic evidence
Fibers
Hair
can be used to imply a fact but not directly prove it
Circumstantial evidence (Physical)
-All prints
-Bullets
-Weapons
-Synthetic fibers
Not naturally created
Circumstantial evidence(biological)
-DNA
-Hair
-Natural fibers
Class
Narrows to a group of people/items
-Shoe prints
-Blood type
-Hair (w/o the follicle)
Individual
Narrows to one individual
-DNA
-Hair (with the follicle)
-Fingerprints
Evidence
can be used to convict, exonerate or prove a defendant to be not guilty of an accused crime
Evidence 2
If the investigator cannot recognize evidence or cannot properly preserve it for laboratory examination, it is of no use.
(Mishandled crime scenes and evidence can be detrimental to a case.)
Who is at the crime scene
Police and possibly a district attorney. (DA may be present to issue warrants)
Crime scene investigators. (document scene in detail and collect evidence)
Medical examiners. (aka: coroners determine COD)Detectives. (look for leads/interview witnesses/talk to CSI)
Specialists. (entomologists, psychologists, anthropologists, etc)
7 S’s
Securing the Scene
Separating Witnesses
Scanning the Scene
Seeing the Scene
Sketching the Scene
Searching the Scene
Securing and Collecting Evidence
Spiral search method
Search starts at an outer point and gradually moves toward the center
Spiral like
Grid Method
Crime scene divided into a grid and each grid segment is searched
