Topic 1A chain of custody

Question 1

Explain the term ‘forensic’,

Answer 1

forensic:

refers to law enforcement, the judicial system, and the courts.

Question 2

•Criminal vs civil cases

Answer 2

criminal law:
deals with crimes by a person or persons against the state,
which can be any level of government, including cities,
countries (disputes between individuals and the state).

civil cases:
arise from disputes that involve private rights or disputes as
that between people or two corporations (disputes among individuals).

Question 3

•Types of evidences: Inclusive, exclusive, direct & circumstantial

Answer 3

inclusive: samples could be from the same source, ‘consistent with’
exclusive: samples that could not be from same source, ‘inconsistent with’ eliminates possibilities
direct: is what is known to a person by personal knowledge IT CAN ONLY BE EYEWITNESS!!

circumstantial: produced my forensic scientists, requires further inference tp move logically from info provided to answer a question
E.g CCTV footage

Question 4

•Flow of a forensic analysis what after the 3 main groups of techniques forensic scientists use in forensic analysis? VOA

Answer 4

Aforensicanalysisisusuallyanarrowing‐downprocess.
Aforensicchemistreliesonthreegroupsoftechniques
-Visualexaminationandinspection(bothmacroscopicandmicroscopic)
-Organicanalysis&Inorganicanalysis;
-AnalyticalInstrumentationTechniques

Question 5

The Forensic Mind-Set (8 characteristics, ARTCTLFP)

Answer 5

Assumenothing.
Beresourceful.
Thinkoutsidethediscipline.
Becreative.
Buildabigforensictoolboxthatneverstopsgrowing. 
Knowtheirlimitationsandconfirmtheresults. 
Beflexible.
Bepersistent.

Question 6

explain ‘forensic chemistry’,

Answer 6

the application of analytical chemistry in a legal setting.

Question 7

explain ‘precedent’

Answer 7

principle or rule established in a previous legal case that is either binding on or persuasive without going to courts for a court or other tribunal when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts.

Question 8

explain and ‘chain of custody’ in forensic science. What does the chain of custody ensure? describe the process

Answer 8

Chainofcustodyisadocument(physical/e‐record)thattracksevidencefromitscreationorcollectiontoitsfinaldisposal(traceability).
Itensuresthatthesamplehistoryhasnogapsandthatthesamplewasinthedirectcontrolofonepersonatalltimes,thoughnotalwaysthesameperson.

Maintenanceofthe“CHAIN”isafundamentalresponsibilityofanyforensicchemist. Whenasampleisthelaboratory,iteitherisstoredinasecure,lockedstorageareaorisbeinganalysed.
Painstakingstepsaretakentoensuretheintegrityofallevidence.Amongthesestepsareestablishingsecuritymeasures,guaranteeingcontrolledaccesstostorageareas,andimplementingspecificprotocolsforopening,marking,sealingandtransportingevidence

Question 9

explain the role of forensic chemist. What can they assist in and through what techniques? What kind of identification?

Answer 9

Forensic chemist can assist in the identification of unknown materials found at a crime scene through the application of analytical chemistry; provide the qualitative & quantitative identification of an unknown sample in various forensic science disciplines through application of analytical techniques i.e.wet chemistry e.g.titration & analytical instrumentations(spectroscopy & chromatography).