Transcript Hieronymus Bosch Madman or Medical Analyst

Welcome to
Forensics
Mr. Rizzo
What is forensics Science?
 Use of the scientific method in the legal
arena.
 The transfer of scientific techniques to aid
the legal process.
 The use of science and technology to
provide evidence.
When is forensics Science used?
?
 To solve any problem whether criminal or
historical in nature.
What is Evidence?
 Must be relevant to the case at hand.
 Must be more probative than prejudicial on the
issue.
 Probative evidence: tending to prove a
particular proposition or to persuade you of
the truth of an allegation
Forensic Evidence?
 IT IS NOT CSI….
 Is used to establish whether a particular
person or thing COULD be at a particular
place at a specific time.
Hieronymus Bosch
1450-1516
an eccentric Dutch
painter of religious
visions who dealt in
particular with the
torments of hell.
St. John on Patmos,
approx. 1485
Make three
observations:
St. Christopher Carrying
the Christ Child through a Sinful World,
Bosch, c1520
Temptation
of
St Anthony
Temptation
of
St Anthony
(Detail)
Hieronymus Bosch
Madman or Medical Analyst
• So we dig deeper and find that amputated limbs
were saved during Bosch's time so they might be
rejoined to their owners at the last judgment.
• Amputation is a gangrenous prevention
• The odd vegetable creature is painted in the shape of
a mandrake root. Mandrake was the herb used to
stanch the feverish pains of St. Anthony's Fire.
• The distillery used to reduce medicinal herbs.
As a Forensic Scientist what are
some questions you would ask?
• Does he have any diagnosis medical or
psychological conditions?
• Apocalyptic personality?
• What was also happening at that time?
Historians Know:
What can be going on at that time?
• St. Anthony's Fire was rampant.
• fiery pain, hallucinations, disorientation, muscle
cramps, convulsions, miscarriages, *gangrene
• Today we know that St. Anthony's Fire was caused
by a form of Rye/grain fungus called ergot.
St. Anthony’s Fire: Ergot
*Ergot of rye is produced by a lower fungus
(Claviceps purpurea) that grows parasitically
on rye, other grains and wild grasses.
Structural Analysis
O
ergotamine
OH
Lysergic Acid
Serotonin Blocker?
Serotonin (on the left) and Lysergic Acid ( on the right)
*Serotonin is known to control mood, emotion, sleep
and appetite
Structural Analysis
O
OH
Lysergic Acid
Lysergic Acid Diethylamide
(LSD)
Lysergic Acid Diethylamide
(LSD)
 LSD is one of the most powerful
known hallucinogenic drugs.
 It was invented in 1938, derived from
mushrooms.
 SO WHO CARES?
Hieronymus Bosch
Madman or Medical Analyst
• Bosch's Paintings actually documented beliefs and
medical procedures used to assist with St. Anthony’s
Fire.
• Amputation is a gangrenous prevention
• odd vegetable creatures= mandrake root
• The distillery used to reduce medicinal herbs.
Ergot in history
 Furthermore, since ergot baked in bread
dough forms LSD, the disease also led to
terrifying hallucinations
 Indeed there is the belief that the Salem
witch-hangings that went on in Salem,
Massachusetts (1692) occurred during an
outbreak of rye ergot.
Salem Witch trials(June -September of 1692)
 19 men and women were convicted of
witchcraft and hung
 100s of others faced accusations of
witchcraft.
 Dozens languished in jails.
 1 man was pressed to death under heavy
stones
Salem witch trials (1692)
According to historian Mary Matossian in her book
Poisons of the Past, she noted symptoms of the
people to be sensations of:
– Prickling or ants crawling on the skin
– Distortions of the face
– Paralysis
– Hallucinations
– Convulsive violent seizures
– Dementia
 All these symptoms were consistent with those
suffering from ergotism.
9/4 Do Now:
 Please get out and be ready to submit:
– Your Contract
– Student Information
 Identify at least six specific forensic
units used to examine Senator
Daschle’s letter.
Senator Daschle
What is forensics Science?
 Use of the scientific method in the legal
arena.
 The transfer of scientific techniques to aid
the legal process.
 The use of science and technology to
provide evidence.
Evidence?
 Must be relevant to the case at hand
 Must be more probative than prejudicial on the
issue
 Probative evidence: tending to prove a
particular proposition or to persuade you of
the truth of an allegation
Forensic Evidence?
 Is used to establish whether a particular
person or thing COULD be at a particular
place at a specific time.
Forensics incorporates the use of
many sciences:
 Biology
• Physiology, Odontology, Pathology
 Chemistry
• Spectrophotometry, Thin layer Chromatography
 Physics
• Friction, Ballistics, trajectory and motion
 Geology
• Archeology, Mineralogy
Forensics
 from L. forensis "of a forum, place of
assembly," from forum.
 Used in sense of "pertaining to legal trials,"
as in forensic medicine (1845).
I. Introduction
What is forensics Science?
 Use of the scientific method in the legal
arena.
 The transfer of scientific techniques to aid
the legal process.
 The use of science and technology to
provide evidence.
II. History and Development
Major Scientists:
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
(1859-1893) influences?
Sherlock Holmes 1887:
*Used fingerprinting, firearms identification,
serology,
*Used a scientific method of detection
Timeframe: 10 minutes
Affiliations from Court TV
http://www.courttv.com/forensics/affilations
.html
II. History and Development
Major Scientists:
Mathieu Orfila: 1814 father of forensic toxicology.
Alphonse Bertillon: 1879 father of Criminal
Identification -developed Anthropometry: a series of
body measurements as a means of distinguishing one
individual from another.
-Used for two decades and was later replaced by
fingerprinting.
Forensic Timeline
II. History and Development
 Francis Galton: 1892 the first finger printer
– Undertook the study, classification and filing of
fingerprints.
 DR Karl Landsteiner: 1901 (4) blood types
 Leone Lattes: 1915 developed a method of
determining a blood type form a dried sample.
II. History
 Calvin Goddard: analyzed
Firearms and refined bullet
Identification by using a
Comparison microscope.
II. History and Development
 Albert Osborn: 1910 developed the reference
text for document examiners.
 Walter C. McCrone: applied analytical
problem solving techniques in solving forensic
science cases by using microscopy.
– Highly sought after and leading instructor that
educated thousands in application microscopy.
II. History and Development
 1893 Hans Gross: wrote one of the first
comprehensive forensics texts applying the
uses of many scientific disciplines.
II. History
 Edmond Locard:
– 1910: one of the first site based
forensic labs.
– Founder of Institue of
Crimminalistsics at the universiy
of Lyons
 Developed Locard’s Exchange Principle
What is Locards’s Exchange Pri
II. History
 Locard’s Exchange Principle:
The exchange of materials between
two objects that occurs whenever
two objects come into contact with
one another.
II. History
 Locard’s Exchange Principle:
 The exchange of materials between two
objects that occurs whenever two
objects come into contact with one
another.
First major case: Counterfeit coins
Analyzed metallic particles found
in clothing, same as the counterfeit
coins
FBI lab
 1932, the FBI under J. Edger Hoover
organized a national laboratory that aimed to
offer forensic services to all law enforcement
agencies in the country. *at no expense*
FBI lab
 One of the largest and most
comprehensive forensic
laboratories in the world.
 Formed the FBI’s
Forensics Science research
and Training Center in
1981
FBI lab
 Laboratory examiners provide expert witness
testimony:
In cases regarding the results of forensic
examination
Special Agent and support personnel assist
domestic and international law enforcement
agencies in large-scale investigations and
disasters
III. Organization of a Crime
Laboratory
 Why are their so many new lab?
Increase in Drug analysis and
DNA profiling:
Bloodstains, semen
stains, hair and saliva
residue, bite marks,
III. Organization of a Crime
Laboratory
 Rapid growth yet lack of national and
regional planning?
 320 Public crime labs
Federal, state, county, municipal
Most placed under police dep.
Prosecutors/district attorney
Medical examiner or coroner
III. Organization of a Crime
Laboratory
 NO single law enforcement or
investigative agency with unlimited
jurisdiction so four major labs were
set up:
 FBI
 Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and
Explosives
 US Postal Inspection Service
Senator Daschle
New York Post
 Identify at least six specific forensic
units used to examine Senator
Daschle’s letter.
III. Organization
 Some states have developed a
comprehensive STATEWIDE system of
regional/satellites laboratories.
 Alabama,
California
 Illinois
Michigan
 New Jersey Texas
 Washington Oregon
 Virginia
Florida
 Many of the larger cities also have their
own crime labs. New York
IV. Services of the Crime Lab
 Basic services
Please identify the the various Services
provided by Crime Labs
 Basic Full service
 Optional Services
– 1 Physical Science Unit
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IV. Services of the Crime Lab
 Basic Full service
 Optional Services
1. Physical Science Unit
1. Toxicology Unit
2. Biology Unit
2. Latent Fingerprint Unit
3. Firearms Unit
3. Polygraph Unit
4. Document
Examination Unit
4. Voiceprint Analysis Unit
5. Photography Unit
5. Evidence-Collection Unit
Basic
Services: Physical Science Unit
 Uses chemistry, physics and geology for:
– Drug identification
– Soil and mineral Identification
– Examination of physical evidence
Basic Services: Biology Unit
 Biologists and Biochemists are used for:
– DNA identification and profiling of dried
blood and other body fluids
– The comparison of hairs and fibers
– The comparison of Botanicals
Basic Services: Firearms Unit
 Examination of:
– Firearms and their discharged bullets
– cartridge cases and shotgun shells
 Garments and objects examined to determine
type of gun and position of shooter.
 And the comparison of marks made by tools
Firearms Unit
 Close Contact Gunshot Wound
- .380 ACP close range wound
with powder burns.
 Close Contact Gunshot
Wound - muzzle flash injury
from a M14 fitted with a flash
suppressor
Firearms Unit
 position of the shooter!! Historical case
Basic
Services: Document Examination Unit
 Ascertain documents authenticity
 Analysis of: handwriting and
typewriting
– ink and paper
– Visible depressions
– Obliterations
– Erasures
– Burned and charred documents
Basic
Services: Photography Unit
 A complete photographic laboratory is
maintained to examine and record physical
evidence.
– May use: digital imaging, infrared, Ultraviolet
and x-ray photography techniques
 Aids in court case photographic exhibits for
court presentations
Optional
Services: Toxicology Unit
 Studies bodily fluids and organs to determine
presence or absence of drugs and poisons.
– Blood -alcohol
COURT TV
In your notes, Briefly discuss how and
why a “Psychic Detective”
– Could be justified,
– Should be excluded as an expert witness
in a court of law
Optional
Services:Latent Fingerprint Unit
 Processing and examining evidence for
*latent fingerprints.
– Prints made by the deposit of oils
and/perspiration/ It is invisible to the naked eye.
Optional
Services: Polygraph Unit
 AKA lie detector :an instrument that
simultaneously records changes in physiological
processes such as heartbeat, blood pressure, and
respiration.
 The underlying theory of the polygraph is that
when people lie they also get measurably nervous
about lying. The heartbeat increases, blood pressure
goes up, breathing rhythms change, perspiration
increases, etc.
Optional
Services: Voice Print Analysis Unit
 Use sound *spectrograph to identify voices
– Telephoned threats
– Taped recorded messages
– Even basic identity
• *transforms speech into a visual graphic display,
called a voiceprint.
Voice SCREAM Analysis Unit????
Optional
Services: Evidence-collection Unit
 Collects and preserves physical evidence that
will later be processed at the crime lab.
 Many officers also being train in the proper
collection of evidence.
Other Forensic Services:
Forensic Pathology
 Investigation of sudden, violent or
unexplained deaths
 Usually preformed by a coroner
 Questions sought to answer:
–
–
–
–
Who is the victim
What injuries are present
When did the injuries occur
Why and how were the injuries produced
Forensic Pathology
*A trajectory analysis of JFK's
inshoot/outshoot head wounds,
*Shows an inconsistency with the
HSCA trajectory conclusions.
Forensic Pathology
Autopsy performed to establish cause of death.
Classifications of Death
*Natural
*Homicide
*Suicide
*Accident
*Undetermined

HW: Research and
Identify How
investigators estimate
time of death..
Forensic Pathology
9 Ways of Estimating Actual Time of Death:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Rigor mortis
Livor mortis: (Lividity)
Algor mortis: Body Core Temperature
Potassium levels in vitreous humor + Clouding
of the cornea
Stomach Contents
Evidence of Decompositional Process
Presence/absence of purge fluids
Drying of the tissue
Larval Instars
www.dundee.ac.uk/forensicmedicine/llb/timedeath.htm#Time%20of%20De
Forensic Pathology
Estimating Time of Death
1. Rigor
mortis: (L: rig- stiff; mortis—death)
* Muscles become rigid
** W/I 24 hours but gone after 36 hours
“The biochemical cause of rigor mortis is hydrolysis of
ATP in the muscle tissue, the chemical energy source required
for movement. Myosin molecules devoid of ATP become
permanently adherent to actin filaments and muscles become
rigid.”
•With the aid of an electron microscope it can be seen that
each muscle fiber is made up of many smaller units, the
myofibrils. Each myofibril consists of small protein
filaments, known as actin and myosin filaments. The
myosin filaments are slightly thicker and make up the
dark band (or A-band). The actin filaments make up the
light bands (I-bands) which are situated on either side of
the dark band. The actin filaments are attached to the Zline. This arrangement of actin and myosin filaments is
known as a sacromere.
•With the aid of an electron microscope it can be seen that each muscle fibre is
made up of many smaller units, the myofibrils. Each myofibril consists of
small protein filaments, known as actin and myosin filaments. The myosin
filaments are slightly thicker and make up the dark band (or A-band). The
actin filaments make up the light bands (I-bands) which are situated on either
side of the dark band. The actin filaments are attached to the Z-line. This
arrangement of actin and myosin filaments is known as a sacromere.
2. Livor mortis or (postmortem lividity) :
(L: liv-bluish)
* Is a settling of the blood in the lower portion of the
body
** Causing a purplish red discoloration of the skin.
*** Discoloration does not occur in the areas of the body
that are in contact with the ground or another object,
3. Algor mortis (L: algor—coolness; ath)
* the reduction in body temperature following death.
** a steady decline until matching ambient temperature
*** A measured rectal temperature can give some
indication of the time of death.
• The Glaister equation: 1-1 1/2 degree F per hour
•
Algor mortis is usually the first sign of death, beyond the obvious,
and is then followed by rigor mortis. As decomposition occurs the
internal body temperature tends to rise again.
• Newton's law of cooling states that the rate of cooling of a
body is determined by the difference between the
temperature of the body and that of its environment.
4. Potassium levels in vitreous humor (ocular fluid) –
after death, cells lining the inner surface of the eye
release potassium into the ocular fluid, by testing at
regular intervals, the forensic pathologist can determine
the rate of potassium release and use that to
approximate the time of death.
5. Amount of food found in the victim's stomach can be
used to determine when the last meal was consumed
and rates of digestion are known and are used to help
estimate time of death.
What is an Expert witness?
 An individual whom the court determines
possesses knowledge relevant to the trial
that is not expected of the average
layperson
What MAKES an Expert
witness?
 Competency may be established:
– Educational degrees
– Formal training/ specific course work
– Memberships
– publications
Court Cases involving use of
forensics in Judicial proceedings.

Frey v. United States
 Rule 702
 Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceutical, inc
 Kumho Tire Co v. Carmichael.
Frey v. United States, (D.C. Cir. 1923)
 Depends on general acceptance by a
“meaningful segment” of the scientific
community
 Decision of admission of PROCEDURES,
TECHNIQUES AND PRINCIPLES.
 In practice , this approach required the
proponent of a scientific test to present to the
court a collection of experts who can testify that
the procedure IS accepted by the relevant
members of the “community”.
Frey v. United States
 IS He accepted by the relevant members of the
“community”.
 So the standard
is only as useful
as the validity of
the community.
Rule 702, (1937)
 Rule 702 provides: The facts or data in the
particular case upon which an expert bases an
opinion or inference may be those perceived by
or made known to the expert at or before the
hearing. If of a type reasonably relied upon by
experts in the particular field in forming opinion
or inferences upon the subject, the facts or data
need not be admissible in evidence in order for
the opinion or inference to be admitted.
Rule 702
 A more flexible standard that did not rely on
General Acceptance
 Technical and specialized knowledge will assist
the fact to understand evidence.
 Witness qualified by knowledge, skill,
experience, training/education is
– 1. testimony is based on fact
– 2.testimony is the product of reliable principles+
methods
– 3.the witness applied the principles + methods reliably
to the facts of the case.
Daubert v. Merrell Dow
Pharmaceutical, inc
 Frye standard not absolute!!
 Trial judges assume the must assume the ultimate
responsibility as the: Gatekeeper!!!!
 Has it attracted widespread acceptance Principles must be
1. Tested
2. Peer reviewed
3. Low Percent error
4. Have a set techniques, maintenance and standard
controls
5. Be Accepted within a relevant scientific community.
Kumko Tire v. Carmichael
 Good for scientific testimony and to all expert
testimony.
 Supported Daubert decision of admission of
Procedures, techniques and principles, BUT also
extended gatekeeper responsibilities as to the
admissibility of EXPERT TESTOMONY.
 “Technical and other specialized knowledge”
Finis!