Transcript Introduction to Forensic Science

Introduction
to and
History of
Forensic
Science
Definition
• Forensic Science
is the application
of science and
technology to the
criminal justice
system.
Definition
• Forensics =
applied to
law or legal
debate
(L. forensis:
market,
community
meeting
place, or
forum)
Criminalist vs Criminologist
• Criminalist = uses science to solve crimes.
Makes observations and then states the
obvious and not-so-obvious when asked to
be an expert witness.
• Criminologist = one who studies criminal
behavior, types of crime, and social, cultural
and media reactions to crime
Criminalist vs Attorney
• Criminalists are not concerned with the
outcome of a trial, but whether the
interpretation of the evidence will be correct
and lead the judge and jury to make the
right decision. They speak for the evidence.
• Attorneys speak for their “side.”
History
• Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle
popularized
scientific crime
detection
methods through
Sherlock Holmes.
Contributors
Ancient Egyptians –
Code of
Hammurabi, written
in 2200 B.C.
Developed a system
to determine the
cause of death and
whether it was
natural.
Forensic Medicine with Dr. Cox
Contributors
Chinese – Sung Ts’u (The
Washing Away of
Wrongs)
• recognized two classes
of vital points: those
that could be fatal on
impact and those that
could cause death at a
later date.
Contributors
Chinese – Sung Ts’u (The Washing Away of
Wrongs)
Sung Ts’u tells of a murder in a Chinese village
in which the victim was repeatedly slashed.
The local magistrate thought the wounds might
have been inflicted by a sickle. Repeated
questioning of witnesses and other avenues of
investigation proved fruitless. Finally, the
magistrate ordered all the village men to
assemble, each with his own sickle. In the hot
summer sun, flies were attracted to one sickle,
because of the residue of blood and small
tissue fragments still clinging to the blade and
handle. Confronted with this evidence, the
owner of the sickle confessed to the crime.
Contributors
• Dr. Franz Gall
(1796)
Used phrenology to
identify criminals. A
pseudoscience, it
used bumps on the
skull as identifiers.
Contributors
• Mathieu Orfila
(1787-1853)
Father of Forensic
Toxicology
Published treatise on
the detection of
poisons and their
effects on animals.
Contributors
• Hans Gross
(1847 – 1915)
Wrote the first
treatise describing
the application of
scientific disciplines
to the field of
criminal
investigation.
Contributors
• Francis Galton
(1822-1911)
First definitive study
of fingerprints;
developed a method
of classifying them
Loop pattern
is seen in 65%
of population
Contributors
• Alphonse Bertillion
(French) (1853-1914)
Father of Criminal
Identification.
Developed first scientific
system of personal
identification,
anthropometry, based on
body measurements. US
adopted method in NYC
by 1910.
Bertillon
System
Bertillon
System
Catalog
Card
Contributors
• Albert Osborn
(1858 – 1946)
Developed the
fundamental principles
of document
examination. Published
Questioned Documents
in 1910.
Contributors
Dr. Karl Landsteiner
discovered A, B, AB, O,
blood groups in 1901.
Won the Nobel Prize in
1930 for his work.
Contributors
• Leone Lattes (1887 – 1954) Devised a
simple procedure for determining blood
group of dried bloodstains.
Contributors
• Calvin Goddard
(1891-1955)
Father of Modern
Ballistics
Invented the
comparison
microscope for
bullet comparisons.
Contributors
• Edmond Locard
(1877 – 1966)
Established the first police
crime lab in 1910. Famous
for “Locard’s Exchange
Principle” – When a
criminal comes in contact
with an object or person, a
cross-transfer of evidence
occurs.
Contributors
• Walter McCrone
(1916-2002)
World’s preeminent
microscopist;
responsible for
educating thousands
of of forensic
scientists.
Contributors
• J. Edgar Hoover,
director of the FBI,
established a national
laboratory in 1932,
aimed at offering
forensic services to all
law enforcement
agencies.