Transcript V. Functions of Forensic Scientist

• Forensic Science in its broadest definition
is the application of science to law.
• Forensic Science is the application of
science to those criminal and civil laws
that are enforced by police agencies in a
criminal justice system (pg 2)
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Sherlock Holmes
A Study in Scarlet 1887 (pg 3)
Father of toxicology
1879 - Anthropometry
Fingerprints
Developed method
of classifying
Published book
Finger Prints
1915 - Created
system of
determining the
blood group of a
dried blood stain
US Army colonel refined the
technique of
ballistic
comparison
Principles of
document
examination
1910 - Question
Document
Microscopist
Advocate for
applying
microscopy to
analytical
problems
Wrote Criminal
Investigation
using scientific
method crime
detection
Locard's Exchange
(pg 5)
Every criminal can be
connected to a
crime by dust
particles carried
from a crime scene
The FBI,
under J Edgar Hoover,
organized the 1st
national forensic lab
III. Organization of a Crime Lab
• At present time, approximately 320 public
crime labs are operating at various levels
of government.
• Why so many???
• 1. Supreme Court decisions in the 1960’s
increased the need for police to secure
scientific evidence
• 2. Staggering increase in crime rates in
the United States
– A. Drug related arrests have also increased
– B. DNA profiling
Four Major Federal Crime Labs
• FBI
• Drug Enforcement Administration Lab
(DEA)
• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms,
and Explosives
• US Postal Inspection Services
IV. Services of the Crime Lab
• Basic Services Provided
• Optional Services Provided
IV. Services of the Crime Lab
• Basic services provided:
-Physical Science Unit incorporates the
principles of chemistry, physics, and geology to
identify and compare physical evidence.
– Biology Unit applies the knowledge of
biological sciences in order to investigate
blood samples, body fluids, hair, and fiber
samples.
– Firearms Unit investigates discharged bullets,
cartridge cases, shotgun shells, and
ammunition.
IV. Services of the Crime Lab
• Basic services provided:
– Document Unit provides the skills needed for
handwriting analysis and other questioned-document
issues.
– Photographic Unit applies specialized photographic
techniques for recording and examining physical
evidence.
IV. Services of the Crime Lab
• Optional Services Provided
– Toxicology Unit examines body fluids and organs for
the presence of drugs and poisons.
– Latent Fingerprint Unit processes and examines
evidence for latent fingerprints.
– Polygraph Unit conducts polygraph or lie detector
tests.
– Voiceprint Analysis Unit attempts to tie a recorded
voice to a particular suspect.
– Evidence-Collection Unit dispatches specially trained
personnel to the crime scene to collect and preserve
physical evidence.
V. Functions of Forensic Scientist.
1. Analysis of Physical Evidence
2. Provision of Expert Testimony
3. Furnishing Training in the Proper
Recognition, collection, and preservation
of physical evidence
V. Functions of Forensic Scientist.
1. Analysis of Physical Evidence
• Formulate a question worthy of
investigation.
• Formulate a reasonable hypothesis to
answer the question.
• Test the hypothesis through
experimentation.
• Upon validation of the hypothesis, it
become suitable as scientific evidence.
V. Functions of Forensic Scientist.
1. Analysis of Physical Evidence
a. Frye vs. United States
b. Daubert vs. Merrell Dow
Pharmaceutical
c. Kumho Tire Co. Ltd vs. Carmichael
The Frye Standard.
• The Frye v. United States decision set
guidelines for determining the admissibility
of scientific evidence into the courtroom.
• To meet the Frye standard, the evidence
in question must be “generally accepted”
by the scientific community.
Frye Not Absolute
Daubert v. Merrell Dow
Pharmaceutical, Inc.,.
• However, in the 1993 case of Daubert v.
Merrell Dow Pharmaceutical, Inc., the U.S.
Supreme Court asserted that the Frye
standard is not an absolute prerequisite to
the admissibility of scientific evidence.
• Trial judges were said to be ultimately
responsible as “gatekeepers” for the
admissibility and validity of scientific
evidence presented in their courts, as well
as all expert testimony.
Kumho Tire Co., ltd vs. Carmichael
In a 1999 decision, the court unanimously
ruled the “gatekeeping” role of the trial judge
applied not only to scientific testimony but to
ALL expert testimony.
V. Functions of Forensic Scientists
• 2. Provision of Expert Testimony
– Expert Witness: an individual whom the court
determines possesses knowledge relevant to
the trial that is not expected of the average
layperson.
V. Functions of Forensic Scientists
• 3. Furnishing Training in the Proper
Recognition, Collection, and Preservation
of Physical Evidence.
– The competence of a laboratory staff and the
sophistication of its analytical equipment have
little or no value if relevant evidence cannot
be properly recognized, collected, and
preserved at the site of a crime.
VI. Other Forensic Science
Services
• Forensic Pathology
• Forensic Psychiatry
• Forensic
Anthropology
• Forensic Odontology
• Forensic Engineering
• Forensic Entomology
Forensic Pathology
“We must have the courage to know the true
causes of death” (Ramsey Clark)
•
•
•
•
Autopsy
Rigor mortis
Livor mortis
Algor mortis
Dr. Michael Hunter
Forensic Anthropology
• The specialty that is concerned primarily
with the identification and examination of
human skeletal remains.
The Body Farm
Forensic Entomology
• The study of insects and their relation to a
criminal investigation.
Forensic Entomology.com
Thinking about being a Forensic
Entomologist?
Forensic Psychiatry
• Specialized area in which the relationship
between human behavior and legal
proceedings is examined.
– Civil vs. Criminal
– Criminal behavior
University of Alabama Forensic page
Lyle Rossiter, M.D.
Forensic Odontology
"A dog that intends to bite does not bear its teeth"
(Turkish proverb)
• Provide information about the identification
of victims when the body is left in an
unrecognizable state
American Board of Forensic Odontology
(abfo.com)
All About Forensic Science
Forensic Engineering
• Definition
• From Latin : forensis meaning “public”
– Belonging to courts of law
– Pertaining to or fitted for legal or public
argumentation
• Forensic Engineering – science concerned
with relations between engineering and
the law
More Common Definitions
• Forensic engineering – activities related to
failure investigation
• Forensic engineering is a relatively new
discipline in engineering
Qualifications of Forensic Engineer
• Expert in subject under investigation
–
–
–
–
Formal education
Experience
Licensed engineer
Active in technical societies
• Fair, impartial, and ethical
– Truthful
– Objective
– Avoid conflict of interest
History of Penalties for Failures
• Code of Hammurabi
• Napoleonic Code
• English Common Law
Code of Hammurabi (2200 B.C.)
King of Babylonia
Code of Hammurabi
• If a builder builds a house for a man and do not make its
construction firm and the house which he has built
collapse and cause the death of the owner of house –
the builder shall be put to death
•
If it cause the death of the son of the owner of the
house – they shall put to death a son of that builder
•
If it cause the death of a slave of the owner of the
house – he shall give to the owner of the house a slave
of equal value
Code of Hammurabi
If it destroy property, he shall restore whatever it
destroyed, and because he did not make the
house which he built firm and it collapsed, he
shall rebuild the house which collapsed at his
own expense
If a builder builds a house for a man and do not
make its construction meet the requirements and
a wall fall in, that builder shall strengthen the
wall at his own expense
- Translated by R.F. Harper
Napoleonic Code (1804)
If there is a loss in serviceability in a
constructed project within 10 years of
its completion because of a
foundation failure or from poor
workmanship, the contractor and
architect (luckily not the engineer!)
will be sent to prison
Common Law in England
(15th Century)
If a carpenter undertakes to build
a house and does it ill (not well),
an action will lie against him
Forensic Engineering
• Concerned with failure analysis, accident
reconstruction, and causes/origins of fires
or explosions.
Bison Engineering
Journal of Failure and Analysis
What do I want to be when I grow up?