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Chapter 1: Introduction to
Forensic Science
What is Forensics?
As an adjective
1. pertaining to, connected with, or used in courts of law or public
discussion and debate.
2. adapted or suited to argumentation; rhetorical.
As a noun
3. the art or study of argumentation and formal debate.
forensics. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved June 16, 2010, from Dictionary.com website:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/forensics
Modern Definition
• noun (used with a sing. verb)
1. The art or study of formal debate; argumentation.
2.The use of science and technology to investigate and establish
facts in criminal or civil courts of law.
forensics. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved June 16, 2010, from
Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/forensics
Origin of Forensics
• 1581, from L. forensis "of a forum, place of assembly," from forum.
• Used in sense of "pertaining to legal trials," as in forensic medicine
(1845)
forensics. (n.d.). Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved June 16, 2010, from Dictionary.com website:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/forensics
Forensics + Science
• science used
• in public,
• in a court, or
• in the justice system.
• Any science used for the purposes of the law is a forensic
science
• Video
forensics. (n.d.). American Academy of Forensic Science. Retrieved June 16, 2010, from Aafs.org website:
http://aafs.org/default.asp?section_id=resources&page_id=choosing_a_career#Bookmark1
Summary
• Forensics science
• Application of science to law
• Technology applied to
• Food
• Air quality
• Pesticides
Drugs
Water quality
Banking
• Application of science to criminal minds and civil laws that are enforced by police
agencies and criminal justice system
Forensic Science
• Deals with laws and science
• This class focus
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Chemistry
Biology
Physics
Geology
Computer technology
• Not so much on laws
Crime Laboratory
• Science used for analysis of crime scene evidence
• 2 basic functions
• Identify a sample
• Compare two samples
History
• China – 3rd century
• Yi Yu Ji (“A Collection of Criminal Cases”
• First to use fingerprints for identification
• Limited knowledge
• Anatomy and pathology
• Hampered development of Forensic Science until 17th-18th centuries
History (continued)
• Italy – 1686
• Marcello Malpighi, University of Bologna
• Sweden - 1775
• Carl Wihelm Scheele
• France – 1798
• François – Emanuel Fordéré
History (continued)
• Germany – 1806
• Valentin Ross
• Spain – 1814
• Mathieu Orfila  Father of Forensic Toxicology
History (continued)
• 1828
• William Nichol
• 1839
• Henri-Louis Bayard
• James Marsh
History (continued)
• 1850-1860’s
• Started using photography to record crime scenes and prisoners
• 1853
• First microcrystalline test for hemaglobin
• 1863
• First presumptive test for blood
History (continued)
• 1879
• Alphonse Bertillon
• Father of criminal identification
• Anthropometry
History (continued)
• Finger prints
• Chinese used since 3rd century
• 1877 – U.S. microscopist Thomas Taylor 1880 – Scottis physician Henry
Faulds
• 1892 – Englishman Francis Henry Galton
History (continued)
• 1893
• Hans Gross
• Late 19th century
• Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
History (continued)
• 1901
• Dr. Karl Landsteiner
• 1910
• Albert S. Osborn
• 1915
• Dr. Leone Lattes
History (continued)
• 1910
• Frenchman Edmond Locard
• Starts first police laboratory
• Became founder and director of Institute of Criminalistics at the University of Lyons
• Locard’s exchange principle
History (continued)
• 1923
• August Vollmer
• 1932
• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Under direction of J. Edgar Hoover
History (continued)
• Dr. Walter C. McCrone
• U.S. Army Colonel Calvin Goddard
Modern Advances
• Mid-20th century
• Computer technology
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Chromotography
Spectrophotomery
Electrophoresis
Data bases
Modern Advances
• DNA typing
• Sir Alec Jeffreys
Summary
• Forensics Science
• Application of science to criminal and civil laws
• Anthropometry
• First system of personal identification
• A series of body measurements
• Origins from
• Bertillion, Galton, Lattes, Goddard, Osborn, Locard
• Locard’s Exchange Principle
• Cross-transfer of materials when they come in contact with each
other
Organization of a Crime Lab
• Around 350 public crime laboratories operate at various levels of
government
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Federal
State
County
Municipal
• Various sizes and diversity
• No set model
Organization of a Crime Lab
• Federal Level
• FBI
• Department of Justice
• Drug Enforcement Agency
• Department of Justice
• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms
• Department of Treasury
• U.S. Postal Inspection Service
Organization of a Crime Lab
• Growth of labs
• 1960s- Supreme court decision
• Requirements to advise criminal suspects
• Of their constitutional rights
• Their rights of immediate access to council
• Successful prosecution of criminal cases
• Thorough and professional police investigation
Organization of a Crime Lab
• Growth of labs
• Increased crime rate
• Increased drug traffic
• DNA profiling
Services of a Crime Lab
• Physical analysis
• Biology
• Firearms
• Document Examination
• Photographic Unit
• Toxicology
• Fingerprinting
• Polygraph
Services of a Crime Lab
• Voiceprint analysis
• Evidence Collection Unit
• Pathology
• Psychology
• Odontology
• Anthropology
• Entomology
• Engineering