FORENSIC

SCIENCE

INTRODUCTION
Crime Scene
Investigation

Forensic Science
Definition: The application of scientific technology to
supply accurate and objective information reflecting
the events that occurred at a crime.
What does a Forensic Scientist DO???
1. Analyze physical evidence
2. Provide Expert Testimony
3. Provide training in the recognition, collection and
preservation of physical evidence
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Complex Reasoning
In Forensic Science
Deductive (reasoning from
the general to the particular)
and
Inductive Reasoning
(reasoning from detailed
facts to general principles)
Classifying
Comparing and Contrasting
Problem Solving
Analyzing Perspectives
Constructing Support
Error Analysis

The History of Forensic Science

Sherlock Holmes: a fictional character developed by Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle; used a great deal of forensic detection
Mathieu Orfila: toxicology (the detection of poisons)
Alphonse Bertillon: anthropometry (personal identification through
body measurements)
Francis Galton: developed 1st fingerprint identification system
Leone Lattes: determined methods of using blood type as a means
of identification
Calvin Goddard: firearms examination
Albert Osborn: document examination
Edmund Locard: Developed the 1st police lab
J. Edgar Hoover: director of the FBI: Organized the 1 st FBI Crime
Lab in 1932
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Locards Exchange Principle

Whenever 2 objects come in contact with
one another, they exchange some material
(dust particles, hair, dead skin cells)
Locard strongly believed that every
criminal can be connected to a crime by
dust particles carried from the scene

Branches of Forensic Science

Physical science: Using chemistry, physics, and
geology to ID and compare crime scene
evidence
Biology: blood, body fluids, hairs and fibers,
entomology
Pathology, psychology, odontology, any many
more!
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CORPUS DELICTI
You must prove:

Body of the Crime

that a crime occurred

that the person charged with the crime was responsible for the crime

Top Reasons for Committing a Crime

Money
Revenge
Sex
Emotion--love, hate, anger

Source of Evidence
Body
Primary and/or Secondary Crime Scene
Suspect(s)
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4 Major FEDERAL Crime Labs:

FBI
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives (ATF)
US Postal Inspection Service
Most states also have their own, smaller crime
labs
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General Crime Lab Services

and the materials each unit analyzes
Physical Science Unit: drugs, glass, paint, explosives,
etc
Biology Unit: blood and other bodily fluids
Firearms Unit: ballistics, comparisons
Document Examination Unit: handwriting,
typewriting, questioned documents (ransom notes, etc)
Photography Unit: record all phyhsical evidence.
Toxicology Unit: presence/absence of drugs
Latent Fingerprint Unit: fingerprints
Pathology Unit9

Forensic Pathology
Investigation of sudden unnatural, unexplained
or violent deaths
Answer the questions:
Who is the victim?
What are the injuries, when did they occur, and how
were they produced?

5 manners of death: natural, homicide, suicide,

accident, undetermined
GO TO SLIDE 25..
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Crime Scene Team

A group of professionals investigators, each trained in a variety of special disciplines.
Team Members
First Police Officer on the scene
Medics (if necessary)
Investigator(s)
Medical Examiner (if necessary)
Photographer and/or Field Evidence Technician
Lab Experts
pathologist
serologist
DNA expert
toxicologist
forensic odontologist
forensic anthropologist
forensic psychologist
forensic entomologist
firearm examiner bomb and arson expert
document and handwriting experts
fingerprint expert

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INVESTIGATORS
The wise forensic investigator will always
remember that he must bring all of his life
experiences and logic to find the truth. This
means common sense, informed intuition, and
the courage to see things as they are. Then he
must speak honestly about what it adds up to.
Dr. Henry Lee
Chief Emeritus for Scientific Services and the former Commissioner of Public Safety for
the state of Connecticut
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First Officer
at the Scene
A

Assess the crime scene

Detain the witness

Arrest the perpetrator

Protect the crime scene

Take notes

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Eye Witness
Perception is reality.
As a result an eye witness may
not be the best source of
crime scene information.
A police composite may be
developed from the witness
testimony by a computer
program or forensic artist.
FacesCompositeProgram
byInterQuest
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Crime Scene
Search Patterns
TWOofFOURPATTERNS

Spiral

Grid

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Crime Scene
Search Patterns
TWOofFOURPATTERNS

Strip or Line

Quadrant or Zone

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Crime Scene
Sketch
Date:August14,2001
Time:11:35

Criminalist:AnnWilson
Location:4358RockledgeDr
St.Louis,Mo.

A.Couch/sofa

B.Femalebody

C.Knife
D.OverturnedLamp
E.Chairs

F.Table
G.Fireplace

E
E

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Crime Scene Mapping

(outdoors)
Azimuth--uses a compass beam to determine
the location of each piece of evidence
Triangulation--uses two points at the crime
scene to map each piece of evidence
Coordinate or grid--divides the crime scene into
squares for mapping.
Suspended Polar Coordinate--for use in
mapping evidence in a hole
Baseline--set a north/south line and measures
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each piece of evidence from this line.

AZIMUTH
Determines:
Direction
Distance
Elevation

TRIANGULATION

MeasurefromAtoB
andthentothe
evidenceina
triangularshape.

Coordinate or
Grid Mapping

Setanorth/south
linefromadatum
pointestablished
byaGPS.
Makeitaperfectsquare(4x
4)byshootingthehypotenuse
andsettinginstakeseveryfoot
ormeter.

Measureandmap
thelocationofeach
pieceofevidence.
Thencollect
evidenceandplace
incontainersby
grid.

Baseline Mapping
Set a north/south line from
the furthest most points
of the crime scene. Then
measure each piece of
evidence from that
baseline. Evidence will
need a numerical
measurement where the
piece begins, ends and in
the middle.
Evidence

Baseline

Suspended Polar
Coordinate
Measure and map each
layer of evidence as
you move down the
hole. Use the
compass readings
from the top to
measure degrees and
a tank dipping line to
measure depth.

MAPPING
TECHNOLOGY
The latest technology
includes this Nikon
Tsunami with computer.
The exact location of all
crime evidence can be
determined and directly
loaded into a computer
to produce a crime scene
map. Cost = $35,000
for the set.
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Physical Evidence
Transient Evidence--temporary;

easily changed or lost; usually

observed by the first officer at the
scene
Odor--putrefaction, perfume,
gasoline, urine, burning, explosives,
cigarette or cigar smoke
Temperature--of room, car hood,
coffee, water in a bathtub; cadaver
Imprints and indentations--footprints;
teeth marks in perishable foods; tire
marks on certain surfaces
Markings
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Physical Evidence (cont)

Pattern or Transfer Evidence-produced by direct contact between
a person and an object or between
two objects. There are several
ways (at least 7) of classifying
evidence. In this class, we will use:
Biological
Chemical
Physical
Miscellaneous
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Biological Evidence
Blood
Semen
Saliva
Sweat/Tears
Hair
Bone

Tissues
Urine
Feces
Animal Material
Insects
Bacterial/Fungal

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Chemical Evidence
Fibers
Glass
Soil
Gunpowder
Metal
Mineral
Narcotics
Drugs

Paper
Ink
Cosmetics
Paint
Plastic
Lubricants
Fertilizer

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Physical (impression)
Fingerprints
Footprints
Shoe prints
Handwriting
Firearms

Printing
Number restoration
Tire marks
Tool marks
Typewriting

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Miscellaneous
Laundry marks
Voice analysis
Polygraph

Photography
Stress evaluation
Pyscholinguistic analysis
Vehicle identification

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Physical Evidence (cont)

Conditional Evidence--produced by
a specific event or action; important
in crime scene reconstruction and in
determining the set of circumstances
within a particular event.
Light--headlight; lighting
conditions
Smoke--color, direction of travel,
density, odor
Fire--color and direction of the
flames, speed of spread,
temperature and condition of fire

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Conditional Evidence (cont.)

Location--of injuries or wounds; of bloodstains; of the
victims vehicle;of weapons or cartridge cases; of
broken glass, etc.
Vehicles--doors locked or unlocked, windows opened
or closed; radio off or on (station); odometer mileage
Body--position; types of wounds; rigor, livor and algor
mortis
Scene--condition of furniture, doors and windows; any
disturbance or signs of a struggle.
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Evidence
Characteristics
Class--common to a group of objects or persons
Individual--can be identified with a particular person or
source.
ABOBloodTyping

BloodDNATyping

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Medical Examiner vs
the Coroner
A medical examiner is a medical doctor, usually a
pathologist and is appointed by the governing body of
the area. There are 7 medical examiners in the state of
Missouri and 400 forensic pathologists throughout the
U.S.
A coroner is an elected official who usually has no
special medical training. In four states the coroner is a
medical doctor.
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Medical Examiners
Responsibilities
Identify the deceased
Establish the time and date of death
Determine a medical cause of death--the injury or disease that resulted in
the person dying

Determine the mechanism of death--the physiological reason that the

person died

Classify the manner of death

Natural
Accidental
Suicide
Homicide
Undetermined

Notify the next of kin

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THE BODY
Rigor Mortis
Temperature Stiffness
ofbody
ofbody

TimeSince
Death

Warm

Notstiff

Notdeadmorethan3hrs

Warm

Stiff

Deadbetween3and8hrs

Cold

Stiff

Dead8to36hours

Cold

Notstiff

Deadmorethan36hours

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THE BODY
Livor Mortis
Livor mortis is the settling of the blood, causing the skin to
change colors.
Lividity indicates the position of the body after death. When
lividity becomes fixed, then the distribution of the lividity
pattern will not change even if the bodys position is
altered.
Lividity usually becomes fixed between 10 and 15 hours after
death.
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THE BODY
Algor Mortis
Algor mortis is body temperature.
Average human body temperature: 98.6 F (37 C)

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Time Frame of Death

Condition

Appearance

Periphery

blood drying
30 min to 2 hrs
Blue-green discoloration of skin
Right

and left area of abdomen

Entire abdomen
Bloating
Skin

slippage
Absence of smell from bones

24 hours
36 hours

36 to 48 hours
4 to7 days
more than 1 year
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Time Frame of Death

Eyeball Changes
Condition

Appearance

Cornea

drying (eyes open)

minutes
Cornea drying (eyes closed)
2 hours
Corneal cloudiness (eyes open) less than 2 hours
Corneal cloudiness (eyes closed) 12 to 24 hours
Eyeball collapse
more than 24 hrs

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THEREFORE,
One can die of a massive hemorrhage (the
mechanismofdeath)duetoafall(causeofdeath)asa
resultofbeingpushed(homicide),jumping(suicide),
falling (accident), or not being able to tell which
(undetermined).Allofwhicharemannersofdeath.

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CRIME
WhyDidIt
Happened?

What
Happened?
CrimeScene
EvidenceCollection

Witness,Suspectand
MotiveDevelopment

PostScene
EvidenceProcessing

InvestigativeStage
Profiling

Means
Motive
Opportunity

WhoDid
It?
=

Identification
andArrestof
Suspect

Cause,manner,time
ofdeath

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Forensic Investigations
Include some or all of these seven major activities
Recognition--ability to distinguish important
evidence from unrelated material
Pattern recognition
Physical property observation
Information analysis
Field-testing

Preservation--collection and proper preservation of

evidence
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Investigations (cont)
Identification--use of scientific testing
Physical properties
Chemical properties
Morphological (structural) properties
Biological properties
Immunological properties

Comparison--class characteristics are measured against

those of know standards or controls; If all measurements
are equal, then the two samples are considered to have
come from the same source or origin.
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Investigations (cont.)
Individualization--demonstrating that the sample is
unique, even among members of the same class .
Interpretation--gives meaning to all the information
Reconstruction--reconstructs the case events
Inductive and deductive logic
Statistical data
Pattern analysis
Results of laboratory analysis
Lee, Dr. Henry. Famous Crimes. Southington:Strong Books, 2001
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Just A Thought
Its not what you know
that hurts you, its what
you think you know
and its not so
. . . . .Mark Twain
Howdoesthisapplytoforensic
scienceandcrimeinvestigations?
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