Instructors Manual - for Forensic Science From Crime Scene to Crime Lab

Instructor’s Manual for Forensic Science From Crime Scene to Crime Lab Fourth Edition Richard Saferstein, Ph.D.Prepared By Tiffany Roy 1 / 4

iii Contents page 1 page 12 page 18 page 29 page 38 page 45 page 56 page 61 page 73 page 89 page 96 page 111 page 124 page 131 page 142 page 160 page 172 page 179 page 189 Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Securing and Searching the Crime Scene Chapter 3 Recording the Crime Scene Chapter 4 Collection of Crime-Scene Evidence Chapter 5 Physical Evidence Chapter 6 Death Investigation Chapter 7 Crime-Scene Reconstruction

Chapter 8 Forensic Biometrics: Fingerprints and Facial Recognition

Chapter 9 Firearms, Tool Marks, and Other Impressions Chapter 10 Bloodstain Pattern Analysis Chapter 11 Drugs Chapter 12 Forensic Toxicology

Chapter 13 Trace Evidence I: Hairs and

Fibers

Chapter 14 Trace Evidence II: Paint, Glass, and Soil

Chapter 15 Biological Stain Analysis: DNA

Chapter 16 Forensic Aspects of Fire and Explosion Investigation Chapter 17 Document Examination Chapter 18 Computer Forensics Chapter 19 Mobile Device Forensics 2 / 4

1 Chapter 1 Introduction

CHAPTER OVERVIEW

•Forensic science is the application of science to criminal and civil laws that are enforced by police agencies in a criminal justice system.•The first system of personal identification was called anthropometry. It distinguished one individual from another based on a series of bodily measurements.•Forensic science owes its origins to individuals such as Bertillon, Galton, Lattes, Goddard, Osborn, and Locard, who developed the principles and techniques needed to identify and compare physical evidence.•Locard’s exchange principle states that, when two objects come into contact with each other, a cross-transfer of materials occurs that can connect a criminal suspect to his or her victim.•The development of crime laboratories in the United States has been characterized by rapid growth accompanied by a lack of national and regional planning and coordination.•Four major reasons for the increase in the number of crime laboratories in the United States since the 1960s are as follows: (1) The requirement to advise criminal suspects of their constitutional rights and their right of immediate access to counsel has all but eliminated confessions as a routine investigative tool. (2) There has been a staggering increase in crime rates in the United States. (3) All illicit-drug seizures must be sent to a forensic laboratory for confirmatory chemical analysis before the case can be adjudicated in court. (4) DNA profiling was developed and is now often required.•The technical support provided by crime laboratories can be assigned to five basic services: the physical science unit, the biology unit, the firearms unit, the document examination unit, and the photography unit.•Some crime laboratories offer optional services such as toxicology, fingerprint analysis, polygraph administration, voiceprint analysis, and crime-scene investigation.•Special forensic science services available to the law enforcement community include forensic pathology, forensic anthropology, forensic entomology, forensic psychiatry, forensic odontology, forensic engineering, and forensic computer and digital analysis.•A forensic scientist must be skilled in applying the principles and techniques of the physical and natural sciences to analyzing evidence that may be recovered during a criminal investigation.•The cases Frye v. United States and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. set guidelines for determining the admissibility of scientific evidence into the courtroom.•An expert witness evaluates evidence based on specialized training and experience.•Forensic scientists participate in training law enforcement personnel in the proper recognition, collection, and preservation of physical evidence.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

•Distinguish between forensic science and criminalistics.•Outline the main historical developments of forensic science.•Describe the organization and services of a typical comprehensive crime laboratory in the 3 / 4

2 criminal justice system.•Understand what specialized forensic services, aside from the crime laboratory, are generally available to law enforcement personnel.•Explain how physical evidence is analyzed and presented in the courtroom by forensic scientists, and how admissibility of evidence is determined in the courtroom.

LECTURE OUTLINE

DEFINITION AND SCOPE OF FORENSIC SCIENCE

Laws are constantly being broadened and revised to counter the alarming increase in the crime rates. Can the technology that put astronauts on the moon, split the atom, and eradicated most dreaded diseases be enlisted in this critical battle?Forensic science is the application of science to the criminal and civil laws that are enforced by police agencies in a criminal justice system. “Forensic Science” is an umbrella term encompassing a myriad of professions that use their skills to aid law enforcement officials in conducting their investigations.Prime-time television shows like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation have greatly increased the public’s awareness of the use of science in criminal and civil investigations. However, by simplifying scientific procedures to fit the allotted airtime, these shows have created within both the public and legal community, unrealistic expectations of forensic science.

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF FORENSIC SCIENCE

The roots of forensic science reach back many centuries, and history records a number of instances in which individuals closely observed evidence and applied basic scientific principles to solve crimes. Not until relatively recently; however, did forensic science take on the more careful and systematic approach that characterizes the modern discipline.

EARLY DEVELOPMENTS

One of the earliest records of applying forensics to solve criminal cases comes from the third century. Cases such as this were few and far between; the exception to the rule for many centuries.•Teaching Tip: Review manuscript titled Yi Yu Ji (“A Collection of Criminal Cases”) Initial Scientific Advances As physicians gained a greater understanding of the workings of the body, the first scientific treaties on forensic science began to appear in the late 1700s.The 1800s saw the invention of the polarizing microscope, the first microcrystalline test for hemoglobin and the first presumptive test for blood.Late-Ninteenth-Century Progress By the late nineteenth century, public officials were beginning to apply knowledge from

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