History of Forensic Science

Ancient Rome “Forensic” derived from the Latin word for forum Here’s why… Accused and Accuser would argued their cases before a chosen group of people in the ROMAN FORUM Roman forum Speech 2 min only The individual with the best argument and delivery (in other words, the best forensic skills) won!

Archimedes (287-212 BCE) Archimedes used water displacement and proved that the King’s crown was not made of solid gold by its density and bouyancy. archimedes density This “Eureka” moment is considered to be the earliest account of forensic science.

Nero’s Wife (66 CE) In 66 CE Roman Ceasar Nero murdered his wife. Her body was identified by the two discolored front teeth. This is the first account of forensic odontology.

3rd Century China An Early Forensic Investigation A woman claimed that her husband died in an accidental fire. BUT… if so, his mouth would have soot and ashes in it, from breathing it in. Local death investigator noticed that the husband’s corpse did not have ashes in its mouth. To verify her story… he burned two pigs: one alive and one dead; then checked the mouths of each pig for ashes. The pig burned alive had ashes in its mouth, the other pig did not. This proved that the man was killed before the fire. When confronted with the evidence, the woman confessed to the murder.

Entomology (insect study) 12th century China- A case of a person murdered by a sickle was solved when the death investigator instructed everyone in the town to bring their sickles to one location and ….

Entomology (cont) …flies, attracted by the smell of blood, eventually gathered on a single sickle. In light of this, the murderer confessed.

In England, the crowner’s job was created in 1149 by King Richard I to determine how much an estate owed to the crown (the King). Later the crowner was called upon to investigate questionable deaths. The title of crowner eventually evolved into coroner.

Richard Hunne and Blood as Evidence 1511- Hunne questioned the church. He was imprisoned for heresy. When he was found dead in his cell, the prison claimed that he had committed suicide. However, blood evidence proved that he had been murdered.

1670: Anton Van Leeuwenhoek Constructs a simple microscope that he presents to The Royal Society

Why was this important? The development of increasingly more powerful microscopes paved the way for Microscopy: essential in the field of Forensics… What investigations would utilize this technology? Hair, blood, fiber,

Fingerprints 1686 Soleiman, an Arabic merchant used fingerprints as a proof of validity between debtors and lenders.

1776 Colonial America Early Odontology: The body of General Warren was dug up from his grave. It was identified by Paul Revere. Revere recognized the false teeth that he had made for the General.

First Documented Use of Physical Evidence In 1784, an Englishman was convicted of murder. Why? Because a torn piece of newspaper that came from the victim’s head wound matched a piece in the Englishman’s pocket.

Paris, France-1810 The first detective force, the Surete, is established.

Mathiew Orfila Orfila is known as the Father of Toxicology He published a book on poisoning in 1813.

The Texas Rangers Established in 1823 by Stephen Austin to protect the settlers in Texas. texas rangers They are the oldest law enforcement agency in North America.

The Marsh Test Bangledesh Arsenic, also known as inheritance powder, was a popular method of murder among royalty. In 1836 Marsh developed a chemical test to detect arsenic. In 1840 the test was used to convict Marie Lafarge of poisoning her husband.

William Herschel- 1856 Herschel, working in India, uses thumbprints on documents to identify workers.

1850-1860 Blood tests first used Photography used at crime scene

Alphonse Bertillon (bear-ti-yon’) In 1879 Frenchman Bertillon develops a system to identify people using body measurements. He named the system anthropometry. For two decades, this system was considered full proof. It was later replaced by fingerprints in early 1900s.

The Required Measurements of the Bertillon System

1892- Francis Galton Galton, a nephew of Charles Darwin, was the first to state that fingerprints are unique to each person. His suggestion to use fingerprints for identification was not taken seriously until the Bertillon System failed.

Karl Landsteiner In 1900, Landsteiner identifies human blood groups. He will receive the Nobel Prize in 1930 for this discovery. blood types

The Locard Principle In 1904, Edmond Locard established the principle that “every contact leaves a trace”. This is also called the exchange principle.

The First Crime Lab in the World In 1910, the first crime laboratory was opened by Locard. The lab was located in France. 1920s The first police lab is created in the United States. In Los Angeles

1920 S Colonel Calvin Goddard Refined firearm techniques using the microscope to compare bullet marks

The 1950’s In 1954, Borkenstein invents the Breathalyzer for field sobriety testing. Forensic anthropology is formed when growth stages of skeletal bones is discovered. In 1959, Watson and Crick discover that DNA has a double-helix shape.

Developments in the 1970’s Japan discovers that Superglue fumes will develop fingerprints. The FBI creates a fingerprint database. Psychological profiling begins. Bite mark evidence convicts the serial killer Ted Bundy.

Modern Advances Chromotography (for arson investigation) Spectrophotometry (to identify trace amounts of elements) Electrophoresis (to analyze DNA) Computerized Data Bases Fingerprints Bullets and shell casings

Landmark cases 1923 Frye v. United States – discussed what is meant by expert testimony that is “generally accepted” by most of the scientific community. Federal Rule of Evidence 702- deals with admissibility of expert testimony 1993 Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceutical, Inc. allows trial judge to decide who is and who is not an expert witness.

MIRANDA RIGHTS RIGHTS 1963, Ernesto Miranda, 23 year old mentally disturbed man, accused of kidnapping and raping 18-year-old woman in Phoenix, Arizona. Brought in for questioning, confessed to crime. Was not told he did not have to speak or that he could have lawyer present. At trial, Miranda's lawyer tried to get confession thrown out, but motion was denied. Case went to Supreme Court in 1966. Court ruled that statements made to police could not be used as evidence, since Mr. Miranda had not been advised of his rights

DNA Fingerprinting In 1984, Alec Jefferies discovers that everyone, except identical twins, has unique DNA In 1987, DNA fingerprinting is used to convict Colin Pitchfork of murder. In 1998, an FBI DNA database is created.

The Future of Forensic Science The field of Forensic Science is constantly changing as new technologies are discovered. The fascination with CSI is just getting started!