Introduction to Forensics Tri-City High School Payton Cloe Honors Sciences

Course Outline Topics to be covered Ch 1: Introduction to Forensics Ch 2: The Crime Scene Ch. 9: DNA Evidence Ch. 17: Document Examination Ch. 15: Fingerprinting Ch. 16: Firearms, Toolmarks, and Impressions Ch. 10: Bloodstain Pattern Analysis Ch. 4: Drugs

Course Requirements Reading…a lot of reading Vocabulary In-class Labs Online CSI Labs Netflix Cases: Summarization Writings Review Questions

Ch 1: Introduction to Forensics Key Terms Forensics Expert witness Locard’s exchange principle Scientific method…..yes, even in forensics

Objectives Familiarize yourself with the various fields of forensics Investigate the history of forensics and scientific advances in forensics Examine possible career fields in forensics Understand the role of the forensic scientist in the criminal case.

Def. and Scope of Forensic Science Forensic Science is an umbrella term that covers a variety of professions Forensic Science is the application of science to the criminal and civil laws that are enforced by police agencies in a criminal justice system 11 Sections of Forensic Science Criminalistics Digital and Multimedia Sciences Engineering Science General Jurisprudence Odontology Pathology/Biology Physical Anthropology Psychiatry/Behavioral Sciences Questioned Documents Toxicology

TV vs Real-life Forensics Shows like CSI and NCIS have increased the publics knowledge on Forensic Science, but has also skewed expectations of most when it comes to entering the field of Forensics. In shows, one person or a small group will collect evidence, analyze, interrogate, and testify. In the real world, these duties are very departmentalized and carried out by several people in different branches.

TV vs. Real-World Forensics On TV: Every crime scene yields tons of crucial physical evidence and the CSI’s are solely responsible for solving crimes. However, most cases do not produce much evidence and it cannot be expected that this type of evidence is needed for a conviction Some jurors have come believe that the prosecution must have forensic evidence for a conviction. This detracts from the real goal of forensics: The Search for the Truth…….Can you handle the Truth about Forensics?

History and Development of Forensic Science No one origin; history has several instances of individuals using close observation of evidence and applying basic scientific principles to solve crimes. Initially forensics was less careful and systematic. Think Sherlock Holmes here, not Abby Scuito Modern Forensics combines tools and skills from a variety of disciplines and merges them together in the search for truth.

Early Developments Yi Yu Ji (A Collection of Criminal Cases) from 3rd century China Murder case: Wife killed husband and burned house down around him Coroner used 2 pigs experiment to prove her guilt Burnt one pig alive and the other dead Examined the mouth of each pig for ashes Chinese first to recognize fingerprints were a way to possibly ID a person. Careful examination like this was not normal for forensic examination of the time

Early Developments Lack of knowledge about anatomy and pathology limited forensics until the late 17th century. 1st notes on fingerprint characteristics: 1686 by Marcello Magpighi (Italian professor) Did not cite any evidence as far as using fingerprints as a means of identification. 1st paper on this did not appear for over 100 years

Initial Scientific Advances Advance is both anatomy and chemistry in the 18th Century led to greater advances in forensics as well. 1775 – Carl Wilhelm Scheele devises first test for detecting arsenic 1798 – Francois-Emmanuel Fodere writes “Treatise on Forensic Medicine and Public Health. 1806 – Valentin Ross furthers Scheele and develops test for detecting traces of arsenic in the stomach lining 1814 –Mathieu Orfila, the father of toxicology, publishes articles on the detection of poisons and their effects of animals 1828 – William Nichol invents polarizing microscope 1839 – first testimony on toxicology by James Marsh 1839 - Bayard formulates procedures for detection of bodily fluids 1853 – microcrystalline test for hemoglobin 1863 – first test to detect blood 1850s and 1860s – photography helps document evidence

Late 19th Century Progress By late 1800’s, knowledge from all fields of science was being used to study crimes. 1879 – Alphonse Bertillon develops first system of identification (anthropology and morphology info) by taking a series of body measurements to distinguish individuals from each other He called his system “anthropometry” Using for nearly 2 decades, but has since been replaced by fingerprints Fingerprinting became common practice in the early 1900s

Late 19th Century Progress Thomas Taylor – suggests fingerprints could be used as means of identification Henry Faulds makes same suggestion 3 years later Henry Galton – 1st definitive study of fingerprints as a means of identification. Published book “Finger Prints” in 1892 that proved this to be true

Late 19th Century Progress 1893 – Hans Gross writes first comprehensive book describing applications of science to the field of criminal investigation. Gross was an Austrian prosecutor and judge. Published book “Criminal Investigation” that detailed ways to use things like microscopy, chemistry, physic, etc to aid in a criminal investigation

Late 19th Century Most famous figure in 19th Century Forensic Science: Sherlock Holmes…..no he was not real!!! Created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Popularized scientific crime-detection methods First published novel in 1887

20th Century Breakthroughs The sciences went into hyper-speed as far as advancements go. 1901 – Karl Landsteiner discovers blood types 1915 – Italian professor Leone Lattes creates test to identify blood type from dried stains. 1910’s – Albert S. Osborn conducts groundbreaking work on document examination and published Questioned Documents, which is still used for reference today.

20th Century: Locard Edmond Locard – early 1900’s Applied scientific method to forensics and created a workable crime lab in the attic of Lyons PD. He became world famous and founded/directed the Institute of Criminalistics at Univ. of Lyons Locard exchange principle – when two objects come into contact with one another, there is exchange of materials between them.

20th Century: Microscopy Microscope became widely used in 20th Century forensics. Dr. Walter C. McCrone – world’s preeminent microscopist – leading figure Leading instructor of microscopy applied to forensics. Taught techniques and analysis of evidence Col. Calvin Goddard Comparison microscope – firearms examination Comp. microscope still used to this day

Assignment Read Chapter 1, pages 3-10 Do Review Questions 11-15 Due next class

Modern Scientific Advances Mid- 20th Century: The Computer!!!!! The computer has allowed for huge advances in the field of forensics, as well as all other sciences. Advanced techniques for analyzing evidence were created. They were easier to perform, faster, and more accurante than earlier tests. Ex: chromatography, spectrophotometry, and gel electrophoresis…..we cover these later.

Modern Advances - DNA The most important advancement was the discovery of DNA and sequencing of DNA in the late 20th Century and early 21st Century. DNA profiling – developed by Sir Alec Jeffreys in 1984. It was first used in 1986 (that’s the year I was born) to solve a murder of two young English girls. This also was the first time DNA typing was used to prove innocence in a case. DNA is arguably the most powerful tool in forensics. It can prove guilt to an accuracy of 99.9%

Modern Advances - Databases Creation of computerized databases has allowed physical evidence to be shared worldwide Databases for fingerprints, DNA, firearms markings, and spent shell casings are now in use. This has made evidence analysis easier: Scan the evidence into the database Search for a match This can narrow down lists of suspects quickly

The Modern Crime Lab Services: Physical science unit Biology unit Firearms unit Document examination unit Photography unit Toxicology Latent fingerprints Polygraph Voiceprint analysis CSI unit

Crime Lab Services Physical Science Apply chemistry, physics, and geology Examine glass, chemicals, paints, explosives, soil Perform Drug ID Soil/Mineral Analysis Biology Biology and biochemistry Perform DNA profiling Blood typing Hair/Fiber analysis Bodily fluids Wood/plant material analysis

Crime Lab Services Firearms unit Examine firearms, discharged bullets, spend shell casings, ammunition, etc GSR analysis Comparison microscope – used to do side-by-side analysis of bullets Document Examination Examine handwriting and typewriting Determine source and/or authenticity Ink/paper analysis Indentions, erasures, obliterations, and burned and charred documents

Crime Lab Services Photography Take crime scene photos to document physical evidence Digital imaging, Infrared, UV, X-ray photography as well Prepares photographic exhibits for courtroom presentations Toxicology Sub-unit of biology Examine bodily fluids and organs for the presence or absence of drugs or poisons. Often work in collaboration with coroner. Some toxicology done in the field: intoxilzyer – presence of alcohol

Crime Lab Services Latent Fingerprints Collect fingerprints Scan them into IAFIS – Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System Polygraph Administer “Lie detector tests” More a tool of the criminal investigator than the forensic scientist but early on was also used by crime labs.

Crime Lab Services Voiceprint Analysis Identify/match telephone voices to people. Used in threats and tape- recorded messages. Use tool called sound spectrograph to create a visual graph of people’s voices. Based off the premise each person’s speech pattern is unique to the person Crime-scene Investigation Evidence Collection at the Crime Scene. Collect Evidence Preserve/Bag/Label Physical Evidence that will later be examined in the crime lab.

Other Services Forensic psychiatry Forensic odontology Determining if defendant is mentally fit to stand trial Evaluate psychological disorders Profiling Forensic odontology Dental evidence – reconstruction, identification Bite mark analysis Forensic engineering Accident reconstruction, failure analysis, origins of fire/explosions Determine if something was an accident or a crime Forensic computer/digital analysis “hackers” – analysis/obtain evidence from computers and media devices

Assignment Read pg. 11-15 Review Questions 17-19, 25-27 Anyone who has not gotten their video form signed you need to do so; we start “NOVA: Forensics on Trial” tomorrow