Chapter 1 Notes Groups 5, 6, 7
Group 5- Important People Alphonse Bertillon: Father of Personal Identification. Developed Anthropometry which was a form of identification through body measurements. Walter C. McCrone: specialized in microscopy for evidence analysis. Valentin Ross: Detected poison/toxins in walls of the stomach.
Group 5- Important People William Herschel: Infared radiation, telescopes, fingerprinting. Henry Fauld: proposed use of fingerprints in forensics. Sir Edward Richard Henry: Developed the Henry System of classifying fingerprints.
Group 5- Important People Kary Mullis: known for his work with PCR (polymerase chain reaction) which helped make many copies of a DNA sample. Edmond Locard: founder and director of Institute of Criminalistics. Established Locard’s Exchange Principle which stated that when a person comes into contact with another person or object, there is a transfer of materials.
Group 6- Important Case Rulings and Legal Terms Frye v. US: Set a standard for “general acceptance” of expert testimony. Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceutical, Inc: Determined Frye Standard is not an absolute prerequisite. Established “gatekeeping” for the trial judge which gave them authority to determine reliability of scientific evidence.
Group 6- Important Case Rulings and Legal Terms Kuhmo Tire Co. v. Carmichael: Promoted the fact that the judge is the “gatekeeper” not just with scientific evidence but also with expert testimony. Coppolino v. State: showed flexibility of the judge because they could now allow scientific evidence even without a precedent on testing methods being set before.
Group 6- Important Case Rulings and Legal Terms Expert Witness: An individual who posses scientific knowledge relevant to the trial which would not be expected of the average person. Qualifications of Experts: Degree, job, experience in field they are going to speak of. Lay Witness: ordinary person who testifies based on person knowledge and life experiences.
Group 7: Case Analysis 1. Briefly summarize the case: Dr. Mario Jascalevich was accused of murdering 5 patients with an overdose of Curare (animal tranquilizer). Years later the bodies were exhumed to detect traces of Curare. He was quitted of charges due to inability to prove reliability of testing methods.
Group 7- Case Analysis 2. Describe the primary issue of law. Include a discussion of arguments. Primary issue: testing method used to detect Curare after ten years was not “generally accepted’ by the scientific community. Defense: Claimed test did not meet acceptance and could not be used. Prosecution: Argued that it was a new test so had to be reliable.
Group 7- Case Analysis 3. How did the court ultimately rule on this issue? Describe the main arguments supporting the court’s decisions. The doctor was determined to be not guilty because they couldn’t link Curare to the cause of death after ten years.
Group 7- Case Analysis 4. Describe the primary scientific issue raised during the trial. What were the main challenges by the defense to the scientific evidence presented by the prosecution? The test was inconclusive because of the deterioration of the human body after a period of time (10 years).