Forensic Science FORENSIC SCIENCE The History When Did Forensics First Get Started?

 Forensic History  King Richard I - England - Required 3 knights and 1 clerk in every county. Why? - To determine if a death was murder or suicide. Why? Forensic Science - The Church: “suicide is bad” - Therefore the King inherits all

 Forensic History  1600’s – American colonists invent 1 st Coroner System. Forensic Science  Role played by the Coroner? - To determine the TIME and CAUSE of death

 Mid 1800‘s – Charles Dickens first used the term “Detective” in the book “Bleak House. He introduced the character known as Inspector Bucket.  Forensic History Forensic Science

 1887 – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle  Forensic History - So–so Doctor in need of $$. - Used medical “Clues” to solve illness puzzles. - Extended these clues to the solving of criminal puzzles. - Sherlock Holmes - scientist Forensic Science

 1910 – Edmond Locard – Paris  Forensic History - 1st to demonstrate the need for a scientific approach. - 1st funded Crime Lab. Note - 1st in US was in LA – US crime labs today. Forensic Science

 1910 – Edmond Locard – Paris  Forensic History Forensic Science

 1910 – Edmond Locard – Paris  Forensic History …When contact occurs, each party will transfer hair and/or fibers to the other person. Today we extend it to include DNA etc. - Locard’s “Exchange Principal” Forensic Science

Who said the following during a 1947 trial…. (He went on to write the world’s first Forensic Science textbook for use in college.)  Evidence Forensic Science

"Wherever he steps, whatever he touches, whatever he leaves, even unconsciously, will serve as silent witness against him. Not only his fingerprints or his footprints, but his hair, the fibers from his clothes, the glass he breaks, the tool mark he leaves, the paint he scratches, the blood or semen he deposits or collects….  Evidence Forensic Science

“….all of these and more bear mute witness against him. This is evidence that does not forget. It is not confused by the excitement of the moment. It is not absent because human witnesses are, it is factual evidence, physical evidence cannot be wrong….  Evidence Forensic Science

“….it cannot perjure itself; it cannot be wholly absent, only its interpretation can err. Only human failure to find it, study and understand it, can diminish its value." Paul Kirk "Crime Investigation" 1953 From a court decision from 1947 titled Harris vs. US.  Evidence Forensic Science

 Scientific Method - Probably Doyle... even if only in his stories. - The SM organizes all known facts into a logical sequence. Forensic Science - Who was probably the first to use it in a crime investigation?

 Scientific Method - Why, in the 1960’s, did US police stop relying strictly on “Good Old Detecting” & use Forensics. - Hint: “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”? Name? Forensic Science

 Scientific Method - In 1963, a man was arrested for the armed robbery of a bank worker. While in custody of police, the man -- who had a record for armed robbery, attempted rape, assault and burglary -- signed a written confession to the armed robbery. Forensic Science

 Scientific Method - He also confessed to kidnapping and raping an 18-year-old girl 11 days prior to the robbery. - The man was convicted of the armed robbery, but his attorneys appealed the case on the grounds that the man did not understand that he had the right against self-incrimination. Forensic Science

 Scientific Method - When the Supreme Court made its landmark Miranda Rights Ruling in 1966, Ernesto Miranda's conviction was overturned. Prosecutors later retried the case, using evidence other than his confession, and he was convicted again. Miranda served 11 years in prison and was paroled in Forensic Science

 Scientific Method - At age 34, Ernesto Miranda was stabbed and killed in a 1976 bar fight. Forensic Science - A suspect was arrested in Miranda's stabbing, but ironically, exercised his right to remain silent!

 Scientific Method - You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense. - Miranda vs Arizona Forensic Science

- END - Forensic Science The History