CHAPTER 3

 Laws that set time limits on how long you have to file a "civil" lawsuit, like a personal injury lawsuit, or how long the state has to prosecute someone for committing a crime.  Time limits usually depend on the legal claim or crime involved in the case.  Vary from state to state

 CIVIL Assault/Battery 2 YEARS False Imprisonment 2 YEARS Personal Injury 2 Years  CRIMINAL  Assault 1 or 5 Years  Rape NO TIME LIMIT  Manslaughter/ Murder NO TIME LIMIT  Kidnapping  5 years

Time does not start to run until the State is in possession of both the physical evidence and the DNA or fingerprint evidence necessary to establish the identification of the actor by means of comparison to the physical evidence.  What does this statement mean?

 Every crime scene needs to be treated on an individual basis.  Certain types of evidence are likely to yield significant results in ascertaining the nature and circumstances of a crime.  Responsibility of the investigator to be familiar with  Recognition, collection, and analysis of items  Laboratory procedures and capabilities

 Valuable evidence sometimes be overlooked.  Collected evidence can left on an evidence room shelf  Never fully examined or processed.  Regulations apply to the admissibility of evidence.  Generally begins at time/date a crime has been reported  Official police inquiry/investigation

 Investigator must be able to  Make logical decisions  Process the uncommon and unexpected  Qualified evidence collectors must also be able to make innovative and on-the-spot decisions at the crime scene.  Memorizing a standardized set of procedures is not enough  Useful to the investigation  Always within the clear definitions of the law

 Family’s home computer — with Casey Anthony’s password — used to Google search for “fool-proof suffication” on June 16,  Google automatically corrected the misspelled “suffication” and linked pages describing ways to die by poisoning and suffocation.

 Any object that can establish a crime has been committed.  Evidence can provide a link between a crime, the victim, and the perpetrator.

 Blood, semen, and saliva – can be dried or in a liquid state, human or animal.  Subjected to biochemical and serological analysis to determine identity and possible origin  Documents – any handwriting or typewriting submitted to confirm the authenticity or source  Paper, ink, processed  Drugs – any substance seized in violation of laws regulating the sale, distribution, manufacture, and use of drugs

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 Anthony’s daughter Caylee was last seen on June 16, 2008 before her body was found on Dec. 11, A jury acquitted Casey Anthony of murder on July 5,  Trial prosecutor Jeff Ashton said proof of the web search could have been a crucial weapon. The defense had claimed Caylee accidentally drowned and Casey Anthony’s dad George Anthony ditched the body.  Defense attorney Jose Baez already has a rebuttal ready if the computer search was brought to trial.  Would have argued that George Anthony was trying to search for ways to commit suicide.

 Explosives – any device containing an explosive charge  Includes any object at or removed from the scene of an explosion  Suspected to contain residue from an explosion or use as a detonation device  Fibers – any natural or synthetic fiber whose transfer may be useful in establishing a relationship between object or persons  Cotton, silk, nylon, spandex, kevlar, as well as glass and metallic fibers  Fingerprints – all prints of this nature both visible and latent

 Firearms and Ammunition – any firearm as well as discharged or intact ammunition suspected of being involved in a criminal offense  Spent casings and recovered bullets or “slugs”  Glass – any particle or fragment that may have been transferred to a person or object involved in a crime.  Includes windows/panes of glass containing holes made by bullets or other projectiles  Hair – any animal or human hair present that can link a person to a crime

 Impressions – tire markings, shoes prints, depressions in soft soil/sand, and all other forms of tracts.  Gloves, fabric impressions, and bite marks in skin, foodstuffs, and other objects.  Organs and physiological fluids – body organs and fluids are submitted to toxicology to detect possible existence of drugs and poisons as well as blood to be analyzed for alcohol/drug content.  Urine, vomit, bile  Paint – any liquid or dried paint that may have been transferred from one object to another during the act of a crime  Transfer of paint from one vehicle to another in a car accident

 Petroleum products – any product removed from a suspect or recovered from a crime scene.  Gasoline residues or grease and oil stains  Plastic bags – polyethylene disposable bags such as garbage or shopping bags.  Examined/chemically analyzed to associate a bag to similar bags at a crime scene or possessed by a suspect.  Plastic, rubber, polymers – remnants or residues of man-made materials may be linked to objects relevant to a crime scene or suspect.

 Powder residues – any item suspected of containing firearm powder residues.  Serial numbers – stolen property submitted for the restoration of damaged/erased ID numbers  Soil and minerals – any object that could link a person to a particular location  Tool marks – impression marks found in an object caused by a “tool”.

 Vehicle Lights – examination of a vehicle’s headlights and taillights to determine their use at the time of an accident/impact.  Wood and other vegetative matter – wood, sawdust, or vegetative matter discovered on clothing, shoes, or tools that could link a suspect to a crime location.

 1. Physical – A physical object or something residing on a physical object.  2. Personal – A description or account of what has been seen or heard.  3. Circumstantial – Evidence that requires an inference (conclusion based on evidence).  Indirect evidence that implies something has occurred  Does not prove it  Leads to/connects other facts/circumstances together

 Woman accused of embezzling money from her company.  Makes big ticket purchases in cash around the time the money was taken.  Wife is suing her husband for divorce claiming he has had an affair.  Another woman’s fingerprints are found in their bedroom.  Does not prove the affair but could be implied because another woman has no other logical reason to be in their bedroom.

 Identification – process of determining an object/substance’s physical or chemical identity.  Near absolute certainty as analytical techniques permit  Requires testing procedures  Sufficient tests to exclude all other possibilities Problems – each type of evidence requires different tests Each test has a degree of specificity number of tests require to ensure accuracy

 The Role of the Forensic Scientist  1. Determine the point and criteria for positive identification  2. Relies on experience and education  3. Conclusion will have to be validated beyond any reasonable doubt in a court of law

 Collected specimen and a control  Both evaluated under same set of tests and examinations  Select specific properties from both specimens  Determine if they have a common origin

 Individual  Associated with a common source and high degree of probability.  Fingerprints  Class  Associated with a group and a low degree of probability.  Difficult to determine exact source of evidence.  Blood types, carpet fibers

 Inceptive  At the start of investigation  Evidence to base a search for a perpetrator  Corroborative  At the end of an investigation  Evidence used to prove or disprove