Chapter 2: Types of Evidence “You can learn a lot by just watching.” —Yogi Berra, former New York Yankees catcher and sage

Chapter 2 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 1 Types of Evidence Two general types:  Testimonial—a statement made under oath; AKA direct evidence, Prima Facie evidence  Meaning- at first sight; statement obvious of truth- doesn’t need to be proven  Physical—any object relevant in a crime; AKA indirect evidence  Examples - hair, fiber, fingerprints, documents, blood, soil, drugs, tool marks, impressions, glass, etc

Chapter 2 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 2 A. Testimonial  Depend on the reliability of the witness Factors:  Nature of the offense  The situation in which the crime is observed  Characteristics of the witness  How information is retrieved Additional factors:  Witness’s prior relationship with the accused  Length of time between the offense and the identification  Prior identification or failure to identify the defendant  Prior identification of a person other than the defendant by the eyewitness

Chapter 2 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 3 Eyewitness  A police composite may be developed from the witness testimony by a computer program or forensic artist.  “Perception is reality.”  As a result of the influences in eyewitness memory, physical evidence becomes critical. Faces—a composite program by InterQuest

Chapter 2 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 4 Can You ID the Suspect?  Watch the following videovideo  Now, let’s ID the suspect

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Chapter 2 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 6  Which number?  Need another look?

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Chapter 2 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 8  How about this way?

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Chapter 2 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 10  How would you rather ID a suspect?  Sequential or Simultaneously?

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Chapter 2 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 12 Problems with Eyewitnesses  Dark crime scene  Brief encounter  Weapon may have diverted attention  Stress and fear  Memory problems- not remembering or remembering wrong  Children remember wrong  Interviewing techniques influence the witness  The Innocence Project The Innocence Project

Chapter 2 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 13 The Innocence Project When witnesses get it wrong A witness made an identification in a “show-up” procedure from the back of a police car hundreds of feet away from the suspect in a poorly lit parking lot in the middle of the night. A witness in a rape case was shown a photo array where only one photo of the person police suspected was the perpetrator was marked with an “R.” Witnesses substantially changed their description of a perpetrator (including key information such as height, weight and presence of facial hair) after they learned more about a particular suspect. Witnesses only made an identification after multiple photo arrays or lineups — and then made hesitant identifications (saying they “thought” the person “might be” the perpetrator, for example), but at trial the jury was told the witnesses did not waver in identifying the suspect.

Chapter 2 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 14 Wrongful Convictions  The Innocence Project 175 inmates released through DNA testing.  Exonerations in the United States (Gross et al.) 328 exonerations from DNA and 196 non-DNA.  Innocence Project Northwest 11 wrongfully convicted inmates released since 1997.

Chapter 2 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 15 Number of Cases Factors Leading to Wrongful Convictions in 62 U.S. Cases Scheck, Neufeld & Dwyer, ACTUAL INNOCENCE (2000)

Chapter 2 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 16 B. Physical Evidence  Generally more reliable than testimonial  Can prove crime has been committed  Can corroborate or refute testimony  Can link a suspect with a victim or a crime scene  Can establish the identity of persons associated with a crime  Can allow reconstruction of events of a crime

Chapter 2 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 17 Evidence Physical Evidence is used to answer questions in an effort to reconstruct the scene. Examples:  what took place  how the victim was killed  number of people involved  sequence of events Once evidence is found, a forensic scientist will compare the questioned or unknown sample with a sample of known origin.

Chapter 2 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 18 Types of Evidence  Indirect- providing only a basis for inference (doesn’t prove a fact)  Example- possession of drugs, blood alcohol level  Circumstantial- based on suggestion rather than knowledge (observations)  Example- Shoe prints

Chapter 2 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 19 Whose Shoe?  From the print, we could guess the size and type of shoe  What would we never be able to tell?  Shoestring color  Socks  Color of shoe

Chapter 2 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 20 Comparing Evidence  Unknown Sample- Collected from a known location but of unknown origin  Example- paint of unknown origin on the bumper of a car  Known Sample- Comes from a known source  Example- investigator matches the paint to that of a suspect car with a scratch

Chapter 2 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 21 Categories of Physical Evidence 1.Transient Evidence—temporary; easily changed or lost; usually observed by the first officer at the scene  Weather, something moving, traffic. odor, temperature 2.Pattern Evidence—produced by direct contact between a person and an object or between two objects  Shoeprint, clothing print, fingerprint 3.Conditional Evidence—produced by a specific event or action  Forcing the door open might dent the wall when it hits  Car- locked?; body position; sign of struggle at scene 4.Transfer Evidence—produced by contact between person(s) or object(s), or between person(s) and person(s)  Fiber transfer, blood transfer, transfer of dirt on hands to light switch 5.Associative Evidence—items that may associate a victim or suspect with a scene or each other;  Personal belongings —Lee and Labriola in Famous Cases, 2001

Chapter 2 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 22 Classification of Evidence by Nature  Biological—blood, semen, saliva, sweat, tears, hair, bone, tissues, urine, feces, animal material, insects, bacterial, fungal, botanical  Chemical—fibers, glass, soil, gunpowder, metal, mineral, narcotics, drugs, paper, ink, cosmetics, paint, plastic, lubricants, fertilizer  Physical—fingerprints, footprints, shoe prints, handwriting, firearms, tire marks, tool marks, typewriting  Miscellaneous—laundry marks, voice analysis, polygraph, photography, stress evaluation, psycholinguistic analysis, vehicle identification

Chapter 2 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 23 Evidence Characteristics  Class—common to a group of objects or persons  Individual—can be identified with a particular person or a single source Blood DNA TypingFingerprints

Chapter 2 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 24 Probative Value  Supplying proof of evidence  Example: A pair of ripped, dirty jeans are found at the crime scene.  Brand of jeans  Dirt on jeans  Size  Alone, these are not enough to convict  But, together, they raise the value of the evidence  Probability becomes a key factor in proving the importance of evidence  Pg. 28 in textbook

Chapter 2 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 25 Class vs Individual Evidence Which examples do you think could be individual evidence?

Chapter 2 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 26 Class vs Individual Evidence  The large piece of glass fits exactly to the bottle; it is individual evidence.  These fibers are class evidence; there is no way to determine if they came from this garment.

Chapter 2 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 27 People in the News Dr. Henry Lee —Chief Emeritus for Scientific Services and the former Commissioner of Public Safety for the state of Connecticut. He served as that state’s Chief Criminality from 1979 to Lee was the driving force in establishing the modern forensic lab in Connecticut. He has worked with many high profile cases including O.J. Simpson, Jon Benet Ramsey, and the “wood chipper” case. He is also seen on many of the true crime shows, including his own, “Trace Evidence: The Case Files of Dr. Henry Lee”. Learn more at his website:

Chapter 2 Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company 28 FBI Investigation Read a case investigated by the FBI. Observe the various units of their lab and read the section: “How They Do That?”.