1. Chapter 2: Types of Evidence
“You can learn a lot by just watching.”
—Yogi Berra, former New York Yankees catcher and sage
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Evidence
Students will learn:
The difference between indirect and direct evidence
That eyewitness accounts have limitations
What is meant by physical evidence and give examples
What physical evidence can and cannot prove in court
The significance of individual and class evidence
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Types of Evidence
Two general types:
Testimonial—a statement made under oath; also known as direct evidence or Prima Facie evidence
Physical—any object or material that is relevant in a crime; also known as indirect evidence. Examples are hair, fiber, fingerprints, documents, blood, soil, drugs, tool marks, impressions, glass.
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4. What is testimonial evidence? The Bunny Effect CBS News Video
Testimonial evidence includes oral or written statements given to police as well as testimony in court by people who witnessed an event.
Eyewitness accounts can be a useful tool in helping investigators with analyzing a crime scene, but are not viewed to be highly reliable. In addition, eyewitness identifications (right or wrong) can have a big influence on the outcome of an investigation or trial.
People are likely to view the same scene in different ways depending on their positions, line of sight, familiarity with the area, and other factors that can interfere with a person’s ability to remember details.
The Bunny Effect CBS News Video

5. Reliability of Eyewitness
Factors:
Nature of the offense and the situation in which the crime is observed
Characteristics of the witness
Manner in which the information is retrieved
Additional factors:
Witness’s prior relationship with the accused
Length of time between the offense and the identification
Any prior identification or failure to identify the defendant
Any prior identification of a person other than the defendant by the eyewitness
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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
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7. Eyewitness Accounts Pros & Cons
Chapter 2
Eyewitness Accounts Pros & Cons
Eyewitness accounts can be a useful tool in helping investigators with analyzing a crime scene, but are not viewed to be highly reliable. People are likely to view the same scene in different ways depending on their positions, line of sight, familiarity with the area, and other factors that can interfere with a person’s ability to remember details.
Let’s test your “eyewitness” abilities!
You will have 30 seconds to view the next screen.
Try to memorize all 20 items you see!
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Chapter 2
Items to remember ...
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Neuroscience for Kids -
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9. Chapter 2
What do you remember?
You have two minutes to list as many of the items as you can!
How did you do?
20 -     
   
  
5-9 -  
4 or less – Wake up!
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Chapter 2
Facial Composites
Investigators work with sketch artists and eyewitnesses to create facial composites, or sketches of a person’s face. Today many police departments are using facial reconstruction software to help them with this task.
FACES Software – Offers many options to help you recreate a person’s facial features.
The composite may be used internally to assist officers in identifying the suspect or used externally through local media (radio, TV, and newspaper) to solicit leads from citizens.
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11. Value of Physical Evidence
Generally more reliable than testimonial
Can prove that a crime has been committed
Can corroborate or refute testimony
Can link a suspect with a victim or with a crime scene
Can establish the identity of persons associated with a crime
Can allow reconstruction of events of a crime
Exonerate individuals
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Reconstruction
Physical Evidence is used to answer questions about:
what took place
how the victim was killed
number of people involved
sequence of events
A forensic scientist will compare the questioned or unknown sample with a sample of known origin.
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13. Opener: Would you make a good eyewitness?
Watch the Clip
Answer the Questions:
How was the man that went into the shop up the road dressed?
What car did the woman park in the street?
What color hair did the woman have?
Who was the first man running out of the shop?
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14. Types of Physical Evidence
Transient Evidence—temporary; easily changed or lost; usually observed by the first officer at the scene
Pattern Evidence—produced by direct contact between a person and an object or between two objects
Conditional Evidence—produced by a specific event or action; important in crime scene reconstruction and in determining the set of circumstances or sequence within a particular event
Transfer Evidence—produced by contact between person(s) or object(s), or between person(s) and person(s)
Associative Evidence—items that may associate a victim or suspect with a scene or each other; ie, personal belongings
—Lee and Labriola in Famous Cases, 2001
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15. Examples of Transient Evidence
Odor—putrefaction, perfume, gasoline, urine, burning, explosives, cigarette or cigar smoke
Temperature—surroundings, car hood, coffee, water in a bathtub, cadaver
Imprints and indentations—footprints, teeth marks in perishable foods, tire marks on certain surfaces
Markings
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16. Examples of Pattern Evidence
Pattern Evidence—most are in the form of imprints, indentations, striations, markings, fractures or deposits.
Clothing or article distribution
Gun powder residue
Material damage
Body position
Tool marks
Modus operandi
Blood spatter
Glass fracture
Fire burn pattern
Furniture position
Projectile trajectory
Tire marks or skid marks
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17. Examples of Conditional Evidence
Light—headlight, lighting conditions
Smoke—color, direction of travel, density, odor
Fire—color and direction of the flames, speed of spread, temperature and condition of fire
Location—of injuries or wounds, of bloodstains, of the victim’s vehicle, of weapons or cartridge cases, of broken glass
Vehicles—doors locked or unlocked, windows opened or closed, radio off or on (station), odometer mileage
Body—position, types of wounds; rigor, livor and algor mortis
Scene—condition of furniture, doors and windows, any disturbance or signs of a struggle
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18. 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
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19. Evidence Characteristics
Class—common to a group of objects or persons
Individual—can be identified with a particular person or a single source
Fingerprints
Blood DNA Typing
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20. Class vs Individual Evidence
Which examples do you think could be individual evidence?
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21. Activity: Weighing the Evidence
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22. Forensic Investigations
Include some or all of these seven major activities
1. Recognition—ability to distinguish important evidence from unrelated material
Pattern recognition
Physical property observation
Information analysis
Field testing
2. Preservation—collection and proper preservation of evidence
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Investigations
3. Identification—use of scientific testing
Physical properties
Chemical properties
Morphological (structural) properties
Biological properties
Immunological properties
4. Comparison—class characteristics are measured against those of known standards or controls; if all measurements are equal, then the two samples may be considered to have come from the same source or origin.
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Investigations
5. Individualization—demonstrating that the sample is unique, even among members of the same class
6. Interpretation—gives meaning to all the information
7. Reconstruction—reconstructs the events of the case
Inductive and deductive logic
Statistical data
Pattern analysis
Results of laboratory analysis
—Lee, Dr. Henry. Famous Crimes, 2001
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25. Class vs Individual Evidence
These fibers are class evidence; there is no way to determine if they came from this garment.
The large piece of glass fits exactly to the bottle; it is individual evidence.
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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:
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FBI Investigation
Read a case investigated by the FBI. Observe the various units of their lab and read the section: “How They Do That?”.
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