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Examination of Physical Evidence
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Identification vs. Comparison
Identification: The process of determining a substance’s physical or chemical identity ex. heroin, gasoline, blood, hair (what species?), etc. There must be tests that give repeatable results for each item. May be one step, may be 5 or 6 steps.
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Comparison The process of ascertaining whether two or more objects have a common origin. ex. Similarities in hair found at a crime scene to a suspect’s hair; similarity in paint chips to paint from the suspect’s car.
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Comparison First, you have to have a list of things to compare—a series of standard properties. ex. Hair – look at the cuticle, cortex, and medulla and compare to one from a suspect
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Comparison Second, use that list to compare—do they come from the same source? Even if they’re indistinguishable, are they definitely from the same source? NO
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Quality & Usefulness of Physical Evidence
Class Characteristics Individual Characteristics Mathematical Probability Rarity Locard’s Principle of Exchange
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Individual versus Class Evidence
Class Individual Definition Evidence that can only be associated with a group source and not a single source. Evidence that can be associated with a single, common source with an extremely high degree of certainty.
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Individual versus Class Evidence
Class Individual Degree of certainty of common origin Low High
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Individual versus Class Evidence
Class Individual Found at the Crime Scene Usually Sometimes
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Individual versus Class Evidence
Class Individual Value Provide corroboration of events with data that are free from human error. Collective presence may lead to extreme high certainty. Individualizes suspect to a high probability.
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Individual versus Class Evidence
Class Individual Examples Tire tracks Shoe impressions Blood type Paint layers Fibers DNA fingerprinting Teeth Fingerprints Bullets: the striation markings on bullets
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Collective Presence May lead to an extremely high certainty that they originated from the same source. As the number of different objects link an individual to a crime increases, the probability of involvement increases dramatically.
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