1. INTRODUCTION

2. DEFINITION
Forensic science is the application of science to criminal and civil laws enforced by police agencies in a criminal justice system.

3. Forensic Science Timeline
Orfila (1814) father of forensic toxicology
Bertillon (1879) father of criminal identification (anthropometry)
Galton (1892) first to study and classify fingerprints
Landsteiner (1901) discovered A,B,O blood types
Lattes (1915) developed a simple technique for identifying blood group of dried blood stains

4. 1814 - Mathieu Bonaventure Orfila
In 1814, published the first scientific study of the effects of poisons on animals
Father of forensic toxicology
In 1840, gave expert testimony in a French arsenic poisoning murder case

5. Alphonse Bertillon
Considered the Father of criminal identification
Developed the science of measurement called Anthropometry
Based on taking a specific series of body measurements as a means of personal identification

6. Anthropometry There were eleven measurements: Height
Stretch: Length of body from left shoulder to right middle finger when arm is raised
Bust: Length of torso from head to seat, taken when seate
Length of head: Crown to forehead
Width of head: Temple to temple
Length of right ear
Length of left foot
Length of left middle finger
Length of left cubit: Elbow to tip of middle finger
Width of cheeks
Length of left pinky

7. 1892 - Francis Galton First definitive study of fingerprints.
Developed a method for classifying fingerprints for filing purposes
Published the book
Finger Prints in 1892
First statistical proof that fingerprints could be used as a unique identification system

8. Karl Landsteiner
Discovered that blood could be grouped into different categories
The blood categories are now known as the A, B, AB, and O blood types

9. Leone Lattes
A professor of Forensic Medicine at University of Turin, Italy.
Discovered a method to test for the A,B,O blood groups on dried bloodstains.

10. Sherlock Holmes
Fictional character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
First novel: A Study in Scarlet
Holmes was the first person to apply many of modern forensic principles to solve a crime before any police department used them

11. Forensic Science Timeline
Goddard (1925) microscopic bullet to firearm comparison
Osborn (1910) published Questioned Documents
McCrone (1946) developed advanced microscopic technology
Gross (1893) published Criminal Investigation
Locard (1910) founder, director of Institute of Criminalistics at the University of Lyons, France

12. 1925 - Calvin Goddard Forensic Scientist Colonel in U.S. Army
Medical doctor
Published the first reference on ballistics
Professor of political science at Northwestern University

13. Albert S. Osborn
Developed fundamental principles of document examination
Responsible for use of documents as scientific evidence
Published the first text: Questioned Documents

14. Walter C. McCrone
The first recognized world-wide expert in microscopy
Started a research foundation devoted to microscopy in 1960
Famous for his forensic analysis of the Shroud of Turin

15. 1893 - Hans Gross Public prosecutor and judge in Graz, Austria
Advocate for scientific method in forensics
Published first book that explained how police could utilize the fields of microscopy, chemistry, physics, mineralogy, zoology, botany, anthropometry and fingerprinting in criminal investigations

16. Edmond Locard
Set up the first “crime lab” in an attic in Lyons, France in 1910
Basic forensic science Locard’s Exchange Principle:
Whenever any two
objects come in contact
with each other there is an
exchange of material
between the two objects

17. U.S. Forensic Science Timeline
Los Angeles (1923) August Vollmer established the oldest forensic laboratory in the U.S.
UC Berkeley (1948) Paul Kirk, first head of the first U.S. school of Criminology
FBI (1932) J. Edgar Hoover established the first national forensic science laboratory
FBI (1981) established the Forensic Science Research and Training Center

18. Full-Service Crime Laboratory
BASIC SERVICES SUPPLIED:
PHYSICAL SCIENCE UNIT
BIOLOGY UNIT
FIREARMS UNIT
DOCUMENT EXAMINATION UNIT
PHOTOGRAPHY UNIT

19. Physical Science Unit
Applies principals and techniques of chemistry, physics and geology to the identification and comparison of crime-scene evidence
Evidence can be drugs, glass, paint, explosives and soil

20. Biology Unit
Biologists and biochemists identify and perform DNA profiling
DNA can be extracted from bloodstains, body fluids, hairs
Compare and identify hairs and fibers, wood, plants and other botanical materials

21. Firearms Unit
Examines firearms, discharged bullets, cartridge cases, shotgun shells and ammunition of all types
Examine garments and other objects that might be exposed to gunshot residue and target distance
Also examine tool marks

22. Document Examination Unit
Studies handwriting, typewriting on questioned documents
Determines authenticity and or certifies source of document
Analyzes paper, ink, writing depressions, obliterations, erasures, and burned or charged documents

23. Photography Unit Examines records and records physical evidence
Uses digital imaging, infrared, ultraviolet and X-ray photography
Make invisible information visible

24. Optional Crime Laboratory Services
THESE SERVICES ARE FOUND IN
CENTRALIZED LABORATORIES:
TOXICOLOGY UNIT
LATENT FINGERPRINT UNIT
POLYGRAPH UNIT
VOICEPRINT ANALYSIS UNIT
CRIME-SCENE INVESTIGATION UNIT

26. Toxicology Unit
Examines body fluids and organs to determine the presence or absence of drugs or poisons

27. Latent Fingerprint Unit
Processes and examines evidence for latent (or non-visible) fingerprints or palm prints

28. Polygraph Unit
Polygraph (lie detector) technology is usually used by criminal investigators
Technicians are trained in interrogation techniques

29. Voiceprint Analysis
Believed that speech patterns are unique to an individual
Analysis of telephoned threats or taped messages
Uses sound spectrograph, that transforms speech into a visual graphic display called a voiceprint

30. Crime-scene Investigation Unit
Specially trained personnel that travel to a crime scene to collect and preserve physical evidence
Must be able to distinguish between physical evidence that is valuable and that which is not

31. Functions of a Forensic Scientist
Applies physical and natural science techniques to analyze the many types of physical evidence
(Only physical evidence is free of error or bias)
Subjects all physical evidence to principals of Scientific Method
Explain the significance of the results in a court of law as an expert witness

32. Scientific Method Formulate a question worthy of investigation.
Formulate a reasonable hypothesis to answer the question.
Test the hypothesis through experimentation.
Upon validation of the hypothesis, it become suitable as scientific evidence

33. Role of an Expert Witness
An expert witness is an individual whom the court determines possesses knowledge relevant to the trial that is not expected of the average person.
The expert witness is called on to evaluate evidence based on specialized training and experience that the court lacks the expertise to do.
The expert will then express an opinion as to the significance of the findings.
Forensic scientists also participate in training law enforcement personnel in the proper recognition, collection, and preservation of physical evidence.

34. Admissibility of Evidence
The Frye v. United States decision set guidelines for determining the admissibility of scientific evidence into the courtroom.
To meet the Frye standard, the evidence in question must be “generally accepted” by the scientific community.
1993 case of Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceutical, Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court asserted that the Frye standard is not an absolute requirement for the admissibility of scientific evidence.
Trial judges were said to be ultimately responsible as “gatekeepers” for the admissibility and validity of scientific evidence presented in their courts, as well as all expert testimony.

35. Daubert Evidential Criteria
Whether the scientific technique or theory can be tested.
Whether the technique has been subject to peer review and publication.
The techniques potential rate of error.
Existence and maintenance of standards .
Whether the scientific theory or method has attracted widespread acceptance within a relevant scientific community.

36. Special Forensic Services
A number of special forensic science services are available to the law enforcement community to augment the services of the crime laboratory.
These services include forensic pathology, forensic anthropology, forensic entomology, forensic psychiatry, forensic odontology, computer science, and forensic engineering.

37. Special Forensic Services
Forensic Psychiatry is an area in which the relationship between human behavior and legal proceedings is examined.
Forensic Odontology involves using teeth to provide information about the identification of victims when a body is left in an unrecognizable state. Also investigates bite marks.
Forensic Engineering is concerned with failure analysis, accident reconstruction, and causes and origins of fires or explosions.
Forensic Computer Science involves the examination of digital evidence.