Who is the father of forensic toxicology?
Mathieu Orfilla
List the reason why the US saw a rapid growth of crime labs.
Supreme Court decision in the 1960's that placed greater emphasis on scientifically evaluated evidence.
Accelerated drug abuse
Initiation of DNA profiling
What does FBI stand for?
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Which type of law is also known as public law and cases tried are always the person vs the state?
Criminal Law
Which of the law is known as private law and more concerned with assigning blame than intent?
Civil Law
Jaywalking would be considered which type of crime?
Infractions
Homicide would be considered which type of crime?
Felonies
True or False: Motive must be proved in court.
False
Who is the plaintiff in criminal law?
The state that the crime was committed in
Trace Evidence Examiner
Fibers, hairs, paint, glass
Firearms Examiner
Includes firearms, shells, and casings
Questioned Document Examiner
Handwriting, checks, ink, paper
Forensic Toxicologist
Drugs, poisons
Forensic psychologist
Profiling
Forensic Entomologist
Insects
Forensic Pathologist
Determines possible cause of death
Forensic Odontologist
Teeth
Forensic Engineer
Crashes or failure of structure
Sir Francis Galton
Fingerprint Analysis: classified prints according to ridge characteristics
August Vollmer
Chain of custody: created a training program for the proper collection, preservation and handling of evidence.
Alphonse Bertillon
Anthropometry: a method for personal identification based on body parts.
Albert S. Osborn
Document Analysis: handwriting expert
Lawrence Kersta
Voice analysis: compare the resonance and pitch of the human instrument
Mikhail Gerasimov
Facial Reconstruction: Recorded the depths of flesh on various parts of the head.
Calvin Goddard
Firearms Examination: examined casings and bullets from the 1929 St. Valentin's Massacre
Alec Jefferys
DNA fingerprinting: Used a key component found in chromosomes
Circumstantial Evidence
Indirect evidence; evidence used to imply a fact but not prove it directly
Class Evidence
Material that connects an individual or thing to a group that share similar characteristics
Direct Evidence
Evidence that (if true) proves an alleged fact, such as an eyewitness account of a crime
Individual Evidence
A material that can be related to a single source
Trace Evidence
Small but measurable amounts of physical or biological material found at a crime scene
Control Sample
Material that comes from a proven or known source
Primary Crime Scene
The location where the crime took place
Secondary Crime Scene
A location other than where the crime took place, but is in some way related to the crime and where evidence is found
What should be included in a crime scene sketch
A label to indicate the direction of north on the diagram
A scale of size
The location of the crime scene
DO NOT HAVE TO INCLUDE:
The type of search pattern detectives used to make the sketch
Forensic science is the application of science to
law
It is important to separate witnesses at a crime scene in order to
Prevent them from talking and forming a collusion
The ability to establish the exact whereabouts of an item of evidence and under whose control it was from its collection at the crime scene to its presentation in the courtroom and everywhere in between is called:
chain of custody
List types of direct evidence
Confession
Video recording
Eyewitness statement
Any removal of evidence from a crime scene must be in accordance with what Amendment?
Fourth
The Cross Race Effect (CRE) is a phenomenon in which people are better at recognizing faces of their own race rather than those of other races.
TRUE
According to the Innocence Project (2008) "________________ is the single greatest cause of wrongful convictions nationwide, playing a role in more than 75% of convictions overturned through DNA testing.
eyewitness misidentification
List types of trace evidence
Hairs, fibers, small paint chips
Locard's Exchange Principal states that every _________ leaves a __________.
Contact, trace
True or False: A crime scene can never be searched without a warrant.
False
True or False: A polygraph is always admissible in court as direct evidence.
False
How often does a full head of hair get replaced?
Every third year
While getting dressed, you dropped your shirt on the floor and picked up dog hair. When you arrived at school and sat in your desk chair, you transferred some of that dog hair to the chair. This is an example of what?
Secondary Transfer
What can be determined from Hair analysis?
body region from which the hair came from
identity of the individual from which the hair came from
broad racial background of the individual from which the hair came from (if have the root only)
manner in which the hair was removed
The hair shaft is composed of what important protein?
Keratin
This layer of hair is made of scales that overlap and point toward the distal tip:
Cuticle
When hairs found at a crime scene look similar to those collected from a suspect, a forensic expert should say:
They could have a common origin
When collecting hairs from a suspect to compare to those found at a crime scene, how many control hairs should be collected from the head? From the pubic region?
50 from head; 25 from pubic region
The average hair grows how much per month?
1.3 cm
What is the first step in testing the hair shaft for substances such as drugs?
dissolving the hair
Hair without the root is considered what type of evidence?
class
What are the two main parts of a hair?
follicle and shaft
True or False: The medulla is always present in a hair?
False
Which part(s) of a hair can be analyzed for DNA?
Root
When observing a cat hair under the microscope the ________________ is arranged like a "string of pearls.
Medulla
Put the following in order from smallest to largest: Textile, fiber , yarn
Fiber, yarn, textile
How much time does it typically take for 95 percent of fiber evidence to fall off after a crime?
24 Hours
Cotton is often too common to provide much forensic evidence. What might make cotton fiber evidence more unique?
If it has been died
If there is a limited amount of fiber found at the crime scene, scientists perform this test so that will not damage the evidence:
Infrared Spectroscopy or polarizing light microscopy
Plant fibers are made of what material?
Carbohydrate
Animal fibers are made of what material?
Protein
Natural fibers can be harvested from:
Plants, animals, minerals
Silk is not frequently used as forensic
evidence, why?
Fibers are long and do not shed easily
Fibers are considered what kind of evidence
Class
These fibers tend to be much stronger.
Synthetic Fibers
These fibers can often be damaged by microorganisms
Natural Fibers
These fibers can deteriorate in bright sun
Synthetic Fibers
Under magnification, these fibers have very regular diameters
Synthetic Fibers
Under magnification, these fibers might have a cuticle
Natural Fibers
Polyester is considered this type of fiber
Synthetic Fibers
Mohair is considered this type of fiber
Natural Fibers
Number of fingerprints stored in the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System
Fifty million
Glands associated with hair follicles
Apocrine
On the right hand, this loop pattern opens towards the left
Radial
Minutiae pattern that looks like a "Y
Bifurcation
Chloride from salt in sweat on a print combines with this to form dark colored prints
Silver Nitrate
Fuming this chemical causes fingerprints to appear brown then quickly fade
Iodine
A fingerprint pattern that resembles a bull's-eye
whorl
Arch pattern with a spike in the middle
Tented
This whorl pattern is made up of any two loops combined into one print
Doubleloop
A triangular ridge pattern with ridges that go in different directions above and below a triangle; found in all loop and whorl patterns
Delta
FBI's electronic storage and search program for fingerprints
AFIS
A fingerprint pattern in which the ridge enters from one side, curves, then exits on the same side
Loop
Fingerprints typically form during this week of pregnancy
Tenth
A hidden fingerprint made visible through the use of powders or other techniques
latent
Glands associated with the hands and feet
Eccrine
The combination of details in the shapes and positions of ridges in fingerprints that make each unique; also called ridge characteristics
minutiae
A fingerprint that happens when fingers with blood, ink, chalk, grease or dirt on them touch a surface and transfer the pattern of their fingerprint to that surface
patent
To be absolutely certain two prints match, they must have this many common minutiae
Twelve
A fingerprint pattern in which the ridge pattern originates from one side of the print and leaves from the other side
Arch
A center of a loop or whorl pattern
Core
These cells grow faster than the layers above and below so it collapses and folds to form the shapes of a fingerprint
basallayer
Fingerprints are this type of evidence
Individual
A three-dimensional fingerprint made in soft material such as clay, soap, paint, putty, or wax
plastic
Time it takes AFIS to produce a list of potential matches from a fingerprint
Two hours
Super glue fingerprinting method
Cyanoacrylate
These appear white on a fingerprint image
valley
Results in a Purple-blue print when amino acids found in sweat react with this chemical
Ninhydrin
These appear dark on a fingerprint image
ridge
Method used to lift fingerprints after dusting
Tape
An impression left on any surface that consists of patterns made by ridges on the tip of a finger
fingerprint
The study of fingerprints
dactyloscopy
The maximum number of minutiae found to be shared between two different individuals
Eight
Method of fingerprinting still used today
Galton Henry
The outermost layer of skin
epidermis
On the left hand, this loop pattern opens towards the left
Ulnar
True or False? Fingerprints are considered to be a form of class evidence.
False, fingerprints are considered to be a form of INDIVIDUAL evidence
True or False? Patent prints must be dusted or chemically treated in order to identify the ridge pattern and minutiae.
False, patent fingerprints are visible; LATENT prints must be dusted or chemically treated.
True or False? Whorls are the most common form of fingerprints.
False, LOOPS are the most common form of fingerprints.
True or False? No one has found two people with more than 8 minutiae in common.
True
True or False? It is necessary to obtain a full print from a suspect in order to match his fingerprint with a fingerprint found at the crime scene
False, the size of the print doesn't matter, just so long as you can find 12 matching minutiae.
True or False? Fingerprints are formed within the basal layer of the skin.
True
True or False? Identical twins have matching fingerprints.
False, no two individuals have been found to have matching fingerprints, even identical twins.
Fingerprints are formed
At 10 weeks' gestation
One way to make prints visible is to apply certain chemicals. What aspect of a fingerprint chemically reacts with Ninhydrin?
Amino Acids
Which of the following is known as the super glue test:
Cyanoacrylate vapor
These appear white on a fingerprint:
Valley
Whose fingerprint method is still used today?
Galton Henry
Which fingerprint test reacts with amino acids and forms white prints?
Cyanoacrylate vapor
Fingerprints that are actual indentations left in some soft material such as clay or putty are referred to as
Plastic
What program provides digital, automated fingerprint searches for the FBI?
Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS)
Explain how AFIS works:
AFIS provides digital, automated fingerprint searches, latent searches, electronic storage of fingerprint photo files, and the electronic exchange of fingerprints and test results. To use AFIS, an unknown print is scanned and entered into computer. The co
Describe how to take a ridge count from a fingerprint:
To take a ridge count, an imaginary line is drawn from the center of the core to the edge of the delta and intersecting ridges are counted.