CRIMINALISTICS
Chapter 1
Definition and scope of Forensic
Science
FORENSIC SCIENCE
• Application of science to the law
• Society is dependant on rules of law
• Applies knowledge and technology to
enforcement of laws
• Science is used to help solve the argument in the
criminal justice system
• Science is accurate and objective
FORENSIC SCIENCE
• The application of science to those criminal and
civil laws that are enforced by police agencies in
a criminal justice system
• This course
▫ Chemistry, Biology, Physics, and Geology useful
for determining evidential value of crime scene
and related evidence
FORENSIC SCIENTISTS
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Aka criminalist
Can appear for either side
Can appear in criminal or civil matters
Tend to present findings in written reports
Can attend and testify in person
Give objective opinion of evidence analysis
Integral part of criminal justice system
TV shows
Juries expect forensic scientists to be experts in
all areas now because of TV shows like CSI
TYPICAL INVESTIGATION
• Crime scene investigators
▫ Gather evidence from:
 Crime scene
 Suspect
 Victim
• Forensic Scientists
▫ Examine evidence
▫ Provide scientific findings
INVESTIGATION
• Investigative skills necessary
• Knowledge of laws & their application in
court
• Ability to imagine events
• Knowledge of the elements of proof of the
offence
• Knowledge of the scientific techniques
available & ability to draw conclusions
FORENSIC SCIENCE
• Criminalistics
▫ Seems more descriptive
▫ Terms used interchangeably
▫ 3 types of evidence
 Trace evidence
 Transfer evidence
 Physical evidence
PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
• Articles of materials
• Found in conjunction w/a criminal investigation
• Assists in identifying the suspect or in
determining the circumstances under which a
crime was committed
• Sources of Physical Evidence:
▫ Crime scene
▫ Suspect(s)
▫ Victim(s)
HOW AN ITEM BECOMES PHYSICAL
EVIDENCE
• Before an object can become evidence, it must be
recognized by the investigator as having a
relationship to the crime committed
EXAMPLES OF PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
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BLOOD
HAIR
FIBERS
PAINT
GLASS
FIREARMS EVIDENCE
IMPRESSIONS
FLAMMABLE SUBSTANCES
ETC.
LEGAL REQUIREMENTS OF PHYSICAL
EVIDENCE
• Item must be properly identified
• Chain of custody must be proved
• Competency must be proven
INVENTORY
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Physical evidence inventory
Case Reference data
Item number
Brief description
Where found
Witnesses
Serial numbers (if any)
GENERAL MARKING PROCEDURES
• LARGE SOLID OBJECTS
▫ MARK WITH INITIALS
• SMALL SOLID OBJECTS
▫ PLACE IN CONTAINER AND SEAL
▫ MARK WITH INITIALS
• LIQUIDS
▫ KEEP IN ORIGINAL CONTAINER
▫ SEAL AND MARK
CHAIN OF CUSTODY RULE
• The party seeking to introduce into evidence the
results of examination of evidence has the
burden of proving that the specimen or object is
in fact derived from or taken from the particular
person or place.
• This proof is customarily shown by testimony
which traces the location and custody of the
specimen.
CHRONICLE OF CUSTODY
• THE STEPS IN THE CHAIN INCLUDE
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THE INITIAL POSSESSION BY AN OFFICER
THE METHOD OF STORAGE
THE JOURNEY TO THE LAB
THE METHOD OF STORAGE AT LAB
THE POSSESSION OF UNUSED PORTION
UNTIL PRESENTED IN COURT
PROOF OF CHAIN OF
CUSTODY
THE INVESTIGATOR
▫ HE TOOK THE EXHIBIT, IDENTIFIED IT,
PLACED IN SEALED CONTAINER, MARKED
FOR IDENTIFICATION
▫ THE EXHIBIT REMAINED IN HIS CARE
CUSTODY OR CONTROL UNTIL DELIVERED
TO LAB
SCIENTIFIC REQUIREMENTS OF
PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
• Adequate sample must be provided
• Sufficient standards (knowns) must be provided
• Sample integrity must be maintained
HISTORY
• Individuals developed techniques and principles
to identify and compare physical evidence
• Individuals who merged these principles into a
coherent discipline to be applied practically to
criminal justice
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• Sherlock Holmes (fictional)
• First applied
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Serology
Fingerprinting
Firearms identification
Questioned documents
• Used forensic science techniques in fiction long
before they were used in real life
• First Novel (A study in Scarlet) (1887)
▫ Section in book (serology)
• The Sign of Four
▫ Transfer evidence
Contributors to Forensic Science
• Many individuals contributed
• Physicians were among the first contributors
due to their access to microscopes
• Development in US was slow
Paul Revere
• 1776
• Identified body of General Warren,
Revolutionary War General who sent William
Dawes & Revere on their famous “Midnight
Ride”
• Identification was made 10 months after
burial using silver dentures which Revere
made for Warren
• Is the 1st record of post-mortem identification
by forensic odontology
Mathieu Orfila (1787-1853)
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Father of forensic toxicology
Renown teacher of medicine
Native of Spain taught in France
Published treatise on detection & effects of
poisons in animals
Alphonese Bertillon (1853-1914)
• First scientific system of personal
identification
• 1879 Anthropometry
• Used series of body measurements to identify
individuals
• System based on adult body measurements
that he said do not change.
• Called system Anthropometry
• Replaced by fingerprinting
• Father of criminal identification
Francis Galton (1822-1911)
• First definitive study of fingerprints
• Developed methodology for classifying and filing
( the Henry system was better)
• Published book titled “Finger Prints”
• Statistical proof supporting uniqueness for
personal identification
• Three basic principles of fingerprinting
FINGERPRINT BASICS
•EVERYONE HAS FINGERPRINTS
•FINGERPRINTS DO NOT
CHANGE DURING A PERSONS
LIFE – except for scarring
•EACH FINGERPRINT IS
INDIVIDUAL
Leone Lattes (1887-1954)
• 1901 Dr. Karl Landsteiner discovered blood can
be grouped
▫ A, B, O, AB
• 1915 Dr. Lattes developed a similar procedure to
determine group of a dried blood stain
• He immediately applied this technique to
criminal investigations
Dr. Calvin Goddard
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Physician
US Army Colonel
Became leading firearms examiner
Established use of comparison microscope as
indispensable tool of modern firearms
examinations
• Served as director of first Forensic Science
Laboratory in America at Northwestern
University in Chicago
Albert Osborn (1858-1946)
• Developed fundamental principles of Document
examination
• Responsible for acceptance of documents as
scientific evidence by courts
• Authored first significant text (Questioned
Documents)
• Book still used a primary reference
Rutherford B. H. Gradwohl
(1877-1959)
• Physician
• Organized American Academy of Forensic
Sciences (1948)
• Turning point and beginning of modern
Forensic Sciences in America
History
• 1621
• 1639
• 1666
• 1691
• 1691
Pilgrims in Mass.
Law regulating medical practice
(Va)
Coroners appointed in Md.
Servant killed and robbed man,
executed despite test of innocence
(touch)
Six surgeons ordered to autopsy
governor of New York
History
• 1692
• 1849
• 1853
• 1877
Salem witchcraft trials (20 executed)
Burned body identified with bones and
teeth
Poisoning detected by chemist
Medical examiner system replaced
coroner in Mass.
History
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1883
1887
1896
1898
1903
Medico-legal journal published NY
Electric bullet detector devised
X-Rays admitted into evidence
Handwriting used to implicate
Evidence on firearms and bloodstain
History
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1915
1924
1927
1929
• 1931
• 1932
Firearms evidence at trial
Leopold & Loeb case (Documents)
Psychiatric testimony in murder
St Valentine’s day massacre
(stimulated Dr. Goddards laboratory)
Scottsboro boys cases
FBI Laboratory established
History
• 1932
• 1935
• 1943
• 1948
Charles Lindbergh, Jr. kidnapped and
killed (Wood evidence and Documents)
AL Dept of Toxicology established
Murder solved by serology
Alger Hiss espionage trial (Psychiatric
and Document evidence)
Walter C. McCrone
• Worlds Preeminent Microscopist
• Applied microscopy to analytical problems,
especially forensics
• Sought after as instructor
• Educated thousands of forensic scientists
throughout the world in the application of
microscopic techniques
Hans Gross (1847-1915)
• Treatise (a formal and systematic exposition in
writing of the principles of a subject, generally longer
and more detailed than an essay) describing
application of science to criminal investigation
• Was a prosecutor
• Detailed assistance investigators could expect
from various fields of science
• Introduced a forensic journal still published
Edmond Locard (1877-1966)
• Demonstrated how Gross’ principles could be
incorporated into workable laboratory
• Educated in Medicine and Law
• 1910 Lyons Police Dept. gave two rooms and two
assistants to start police laboratory
• Initially had microscope and spectrometer
• Founder and Director of Institute of Criminalistics
at the University of Lyon
• Locard’s Exchange Principle
▫ Any time there is contact there is a mutual exchange of
material across the contact boundary
• Locard’s success served as impetus to form other
laboratories
Los Angeles PD Lab (1923)
• Oldest US Forensic Lab
• Created by August Vollmer (chief of Berkley)
• Headed institute for criminology and
criminalistics at Berkley
• Lacked status in University until school of
criminology was formed in 1948
Paul Kirk (1902-1970)
• Headed criminalistics department at Berkley
• Famous Criminalist
• Said:
▫ A criminal cannot go into a scene without taking
something with him or leaving something behind
FBI Laboratory
• Established in 1932
• J. Edgar Hoover first Director
• Aimed to offer forensic services to all law
enforcement agencies in country
• Now worlds largest forensic facility, even though
they do very little of the actual investigations
(b/c of crime labs at state & local levels) unless
it’s a federal case
• 1981 set up research and training facility
(Hanible Lector)
WV State Police Crime Lab
The Laboratory is composed of seven specialized
sections that provide the following services:
- Drug Identification Section
- Toxicology Section
- Trace Evidence Section
- Biochemistry Section
- Latent Fingerprint ID Section
- Firearm/Toolmarks ID Section
- Questions Documents Section (Include
footprint & tire impressions)
Marshall University Forensic Science
Center
• First university to partner with a state crime lab
on developing and maintaining a CODIS
(Combined DNA Identification System) database
WVU – Forensics & Biometrics Gateway
• Forensic & Investigative Science
▫ One of only 9 nationally accredited undergraduate
programs in the country (as of ’94)
▫ Curriculum focuses on the forensic examiner
▫ Trains students in the collection, scientific
analysis, and evaluation of evidence collected at a
crime scene or other relevant location to be used
in criminal and/or civil law cases.
• Biometric Systems
- Applies engineering principles and
technology to develop secure systems to deter
crime.
• Criminology & Investigations
- Engages students in understanding how
crimes are prosecuted and punished.
• Forensic Accounting & Fraud Investigation
- Applies investigative techniques to business
record to trace the commission of a crime.
THE CRIME LABORATORY
• What is a crime laboratory?
▫ In some jurisdictions may be identification bureau
▫ In some a complex and sophisticated organization
with multiple functions
▫ Most lie somewhere in between
• No universal formula for establishment or
operation of crime laboratory
THE CRIME LABORATORY
Development in US
- rapid growth
- lack of planning and cooperation (both
nationally & regionally)
- Approximately 320 laboratories
Federal, State, Local
- Threefold increase since 1966
THE CRIME LABORATORY
• There is no one model of a crime laboratory
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Can be part of a police department
Can be under District attorneys office
Can be part of medical examiners or coroners
Can be affiliated with University
Can be Independent
• “It must also be understood that all
criminalistics examinations are made as much in
behalf of the defendant or suspect as for the law
enforcement agency” - Paul Kirk
THE CRIME LABORATORY
• Have been organized by:
▫ Those who saw the potential application
▫ Those pressed by increasing demand
• Supreme court decisions in 1960’s had
impact:
▫ Greater emphasis on scientific evaluation of
evidence
▫ Requirements to advise suspects of
constitutional rights
THE CRIME LABORATORY
• Reasons for growth
▫ Increase in crime rates
 Small percent of investigations generate scientific
evidence
▫ Increase in drug related arrests
▫ Advent of DNA profiling
 Codis
THE CRIME LABORATORY
• Federal System
▫ FBI, ATF, DEA, US Postal Service
• State Systems
▫ State wide system of regional and satellites
• Local Laboratories
▫ Serve county or municipal jurisdictions
THE CRIME LABORATORY
• Fundamentals
▫ No single best way to set up or equip a crime
laboratory
▫ There is no single system of operation of the
criminalistics operation
▫ There are general rules of universal application
▫ There are fundamental purposes of the operation
THE CRIME LABORATORY
• Purposes of operation
▫ To discover, collect, and preserve physical evidence
▫ To maintain and establish a chain of evidence
possession
▫ To provide complete security of evidence
▫ To ensure that evidence is subjected to all useful
examinations
▫ To interpret all revealed facts consistently and
completely as possible
▫ To provide accurate, clear, opjective, and
understandable court presentations of findings
▫ To furnish counsel and assistance on all technical
matters to officials responsible
SERVICES OF THE CRIME LABORATORY
• Labs developed independently therefore a wide
variation in services offered
▫ Variations in local laws
▫ Different capabilities to organization to which the
laboratory is attached
▫ Budgetary and staff limitations
BASIC SERVICES
FULL SERVICE CRIME
LABORATORY
PHYSICAL SCIENCE UNIT
• Applies chemistry, physics, and geology to
comparison and identification of evidence
• Analyze diverse samples
▫ Drugs, glass, paint, explosives, soil
• May be divided into sections for specialties
▫ Generalist vs. Specialist
BIOLOGY UNIT
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Identification and DNA profiling of blood stains
Examination of other body fluids for DNA
Blood spatter studies
Comparison of hair & fibers
ID & comparison of botanical materials
(ex. wood & plant)_
FIREARMS UNIT
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Examination of firearms
Examination of projectiles and cartridges
Examination of clothing (GSR)
Toolmarks
Serial number restoration
DOCUMENT EXAMINATION UNIT
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Handwriting
Typewriting
Analysis of paper and ink
Altered documents
PHOTOGRAPHY UNIT
• Examine and record evidence
• Use highly specialized equipment
▫ Digital imaging, IR, UV, X-Ray, Video
• Prepare photographic exhibits for court
TOXICOLOGY UNIT
Body fluids or organs examined for drugs and
poisons
May be under office of medical examiner
May include implied consent unit
Intoxilyzer (Breath alcohol)
LATENT FINGERPRINT UNIT
• Process and examine evidence for latent
fingerprints
POLYGRAPH UNIT
• Lie detector
• Initially under the laboratory
• Recently placed under investigation
VOICEPRINT ANALYSIS
• Tie voice to a suspect
• Uses sound spectrograph, an instrument that
transforms speech into a visual graphic
EVIDENCE COLLECTION UNIT
• Incorporating evidence collection into lab is
gaining recognition
• Trained personnel collect evidence
• May be civilian or sworn
• Evidence is later processed at lab
FUNCTIONS OF FORENSIC
SCIENTISTS
ANALYSIS OF PHYSICAL
EVIDENCE
FORENSIC SCIENTIST
• Skilled in applying principles and techniques of
physical and natural sciences
• Be aware of constraints of judicial system
• Procedures must rest on scientific foundation
• Must satisfy admissibility established by court
EXPERT TESTIMONY
• Court has wide discretion in accepting an expert
witness
• Witness must establish that possesses a skill or
knowledge that will aid in determining the truth
• Court will consider experience, training, and
education
EXPERT TESTIMONY
• Qualifying questions are asked of witness
• Competency established by
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Education
Special courses
Professional societies
Books or articles published
Years experience
Training on the job
EXPERT TESTIMONY
• Opposing attorney may cross examine
▫ Voire dire
• Most courts reluctant to disqualify expert
• When background or credentials are ambiguous
it may effect the weight given testimony
• Opinions may be accepted or ignored by jury
EXPERT WITNESS
• Opinion is based on training and experience to
offer reasonable scientific certainty
• Must be willing to discuss factors that minimize
significance of evidence
• Forensic scientist is advocate for the truth not
one party
• Defense able to present experts
• Judge and jury must weigh pros and cons and
make decision of guilt or innocence
TRAINING FOR COLLECTION AND
PRESERVATION OF EVIDENCE
EVIDENCE TECHNICIANS
Reason for training
• Forensic science is of little value if evidence not
properly collected
• Response has been to dispatch evidence
collection technicians to scene
• Growing number of laboratories and police
agencies keep these on 24 hour call
• Trained by laboratory staff
TRAINING
• Administratively assigned to lab to facilitate
training
• Get continued exposure to techniques
• Have proper tools at their disposal
TRAINING
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Many police agencies do not use lab collections
Police officer is assigned to collection
Effectiveness will be dependant on training
Need to make maximum use of crime lab
personnel in training
• Each need to be aware of other
TRAINING
• Difficult and time consuming to train all officers
extensively
• Familiarity can be gained through lectures
periodically
• Evidence collection manuals are available
• Appendix I of textbook summarizes some of
these procedures
OTHER FORENSIC SCIENCE
SERVICES
FORENSIC PATHOLOGY
• Investigation of sudden, unnatural, unexplained,
or violent deaths
• May be charged with answering:
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Who is victim
What injuries are present
When did injuries occur
Why and how did injuries occur
What is cause of death
PATHOLOGY
• Autopsy usually used to determine cause of death
• AUTOPSY
▫ The medical dissection and examination of a body in order
to determine the cause of death
• Cause of death is the mechanism that actually
caused death.
▫ Gunshot wound, blunt force trauma,
▫ Arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease
• Manner of death is based on circumstances
surrounding the incudent
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Natural
Homicide
Suicide
Accident
Undetermined
PATHOLOGY
• Body goes through several stages of decomposition
• Livor Mortis
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Blood settles to parts of body closest to ground
Skin will appear dark blue or purple
Begins immediately continues for up to 12 hours
If body is restricted by clothing or pressing against object will not
discolor
▫ Useful in determining position after death
• Rigor Mortis
▫ The medical condition that occurs after death and results in the
shortening of muscle tissue and the stiffening of body parts
▫ Manifests within 24 hours disappears within 36 hours
• Algor mortis
▫ Process by which a body cools until it reaches ambient temperature
▫ Rate of cooling influenced by:
 Size, clothing, weather
▫ Only an estimate
▫ Will loose heat at 1- 1/2 degrees F per hour
PATHOLOGY
• Other factors
▫ Potassium levels in vitreous
▫ Amount of food
FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY
• Primarily concerned with identification and
examination of skeletal remains
• Bones are durable
• Can reveal:
▫ Sex, origin, age, race, injury, etc
• Facial reconstruction
• Identification at mass disasters
FORENSIC ENTOMOLOGY
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The study of insects
Used to estimate time of death
Affected by environmental conditions
Not always straightforward
FORENSIC PSYCHIATRY
• Relationship between human behavior and legal
proceedings
• Civil – are people competent to make decisions (
wills, contracts, medical, etc)
• Criminal – behavioral disorders and competency
to stand trial
• Behavioral profiling
FORENSIC ODONTOLOGY
Provide information about identification through
dental examination
Criminal investigation of bite mark evidence
FORENSIC ENGINEERING
• Failure analysis
• Accident reconstruction
• Causes or origins of fires or explosions