Forensics Unit 1 Vocab
1. Additive Rule: States that the probability of an event occurring that can do so in more than one way
is the sum of their individual probabilities.
2. Albert Osborn: Developed the fundamental principles of document examination.
3. Algor mortis: A process that occurs after death in which the body temperature continually cools
until it reaches the ambient temperature.
4. Alphonse Bertillion: Devised the first scientific system of personal identification in 1879.
5. autopsy: The medical dissection and examination of a body in order to determine the cause of death.
6. Biology Unit: Applies the knowledge of biological sciences in order to investigate blood samples,
body fluids, hair, and fiber samples.
7. Buccal swab: A sample of the inner portion of the cheek, performed to collect cells for use in
determining the DNA profile of an individual.
8. CAD: A computerized sketching program that has become the standard method for reconstructing
crime scenes from rough sketches.
9. Calvin Goddard: The first to use a comparison microscope to determine if a particular gun fired a
bullet.
10.
Cause of death: Classified into five categories: natural, homicide, suicide, accident, or
undetermined, based on the circumstances surrounding the incident.
11.
Chain of custody: Establishing continuity of possession, through a complete list of all people
who came into possession of an item of evidence, essential whenever evidence is to be presented in
court.
12.
Class characteristics: Properties of evidence that can be associated only with a group and never
with a single source.
13. CODIS: A combined DNA indexing system that enables federal, state, and local crime
laboratories to electronically exchange and compare DNA profiles, linking crimes to each
other and to convicted offenders.
14.
Comparison: The process of ascertaining whether two or more objects have a common origin.
15.
Coroner: An elected public officer whose principal duty is to conduct an inquest into the cause of
any death which there is reason to suppose is not due to natural causes.
16.
Corpse: A dead body, especially of a human being.
17.
Corroboration: To support with evidence and authority.
18.
crime: An act or the commission of an act that is forbidden by public law and that makes the
offender liable to punishment by law.
19.
Criminalistics: The application of scientific techniques in collecting and analyzing physical
evidence in legal cases involving a crime.
20.
Cross-contamination: The unintentional transfer of a substance from one object to another
through direct, indirect or casual contact.
21.
Curare: A dried aqueous extract of a vine used as a poison that paralyzes muscles and causes
death by suffocation.
22.
deductive reasoning: Inference in which one draws a conclusion about particulars from a
general premise.
23.
DNA typing: A technique used especially for identification by extracting and identifying the
base-pair pattern in an individual's DNA.
24.
Document Unit: Provides the skills needed for handwriting analysis and other questioneddocument issues.
25.
Edmond Locard: In 1910 he incorporated Gross' principles within a workable crime laboratory.
26.
Engineering Science: The application of science and mathematics by which the properties of
matter and sources of energy in nature are made useful to people.
27.
evidence: Something legally submitted to a tribunal to ascertain the truth of a matter.
28.
expert witness: An individual whom the court determines to possess a particular skill or
knowledge in a trade or profession that is not expected of the average person.
Forensics Unit 1 Vocab
29.
Finished sketch: A precise, often computer-aided draft, rendering of the crime scene, usually
drawn to scale.
30.
Firearms Unit: Investigates discharged bullets, cartridge cases, shotgun shells, and ammunition.
31.
Forensic Anthropology: Primarily concerned with the identification and examination of human
skeletal remains, which can be used to reveal the sex, approximate age, race, and the presence of skeletal
injury of a subject.
32.
Forensic Computer Science: Involves identifying, collecting, preserving and examining
information derived from digital devices.
33.
forensic odontology: The study of teeth and bite marks to identify a body or tie a suspect to a
crime.
34.
Forensic pathology: Involves the study of medicine as it relates to the application of the law,
particularly in the investigation of sudden, unnatural, unexplained, or violent death.
35.
Forensic Psychiatry: A specialized area that examines the relationship between human behavior
and legal proceedings.
36.
forensic science: The application of science to the criminal and civil laws that are enforced by
police agencies in a criminal justice system.
37.
Francis Galton: Conducted the first definitive study of fingerprints and their classification.
38.
Gary Ridgway: The green river killer who confessed to the murder of 48 women after forensic
DNA typing confirmed the presence of his semen in three of the women.
39.
Hans Gross: Wrote the first treatise describing the application of scientific principles to the field
of criminal investigation in 1893.
40.
IAFIS: An automated national fingerprint and criminal history system maintained by the FBI
and launched in 1999.
41.
Identification: The process of determining a substance's physical or chemical makeup.
42.
Impressions: Any and all forms of tracks, glove and other fabric imprints, as well as bite marks
in skin and foodstuffs.
43.
Individual characteristics: Properties of evidence that can be attributed to a common source
with an extremely high degree of certainty.
44.
inductive reasoning: Inference in which one draws a general conclusion from particular
instances.
45.
Integrity of Evidence: Special procedures used for finding, collecting, and transporting physical
evidence that preserves its evidentiary value.
46.
John Wayne Gacy: The worst American serial killer, who brutally raped and murdered 28
young men and buried them in the crawl space under his house.
47.
jurisprudence: The science or philosophy of law.
48.
Karl Landsteiner: Discovered that blood can be grouped into different types, A, B, AB and O.
49.
Latent Fingerprint: A fingermark that is not easily visible to the naked eye.
50.
Legend: A symbol library used to add intricate details to a crime scene sketch.
51.
Leone Lattes: Developed a procedure to determine blood type from dried bloodstains.
52.
Livor mortis: A medical condition that occurs after death and results in the settling of blood in
areas of the body closest to the ground.
53.
Locard's Exchange Principle: States that when a criminal comes in contact with an object or
person, a cross-transfer of evidence occurs.
54.
Mathieu Orfila: The father of forensic toxicology.
55.
Medical examiner: A physician, functioning as a public officer, who conducts autopsies on
bodies to find the cause of death.
56.
NIBIN: A national ballistics information network which allows firearms analysts to acquire,
digitize, and compare markings made by a firearm on bullets and cartridge casings recovered from crime
scenes.
Forensics Unit 1 Vocab
57.
Note taking: A constant activity occurring throughout the processing of the crime scene that
provides a detailed written description of the scene with the location of items of physical evidence
recovered.
58.
Organ: An aggregate of tissues working together to form a structural, functional unit.
59.
pathology: The study of the nature of disease and especially the structural and functional change
that causes them.
60.
Photographic Unit: Applies specialized photographic techniques for recording and examining
physical evidence.
61.
Photography: The art or process of producing images by the action of radiant energy and
especially light on a sensitive surface.
62.
Physical Anthropology: The science concerned with the comparative study of human evolution,
variation and classification through measurement and observation.
63.
physical evidence: Any object that can establish that a crime has been committed or can link a
crime and its victim or its perpetrator.
64.
Physical Science Unit: Incorporates the principles of chemistry, physics, and geology to identify
and compare physical evidence.
65.
Preliminary examination: An overview of the crime scene as it was left by the perpetrator, prior
to the thorough and systematic collection of evidence.
66.
Probability: The frequency of occurrence of an event.
67.
Product Rule: States that the probability of two independent events occurring simultaneously is
the product of their individual probabilities.
68.
Protect: This means to exclude all unauthorized personnel and isolate the crime scene.
69.
Qualified Evidence Collector: An investigator thoroughly familiar with the recognition,
collection, and analysis of physical evidence who can make innovative, on-the-spot decisions at the crime
scene.
70.
Qualitative: An analysis that determines the presence or absence of an item or substance but
does not determine the amount.
71.
Quantitative: Involving the measurement of an amount.
72.
Reconstruction: The method used to support a likely sequence of events at a crime scene by
observing and evaluating physical evidence and statements made by those involved.
73.
Record the Scene: Investigators have only a limited amount of time to work the site of a crime in
its untouched state, so this time must not be lost.
74.
Reference sample: Physical evidence whose origin is known, that can be compared to crime
scene evidence.
75.
rigor mortis: A medical condition that occurs after death and results in the stiffening of muscle
mass.
76.
Rough sketch: A graphic drawing made at the crime scene that contains an accurate depiction
of the dimensions of the scene and shows the location of all objects having a bearing on the case.
77.
scientific method: A process that uses strict guidelines to ensure careful and systematic
collection, organization, and analysis of information.
78.
Secure: This means to make the crime scene safe and is usually accomplished by the first officer
arriving on the scene.
79.
Serology: A medical science dealing with blood fluids and especially their immunological
reactions and properties.
80.
Sir Alec Jeffreys: Developed the first DNA profiling test in 1984.
81.
Sound Spectrograph: An instrument used to transform speech into a visual graphic display
called a voiceprint.
82.
Substrate control: Uncontaminated surface material close to an area where physical evidence
has been depositied; used to ensure that the surface itself does not interfere with laboratory tests.
83.
Ted Bundy: A serial killer believed to be responsible for 40 murders between 1964 and 1978
who was ultimately convicted based on forensic odontology.
Forensics Unit 1 Vocab
84.
Tissue: An aggregate of cells together with their intercellular substance that form one of the
structural materials of a plant or animal.
85.
Toxicology Unit: Examines body fluids and organs for the presence of drugs and poisons.
86.
Trace Evidence: A minute and often barely detectable amount or indication of a chemical
constituent not always quantitatively determinable.
87.
Vitreous humor: Ocular fluid, used for measuring potassium levels, that can be helpful in
estimating the time of death
88.
Voiceprint analysis: Used to identify the speaker in a recorded message.
89.
Walter McCrone: First utilized microscopy and other analytical methodologies to examine
evidence.