Name ____________________________________ Date ______________________ Period _________ # _______
Ch 1 Introduction to Forensic Science and the Law & Ch2 Types of Evidence
1 st Nine Weeks Review (Answer Key)
1.
Distinguish between these 6 types of law: administrative, case, civil, criminal, equity, and statutory.
Administrative law includes rules or laws established by the IRS, SSA, or branches of the military.
Case law is made by judges and precedents are set in cases to use as a basis on how to act for future similar cases.
Civil law deals with noncriminal suits brought to protect or preserve a civil right or private matter.
Criminal law regulates and enforces rights and sets the acceptable limits of conduct in society.
Equity law is remedial or preventative such as placing a restraining order on a person.
Statutory law is a legislative act that is declaring, commanding, or prohibiting something.
2.
Gives dates and describe events for the following: earliest blood spatter evidence; Frye v United States; Daubert
v Dow; FBI crime lab; first use of DNA evidence; Miranda v Arizona; Ted Bundy; and Edmond Locard and the
Locard principle.
Earliest Blood Splatter (1514) Richard Hunne (London, England) was jailed for heresy and convicted of suicide, post mortem.
Frye v United States (1923) polygraph test results ruled inadmissible in court.
Daubert v Dow (1993) The court changes the standard of admission of scientific evidence. See page 26 for more details.
FBI Crime lab (1932) was created.
First use of DNA Evidence (1986) Forensic use of DNA technology in criminal cases began in 1986 when police asked Dr. Alec J. Jeffreys (who coined the term "DNA fingerprints" of Leicester University (England) to verify a suspect's confession that he was responsible for two rape-murders in the English Midlands.
Miranda v Arizona (1966) Suspects of crime must be given read their Miranda rights before being questioned about the possible commission of a crime.
Ted Bundy (1979) Bite mark evidence was used as a key to convicting Ted Bundy.
Edmond Locard Principle (1910 Locard started the first police crime laboratory.) Locard principle states that whenever two objects come into contact, there is always a transfer of material.
3.
List the 4 government agencies that maintain their own crime lab. The 4 government agencies which maintain their own crime labs are are the Department of Justice which maintains the FBI, DEA, and ATF, the Department of Treasury maintains a lab for the IRS, the Department of Interior maintains the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service lab, and the Department of Homeland Security maintains the Secret Service lab.
4.
Explain the difference between a preliminary hearing and a grand jury. The difference between a preliminary hearing and a grand jury is a preliminary hearing is when a judge determines whether a person charged with a crime should be held for trial and in a grand jury a group of people are sworn to inquire into a crime and deem whether indictments should be brought against the suspected criminal(s). There are no decisions made concerning guilt or innocence of a suspect in either of these processes.
5.
List 6 factors that may affect the memory of an eyewitness in recounting a crime . Six factors that may affect the memory of an eyewitness in remembering a crime are the nature of the crime and the situation itself (weapon used), the age of the witness, the length of time between the offense and the testimony, interviewing techniques, the witness’s prior relationship with the accused, and any earlier identification of other suspects by the witness.

Name ____________________________________ Date ______________________ Period _________ # _______
6.
What is the difference between criminalistics and criminology ? Criminalistics is the examination of physical evidence while criminology includes the psychological angle of crime (motive, traits, and behavior of the accused).
7.
What are the four different divisions found in most state and local crime labs?
The physical science unit examines drugs, soil, glass, paint, blood spatter patterns, and other trace physical evidence.
The firearms unit is used to examine tool marks, weapons, firearms, and bullets.
A document analysis unit examines handwriting, typewriting, word processing, and computer application, paper, and ink.
A biology unit analyzes body fluids, DNA, blood factors, hair, fibers, and plant life.
8.
Define evidence. Evidence is anything that tends to establish or disprove a fact.
9.
Explain the difference between direct and indirect evidence. Give an example of each. Direct evidence is evidence which stands on its own to prove an alleged fact. For example, the testimony of a witness who says she saw defendant pointing a gun at a victim during a robbery. Indirect evidence is evidence providing only a basis for inference about the disputed fact and does not prove a fact. For example, the blood alcohol content of a driver who is driving under the influence is greater than 0.08%.
10.
How does physical evidence differ from testimonial evidence? Give an example of each. Physical evidence is tangible items that tend to prove some material fact. This is also called real evidence. Examples include blood, hair, fingerprints, footprints, etc. Testimonial evidence is what is said in court by a competent witness. This is also known as direct evidence or prima facie evidence. An example of testimonial evidence was illustrated in the
Ronald Cotton case where the victim (Jennifer Thompson) falsely identified him based on her own careful study of him while he raped her. The man who committed the crime looked similar to Cotton.
11.
What is circumstantial evidence? Give an example. Circumstantial evidence is evidence based on suggestion rather than personal knowledge or observation. An example would be a blond hair was found in the hand of a murder victim with black hair. Hair evidence is circumstantial because many people have blonde hair.
12.
List 5 common types of physical evidence. 5 common types of physical evidence include: 1. blood 2. fingerprints
3. hair 4. impressions 5. drugs and toxic substances
13.
State the difference between class and individual evidence. Give an example of each. Class evidence is material that can be associated with only a group of items that share properties or characteristics. An example would be
American Eagle kick boot, size 6 women’s jeans. Individual evidence is material that can be related to a single source which involves a comparison. Examples include fingerprints, handwriting samples, DNA, etc.
14.
Which has more probative value individual or class evidence? Remember probative value means that it must prove a point and be relevant. Individual evidence has more probative value because it has a greater chance of linking a suspect with greater certainty to a crime.
15.
How can class evidence be used to narrow a field of suspects? Class evidence can be used to narrow a filed of suspects by using the probability that a suspect has multiple pieces of class evidence. These numbers would be multiplied together using the product rule.
16.
What is the purpose of the Innocence Project? The purpose of the Innocence Project is to exonerate those people who have been wrongfully accused of crimes using DNA evidence.
17.
What is significant about the Cotton v N. Carolina case? The significance in the Cotton case is that eyewitness accounts are often wrong and can lead to a wrongful conviction of an innocent person.

Name ____________________________________ Date ______________________ Period _________ # _______
Ch 1 Introduction to Forensic Science and the Law & Ch2 Types of Evidence
1 st Nine Weeks Review
1.
Distinguish between these 6 types of law: administrative, case, civil, criminal, equity, and statutory.
2.
Gives dates and describe events for the following: earliest blood spatter evidence; Frye v United States; Daubert
v Dow; FBI crime lab; first use of DNA evidence; Miranda v Arizona; Ted Bundy; and Edmond Locard and the
Locard principle.
3.
List the 4 government agencies that maintain their own crime lab.
4.
Explain the difference between a preliminary hearing and a grand jury.
5.
List 6 factors that may affect the memory of an eyewitness in recounting a crime.
6.
What is the difference between criminalistics and criminology ?
7.
What are the four different divisions found in most state and local crime labs?

Name ____________________________________ Date ______________________ Period _________ # _______
8.
Define evidence.
9.
Explain the difference between direct and indirect evidence. Give an example of each.
10.
How does physical evidence differ from testimonial evidence? Give an example of each.
11.
What is circumstantial evidence? Give an example.
12.
List 5 common types of physical evidence.
13.
State the difference between class and individual evidence. Give an example of each.
14.
Which has more probative value individual or class evidence? Remember probative value means that it must prove a point and be relevant.
15.
How can class evidence be used to narrow a field of suspects?
16.
What is the purpose of the Innocence Project?
17.
What is significant about the Cotton v N. Carolina case?