Chapter 1.1 Notes
Definition and Scope
Objectives
Define and distinguish forensic science
and criminalistics.
2. Recognize the major contributors to
the development of forensic science.
3. Account for the rapid growth of
forensic laboratories in the past forty
years.
1.
Forensic science
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Applies the knowledge and technology of
science to criminal and civil laws that are
enforced by the police agencies in the
criminal justice system
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Criminalistics – a term sometimes used
for describing the services of a crime lab
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Civil law deals with relationships between
individuals (property, contracts)
Criminal law deals with offenses against
an individual that are deemed offensive to
society
History of Forensic Science
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3rd century China – earliest records
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1814 – Mathieu Orfilia – father of forensic
toxicology
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Coroner solved murder case
Published 1st treatise on detection of poison
Established forensics toxicology as legitimate science
1839 – Henri-Louis Bayard – 1st procedures for
microscopic detection of sperm
1839 – James Marsh – first expert testimony in a
trial
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1879 – Alphonse Bertillon – 1st system of
personal identification
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Anthropometry –series of body measurements as a
means of distinguishing individuals
1892 – Francis Galton – published book
supporting uniqueness of fingerprints
1893 – Hans Gross – advocated the application
of science to criminal investigation
1887 – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock
Holmes – important forensics concepts, such as
serology
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1901 – Karl Landsteiner – discovered blood
types
1915 – Leone Lattes – devised procedure for
determining blood group from dried bloodstain
1910 – Albert Osborn – development principles
of document examination
1910 – Edmond Locard – exchange principle
Locard’s Exchange

when two objects come into contact with
each other, a cross-transfer of materials
occurs
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1925 – Calvin Goddard – used a
comparison between bullets test fired and
suspect’s gun
1960s – Walter McCrone – application of
microscopic techniques
1985 – Sir Alec Jeffreys – 1st DNA profiling
test
Crime Labs
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1923 – Los Angeles Police Department
established 1st crime lab
1932 – National Laboratory organized by
FBI to provide forensic services to all law
enforcement agencies in the country.
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Now the world’s largest forensic lab
Performs >1 million exams a year
In-Class Assignment/Homework

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Read pages 1-7
1.1 Review Questions – answer the
following questions on your own sheet of
paper using today’s notes and the
textbook