Forensic Science Final

The process of _____ determines a substance's physical or chemical identity with as near absolute certainty as existing analytical techniques will permit.

Identification

A decentralized system of crime labs currently exists in the US under the auspices of various governmental agencies at the ____, _____, ____,and ____ levels of government

federal, state, county, municipal

The believability of _____ accounts, confessions, and informal testimony can all be disputed, maligned, and subjected to severe attack and skepticism in the courtroom

eyewitness

True or false: the distinction between individual and class evidence is always easy to make

false

What is science?

observation, hypothesis, experimental design, get data, peer review

______ keeps science honest and is the main part of forensic science

peer review

Brings science to a level of a 12 year old so that people can understand

expert witness

How do you determine the atomic number?

# of protons

Two kinds of tools

1) machine tools- grind, sharpen, drill 2) die tools- blocks, stamps, molds

Four general kinds of tools that forensic scientists are concerned with

1) prying and scrapping 2) hammering and sawing 3) shearing 4) flings

No gun powder residue is found if a weapon is fired more than ____ feet away

3

Four important agencies offering forensic service at the federal level

ATF, DEA, FBI, USPS

Early efforts at applying scientific principles to document examination are associated with ________.

Albert S. Osborne

A system of personal identification using a series of body measurements was first devised by _____

Alphonse Bertillon

Four functions of a forensic scientist

Analysis of physical objects, give expert testimony, provide training, do research

press brakes

Bends metal to various angles

The case that deals with wiretapping is _____ based on the fourth and fifth amendment rights

Berger v. NY

The examination of blood, hairs, fibers, and vegetative materials is conducted in the ______ unit of a crime laboratory.

Biological

A database applicable to DNA profiling is _____.

CODIS

The state of ______ is an excellent example of a geographical area in the United States that has created a system of integrated regional and satellite laboratories.

California

The comparison microscope became an indispensable tool of firearms examination through the efforts of ballistics expert _______.

Calvin Goddard

The increasing demand for ______ analyses has been the single most important factor in the recent expansion of crime laboratory services in the United States.

DNA

The transfer of evidence that occurs when two objects come in contact with one another was a concept first advocated by the forensic scientist

Edmond Loccard (exchange principle)

A ___ analysis subjects a suspect specimen and a standard/reference specimen to the same tests and examination in order to determine whether they have a common origin

Comparison

Evidence must be ____ and ____.

Competent & relevant

A Florida case that exemplifies the flexibility and wide discretion that the trial judge has in matters of scientific inquiry is ____

Coppolino v. State

In the case of ____, the Supreme Court ruled that in assessing the admissibility of new and unique scientific tests the trial judge did not have to rely solely on the concept of "general acceptance"

Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharma Inc.

What test do you run to know if the person fired the gun?

Dermal Nitrate test "paraffin test"

One of the first functional crime laboratories was formed in Lyons, France, under the direction of ________. Said "every contact leaves a trace"

Edmond Loccard

A person who studies or is an expert in the branch of zoology concerned with insects is an

Entomologist

Cases that deal with admission and confession are _____ and ______

Escobedo v. Illinois, Miranda v. Arizona

The _____ unit dispatches trained personnel to the scene of a crime to retrieve evidence for lab examination

Evidence collection

The US Supreme Court decision in the Kumho Tire Co., Ltd. v. Carmichael restricted the "gatekeeping" role of a trial judge only to scientific evidence

False

The testimony of an expert witness incorporates his or her personal opinion relating to a matter he or she has either studied or examined.

False

The examination of bullets, cartridge cases, shotgun shells, and ammunition of all types is the responsibility of the ______ unit.

Firearms

_____ is a communicator and interpreter of findings and explains the methods used to reach the conclusions in a court of law to the finder of fact (i.e. the jury)

Forensic scientist

_____ is responsible for developing the first statistical study proving the uniqueness of fingerprints

Francis Galton

The "general acceptance" principle, which serves as a criterion for the judicial admissibility of scientific evidence, was set forth in the case of _____

Frye v. US

Types of rays on the spectrum that we can measure

Gamma, X-rays, UV, visible light, infrared, radar, FM, AM, TV, microwave

The application of science to criminal investigation was advocated by the Austrian magistrate _____. Believed that crime scenes were multidisciplinary

Hans Gross

A person who reconstructs an event or set of events is an

Investigator

_____ found out how to detect alkaloids in the body

Jean Otto Stas

The Italian scientist ______ devised the first workable procedure for typing dried bloodstains.

Leone Lattes

The first forensic laboratory in the United States was created in 1923 by the ______ Police Department.

Los Angeles

Convicted for killing her husband by arsenic poisoning in 1840

Madame Lafarge

The ability to make small objects seem larger

Magnification

The father of toxicology

Mathieu Orfila

The 2009 US Supreme Court case decision that addressed the practice of using affidavits in lieu of in person testimony by forensic examiners

Melendez Diaz v. MA

The _____ database allows firearm analysis to compare markings made by firearms on bullets that have been recovered from crime scenes

NIBIN

A branch of forensic science that deals with the application of dental science in the identification of unknown human remains and bite marks

Odontology

The application of chemistry, physics, and geology to the identification and comparison of crime-scene evidence is the function of the ______ unit of a crime laboratory.

Physical science

What is it called when you run a paint analysis?

Pyrolysis

The ability to distinguish two objects from one another

Resolution

Author of criminalistics

Richard Saferstein

The fictional exploits of ______ excited the imagination of an emerging generation of forensic scientists and criminal investigators

Sherlock Holmes

The case that deals with search and seizure

Sibron v. NY

drop forge

Slams two dies together- like a coin machine

presses

Stamps a piece of metal into shape

True or false: The distribution of gunpowder particles and other discharge residues around a bullet hole permits an approximate determination of the distance from which the gun was fired

True

True or false: a fingerprint can be positively identified through the IAFIS database

True

True or false: one test method for locating powder residues involves transferring particles embedded on the target surface to chemically treated photographic paper

True

True or false: restoration of serial numbers is possible because in the stamped zone the metal is placed under permanent strain that extends beneath the original numbers

True

Became the world's preeminent microscopist

Walter C. McCrone

A system of personal identification using a series of body measurements is called ____

anthropometry

If a firearm has been fired more than 3 feet from a target, usually no residue is deposited but a dark ring, known as ___, is observed.

bullet wipe

The diameter of the gun barrel is known as its

caliber

Objects bearing tool marks should be submitted intact to the crime lab or a ____ should be taken of the tool mark.

cast

When you cast ____ the numbers that are etched are raised. When you case _____ the numbers that are etched are depressed

cast iron, aluminum

Evidence associated with a group and not with a single source

class characteristics

The value of class physical evidence lies in its ability to ______ events with data in a manner that is, as nearly as possible, free of human error and bias.

corroborate

What makes a good scientist?

curiosity

Four types of evidence

direct, circumstantial, real, testimonial

______ and _______ are two qualifications for expert witnesses

education and experience

The process of dissolving the metal surface on a selective basis

etching

The number and type of tests needed to identify a substance must be sufficient to _____ all other substances from consideration.

exclude

drawing of extrusion

forces hot or cold metal through a die

The application of science to law describes ______

forensic science

diameter of a shotgun barrel

gauge

Solid bar or steel hallowed out by drilling

gun barrel

Evidence that can be traced to a common source with an extremely high degree of probability is said to possess _____ characteristics

individual

In a court case a defendant has two choice to be in front of a _____ or _______

judge or jury

distance of a bullet

look at the angle and speed of the bullet

5 characteristics investigators must specifically know

make, model, caliber, serial number, and finish

Modern analytical techniques have become so sensitive that the forensic examiner must be aware of the ___ among materials when interpreting the significance of comparative data.

natural variation

4 basic principles of etching methodology

photographs, polish the surface, use an emery clothing, when surface is clean use a decreasing agent (acetone)

For soils and textile fibers use the _____

polarizing microscope

The clothing of the victim of a shooting must be handled so as to prevent disruption of ____ around bullet holes.

powder residue

When a client talks to the prosecution about what questions they want to be asked

pre-trial conference

____ is the frequency of the occurrence of an event

probability

Three limits to resolution

property of light, property of lense, light reacts with a sample

In contrast to the United States, Britain's crime lab system is characterized by a national system of ____ labs

regional

Microscopic primer and gunpowder particles on the adhesives applied to a suspected shooter's hand can be found with a ____

scanning electron microscope

6 types of firearm evidence

slug, cartridge case + GSR, firearm, wound or penetration site, trajectory + distance, sequence of shots

Three types of powder

smokeless, black powder, semi-smokeless

The examination of body fluids and organs for drugs and poisons is the function of the ____________ unit.

toxicology

The ability of an investigator to recognize and collect crime scene evidence properly is dependent on the amount of ______ received from the crime laboratory.

training

In 2004: The US Supreme Court addressed issues relation to the Confrontation Clause of the 6th amendment in the case of Crawford v. Washington

true

The expert witness's courtroom demeanor may play an important role in deciding what weight the court will assign to his or her testimony.

true

How does a tool get individualized?

use, reuse(abuse), sharpen

The _____ accorded physical evidence during a trial is left entirely to the trier of fact

weight/significance