Week one-introduction to forensics-mark Dunlap
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Mark Dunlap posted Apr 4, 2024 2:36 AM
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Greetings class and Professor Hunziker,
Forensics has become one of the most popular and well-known aspects of the criminal justice system, largely due to movies and TV shows such as CSI, popularizing the profession (Fisher & Fisher, 2022). This does not mean that forensics isn’t an essential part of any crime investigation, quite the contrary. Because the public has become much more aware of this process, their expectations and general knowledge have both increased, for better or worse. Forensic specialists range from fingerprint analysts and blood splatter specialists to toxicologists, who test for drugs and poisoning, and forensic pathologists, who examine dead victims of crimes (Hunziker, 2023). Crime scenes are all about control the first step in any crime scene is controlling access.
The scene itself needs to be physically sealed off and monitored so that only law enforcement and the appropriate crime scene specialists are allowed in to begin the process of documenting, securing, and collecting evidence (Singh, 2021). The crime scene examination can be individualized, such as the physical evidence technician, going through the entire scene fingerprinting every touchable surface. Or it can be segmented into a spiral, grid, or stripe method of searching the scene (Singh, 2021). This allows for a much more methodical and controlled examination of the crime scene as each segment is fully documented before proceeding to the next section.
Going off the scenario mentioned above, once the crime scene has been appropriately sealed off, the investigator should begin the process of identifying how the victim entered the residence, what the most likely cause of death is, and go from there. If the window is open or broken, that could likely be the point of entry and should be examined and dusted for prints, blood, and any other substances that might match the victim and/or homeowners so that each substance can be accounted for. As for the cause of death, if the victim has what appears to be gunshot wounds, then the search for a gun should begin immediately, which also includes looking for any shells from the gun and checking the victim for gunpowder residue. The evidence collected should include impressions evidence, biological evidence, trace evidence, electronic evidence, documentary evidence, and chemical evidence (Singh, 2021) Each technician should be wearing disposable gloves, and have evidence kits which should include bags for collecting evidence, tools of collection, and markers for documenting who retrieved, processed, and handled each piece of evidence so that the chain of evidence remains clean (Singh, 2021).
In America, the guidelines for how, when, and if scientific evidence is allowed in court typically fall under the Frye and Daubert standards. Both standards deal with the credibility of evidence but to varying degrees. The Frye standard is much broader in terms of the types and amount of scientific evidence that should be admissible while the Daubert standard requires a higher standard of rigor about the credibility of each piece of evidence and whether or not it should be admissible, such as peer review, prior publication (Kwong, 2019). The Frye standards seem to allow for less established types of evidence to be admissible, or at least considered, which is a double-edged sword as it could include some methods that are not well-known or tested. The Daubert standard seems to be focused more on the credibility and established history of the evidence being presented and the authenticity of the methods used. It seems odd that such a complex and massive system such as the U.S. criminal justice system would be governed by only two standards about the admissibility of evidence.
Reference list
Fisher, B. A. J., & Fisher, D. R. (2022). Techniques of crime scene investigation. Taylor & Francis Group.
Hunziker, Stephanie. (2024). Forensic Science Specialties. Week one lesson. Retrieved from https://myclassroom.apus.edu/d2l/le/enhancedSequenceViewer/180145?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff54cbe36-23a9-4505-85fe-e251f80ec34d.sequences.api.brightspace.com%2F180145%2Factivity%2F13847997%3FfilterOnDatesAndDepth%3D1
Kwong, Leica . (2019). Scientific Evidence Admissibility: Improving Judicial Proceedings to Decrease Erroneous Outcomes, Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science: Vol. 7, Article 5. https://doi.org/10.31979/THEMIS.2019.0705 https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/themis/vol7/iss1/5
Singh, Harendra Nath. (2021). Crime scene investigation. International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR). 10. 642-648. 10.21275/SR211112005543.
