Chapter 2 Flashcards
Pattern evidence
Produced by direct contact between a person and an object or between two objects (like lip prints)
Conditional evidence
Produced by a specific event or action, important in crime scene reconstruction (lip prints, etc)
Transfer evidence
Produced by contact between person(s) or object(s) or between person(s) or …
Associative evidence
Items that may associate a victim of suspect with a scene of each other (ex personal belongings)
Physical evidence
Tangible items that tend to prove some material fact (real evidence)
Testimonial evidence
What is said in court by a competent witness
Direct evidence
What is said in court by a competent witness
Prima facie evidence
What is said in court by a competent witness. (Testimonial and direct evidence)
Indirect evidence
Evidence providing only a basis for inference about the disputed fact
Circumstantial evidence
Evidence based on suggestion rather than personal knowledge or observation
Individual evidence
Material that can be related to a single source; individualizations always involves a comparison
Class evidence
Material that can be associated only with a group of items that share properties or characteristics
Probative value
The ability of evidence to prove something that is material to a crime
Questioned or unknown sample
Material that has been collected from a known location but is of unknown origin
Known or control sample
Material that comes from a proven or known source
Value of physical evidence (9 points)
- may prove that a crime has been committed
- establish key elements of a crime
- link a suspect with
- establish the identity
- corroborate verbal witness
- exonerate the innocent
- give detectives leads
- can be any material or object
- if can take on almost any form
Ronald cottons case
How eye witness isn’t always reliable (where he went to jail for 11 years said he was innocent and the dna testing happened and they found out it was Bobby Poole)
What is evidence
Something that tends to establish or disapprove a fact
Most known cases of an innocent person being convicted happened because of a
Mistaken eye-witness identification
Eyewitness reliability (8 points)
- type of crime and how the witness saw it
- victims of serious crime relieve the event in their mind (more accurate)
- some witness are better at remembering than others (age, etc)
- interviewing techniques
- crime scene was too dark, encounter was too brief, presence of a weapon as a distraction
- the stress & fear involved in witnessing a crime may sharper some peoples focus and confused others
- time between the crime and questioning
- new information (reviewing mug shots or being asked leading questions)
Transient evidence
Temporary, easily changed or lost; usually observed by the first officer at the scene
The more __________ there is, the greater the weight it carries
Circumstantial evidence
The Frye standard
Commonly called the general acceptance test, scientific evidence is admissible at trial only if the methodology on which the opinion is based have gained general acceptance in the particular field
The daubert ruling
An updated revision of the frye standard that applies only in federal courts. The trial judge must assume responsibility for admissibility and validity of evidence presented in his or her court.
