Forensic Science Flashcards by Sergio Mendez

Define Forensic Science

It is the study and application of science to matters of law (criminal and civil)
Includes the business of providing timely, accurate, and thorough information to all levels of decision makers in our criminal justice system

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During the time of the Romans, a
criminal charge meant what?

Meant presenting the case before the public

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Development in Forensic Science slide 5-7

If you want to check those, you can!

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Who popularized scientific crime-detection methods through his fictional character ‘Sherlock Holmes”.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

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Who wrote about the detection of poisons and their effects on animals?

Mathieu Orfila

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Who developed a system to distinguish one individual person from another based on certain body measurements

Alphonse Bertillon

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Who is the Father of Toxicology?

Mathieu Orfila

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Who is the Father of Anthropometry?

Alphonse Bertillon

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Who is the Father of Fingerprinting?

Francis Galton

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Who is the Father of Document Examination?

Albert Osborn

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Who is the Father of Bloodstain Identification?

Leone Lattes

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Who developed a procedure for determining the blood type (A, B, AB, or O) of a dried blood stain

Leone Lattes

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Who is the Father of the Crime Lab?

Edmond Locard

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Who is the Father of Ballistics?

Calvin Goddard

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Who developed the technique to examine bullets, using a comparison microscope, to determine whether or not a particular gun fired the bullets

Calvin Goddard

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Describe Edmond Locard

In 1910, he started the 1st crime lab in an attic of a police station.
With few tools, he quickly became
known world-wide to forensic
scientists & criminal investigators & eventually founded the Institute of Criminalistics in France.
His most important contribution was the “Locard’s Exchange Principle”

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Explain Locard’s Exchange Principle

“Every Contact Leaves a Trace”
He believed that every criminal can be connected to a crime by particles carried from the crime scene
When a criminal comes in contact with an object or person, a cross-transfer of evidence occurs.

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Who is the Father of the FBI?

J. Edgar Hoover - Director of Federal Bureau of Investigation during the 1930’s

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How long did Hoover’s leadership span? How many presidential administrations?

48 years!!! 8 presidential administrations!

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Who organized a national laboratory to offer forensic services to all law enforcement agencies in the U.S.

J. Edgar Hoover

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What are 6 examples of High Profile Cases?

Case involved Rich and Famous
Victims/suspect
Case involved Political Figures
Case involved Small Children
Police Shooting Case
Serial Killer/Serial Rapist Case
Mass Killing Case

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Understand the Trial of O.J. Simpson + what the prosecutors did wrong! Slide 21-24

Mistake includes: Police detected pair of blood-stained gloves during their search without a warrant
If forensic evidence is to be admissible in court, the highest professional standards must be used at the crime scene!

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Does the CIA have a crime lab?

No, silly goober lol

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What are the 4 major federal crime labs?

FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation has largest crime lab in the world
DEA – Drug Enforcement Administration analyzes drugs seized
ATF – Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms analyzes alcohol, examines weapons in conjunction with Gun Control Act of 1968 and Organized Crime Control Act 1970, and examines documents relating to tax laws
US Postal inspection Service criminal investigations relating to postal service

Provide the brief History of the Crime Lab

- First established in 1910 by Locard - First police crime lab established in 1923 in Los Angeles, CA - Scientific Crime Detection Lab established in 1929 - First FBI crime lab opened in 1932

Medical Examiner vs. Coroner

- A medical examiner is a medical doctor, usually a pathologist and is appointed by the governing body of the area. There are 7 medical examiners in the state of Missouri and 400 forensic pathologists throughout the U.S. - A coroner is an elected official who usually has no special medical training. In four states the coroner is a medical doctor.

What are the responsibilities of the Medical Examiner?

- Identify the deceased - Establish the time and date of death - Determine a medical cause of death (the injury or disease that resulted in the person dying) - Determine the mechanism of death (the physiological reason that the person died) - Classify the manner of death, Natural, Accidental, Suicide, Homicide, Undetermined - Notify the next of kin

Rigor Mortis: If the body is WARM and NOT STIFF, how much time since death?

Not dead more than 3 hours

Rigor Mortis: If the body is WARM and STIFF, how much time since death?

Dead between 3 and 8 hours

Rigor Mortis: If the body is COLD and STIFF, how much time since death?

Dead 8 to 36 hours

Rigor Mortis: If the body is COLD and NOT STIFF, how much time since death?

Dead more than 36 hours

What is Livor Mortis?

Settling of the blood, causing the skin to change colors.

Define Lividity

Indicates the position of the body after death. When lividity becomes fixed, then the distribution of the lividity pattern will not change even if the body’s position is altered.

Lividity usually becomes fixed between what hours after death?

Lividity usually becomes fixed between 10 and 15 hours after death.

Skin: Establish the time frame of death if periphery blood drying?

30 minutes to 2 hours

Skin: Establish the time frame of death if Blue-green discoloration of skin of the right and left area of the abdomen?

24 hours

Skin: Establish the time frame of death if Blue-green discoloration of skin in entire abdomen?

36 hours

Skin: Establish the time frame of death if bloating?

36 to 48 hours

Skin: Establish the time frame of death if skin slippage?

4 to 7 days

Skin: Establish the time frame of death if absence of smell from bones?

> 1 year

Eyes: Establish the time frame of death if cornea drying (eyes open)?

minutes

Eyes: Establish the time frame of death if cornea drying (eyes closed)?

2 hours

Eyes: Establish the time frame of death if corneal cloudiness (eyes open)?

< 2 hours

Eyes: Establish the time frame of death if corneal cloudiness (eyes closed)?

12-24 hours

Eyes: Establish the time frame of death if eyeball collapse?

> 24 hours

Every individual carries a unique set of what?

genes

T/F: Only one tenth of 1 percent of DNA differs from person to person

TRUE!!!

What is the Widmark formula for Blood Alcohol Consumption (BAC)

BAC = [Alcohol consumed in grams / (Body weight in grams x r)] x 100%

What is the r value in the Widmark formula for females versus males

Female: r=0.55 Male: r=0.68

US standard drink = how many grams of alcohol?

14 grams

What are some enemies of evidence when preparing a DNA Fingerprint

- Sunlight and high temperature - Bacteria - Moisture

How can DNA be purified?

- Chemically (using detergents) - Mechanically (pressure to force DNA out of the cell)

Define PCR

Used to amplify DNA found at crime scene into an amount that can be analyzed - STR sites are analyzed which are the specific short tandem repeats

What is STR Analysis

- Short tandem repeats - Alleles are separated and detected using capillary electrophoresis, allowing the number of repeats in each of the two alleles on a homologous chromosome to be determined

What is the number of repeats within an STR referred to?

An Allele!

What are the odds that two individuals will have the same 13-loci DNA profile?

More than 1 in a billion!

What about Mitochondrial DNA? When is it used and how do we inherit it?

- Used to examine samples that cannot be analyzed by RFLP or STR - Inherited from the mother only (but recent studies suggested there are exceptions) - Changes only about 1% every million years due to random mutation

What does it mean that DNA tests are based on exclusion?

- Testing continues only until a difference is found - If no difference is found after a statistically significant amount of testing, the probability of a match is high

There is Nonhuman DNA Analysis with Ginseng and Cabernet Sauvignon Grapes to prove if they are real or not in the slides

I just didn't want to type it, but check it out!