Forensic Science
Written by:
Jennifer Hansen
What is forensic science?
Application
of science to law
Applies knowledge and technology of
science to the definition and
enforcement of laws
Enforced by police agencies in the
criminal justice system
Diversity of professions within
the forensic science
Criminalistics
Engineering
Science
General
Jurisprudence
Odontology
Pathology/Biology
Physical
Anthropology
Psychiatry and
behavioral science
Questioned
Documents
Toxicology
Also divisions such as
Fingerprint
examination
Firearm and tool mark examination
Computer and digital data analysis
Photography
History and Development of
Forensic Science
Earliest Record 3rd century China
Yi Yu Ji A collection of criminal cases
Woman murdered her husband and burned
the body and claimed accidental fire
Coroner noticed no ashes in mouth of
deceased and performed experiment on pigs
Chinese were first to recognize the potential
of fingerprints as means of identification
Limited knowledege of
anatomy and pathology
hindered the growth of
forensics until the late 17th
century and early 18th
century
Initial Scientific advances
1798
A treatise on Forensic medicine
and Public Health
Written
by french physician FrancoisEmanual Fodere
Biggest breakthroughs at this time were
in chemistry
Initial scientific advances
1775
Sweedish Chemist Carl William
Scheele developed first successful
test in detecting arsenic poisoning in
corpses
1806 German chemist Valatin Ross
developed more precise method of
detection in stomach lining of victims
Father of Forensic Toxicology
Spaniard
1814
MATHIEU ORFILA
published the first scientific
treatise on the detection of poisons and
their effects on animals
Forensic toxicology was born
Advances through the mid
1800s
1828
William Nichol- invented the
polarizing microscope
1839 Henry-Louis Bayard-first
procedures for microdetection of
sperm
1853 First microcrystalline test for
hemoglobin
Advances through the mid
1800s
1863 First presumptive test for blood
TOXICOLOGY EVIDENCE FIRST USED
IN TRIAL IN 1839
Scottish chemist named James Marsh testified
presence of arsenic in victim
1850s-60s Photography became an integral
part of recording crime scenes
Late Nineteenth Century
Progress
1879
French scientist Alphonse
Bertillon responsible for
advancements in anthropology and
morphology (study of structure of
living organisms)
Bertillons System
Anthropometry
systematic procedure involved taking
body measurements as means of
identifying one individual from
another
Father of Criminal Identification
Bertillons Method
Used for over two
decades as a source of
identification
Replaced by
fingerprinting in the
early 1900s
QuickTime and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Francis Henry Galton
Father of Fingerprinting
First definitive study of fingerprinting and
methodology for classifying and filing
1892 published book Finger Prints
First statistical proof supporting
uniqueness of method of identification
Hans Gross
1893
Public processor and judge in
Graz, Austria published Criminal
Investigation
This
book detailed the assistance that
investigators could expect from fields of
microscopy, chemistry, physics,
mineralogy, zoology, botany,
anthropometry, and fingerprinting
Hans Gross
Introduced the first forensic journal
journal compiles improved methods of
science in a field
This journal is still published and
updated to this date
Make Believe helped this field
grow!
Sherlock
Holmes was a fictional
character created by Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle
Tales where about Dr. John Watson
who was Sherlock Holmes partner and
biographer and together they solved
criminal mysteries
Make Believe helped this field
grow!
This
series encompassed fields like:
Serology-
study of blood and bodily fluid
Fingerprinting
Firearms identification
Questioned Document examination
1901
Twentieth century
Breakthroughs
Dr. Karl Landsteiner discovered
blood types (A, B, AB, O)
1915 Dr. Leone Lattes devised a
simple test for determining blood
types from dried blood
Albert S. Osborn
1910
Developed fundamental
principles of document examination
Questioned Documents
Edmond Locard
1910
persuaded Lyons police
department to give him 2 attic rooms
and 2 assistants to start a police
laboratory
Only equipment was a microscope and
spectrometer
Edmond Locard
His enthusiasm overcame his technical and
monetary deficiencies
His research and accomplishments became
known though the world
Became founder and director of Institute
of Criminalistics at the University of Lyons
International center for study and research
in forensic science
Locards Exchange Principle
When
two objects come into contact
with each other a cross transfer of
material occurs
Locard
He
strongly believed that every
criminal can be linked to a crime by
dust particles carried from the crime
scene
Reinforced by a series of successful
well publicized cases
Other notable scientists
Dr.
Walter McCrone- worlds
preeminent microscopist
Army Colonel Calvin Goddard- refined
techniques of firearm examination by
using a comparison microscope
Modern Scientific Advances
Computer Technology
Chromatography
Spectrophotometry
Electrophoresis
DNA typing
Sir Alec Jeffreys
Developed
first DNA profiling test in
1984
Has revolutionized the practice of
fornsic science
Computers
Have
revolutionized data bases
cutting down on the time required to
find matches and analyze data
What should I know at this
point?
Definition of forensic science
Who developed anthrpometry and what it
is
Scientists what they contributed=
Bertillon, Galton, Lattes, Goddard, Orfila,
Jeffrey, Osborn, and Locard
Locards exchange principle
