Introduction to Criminalistics

(FSc 312)
Spring Semester 2010
:By
Ayat Bani Rashaid
 ‫الفاشلون قسمان‬
‫قسم فكر ولم يفعل‬
‫قسم فعل ولم يفكر‬
Methods of Investigation
 Nature of Investigation
 A criminal investigator is a person
who collects facts to:
1. Identify the guilty
2. Locate the guilty party
3. Provide evidence of his guilt
 Nature of Investigation
 Investigation is an art and not a science
→ it must be discussed in terms of
precepts and advice rather than laws
and rigid theories.
 The tools of the investigator are
referred to as the three “ I’s" :
• Information
• Interrogation
• Instrumentation
 Nature of Investigation
 No normative criteria for judging the
success or failure of an investigation.
• The crime remains unsolved does not
indicate a deficiency in the
investigation
• A conviction of the accused not
necessarily mean that the investigation
was conducted in an intelligent
manner.
 Nature of Investigation
 A common misconception that every
crime is intrinsically soluble
Only True if
• Sufficient evidence available to reveal
the identity of the criminal
• Perpetrator leaves traces at the crime
scene which in the hands of
investigator or technician.
 Nature of Investigation
 Many crimes are not susceptible of
solution by reason of
• The fact that the evidence is
insufficient.
• The absence of eyewitnesses,
discernible motives, and physical clues
will obviously prohibit a solution
Unless the malefactor confesses.
 Nature of Investigation

The investigation will be considered

successful if
 Nature of Investigation
• The available physical evidence was
competently handled
• The witnesses intelligently interviewed
• The suspect effectively interrogated
All logical leads properly developed
The case comprehensively, clearly, and
.accurately reported
Information

• Describe the knowledge which the

investigator gathers from other
persons
• The most important, since it answers
the question, "Who did it?" .
• There are two kinds:
 Information
1. The first type of information is
acquired from regular sources such
as
• Conscientious and public-spirited
citizens
• Company records
• Files of other agencies
 Information
2. The second type, which is of particular
interest to the criminal investigator is the
knowledge gathered by the experienced
investigator from:
• Paid informants
• Cab drivers
• Licensed owners and employees
• Former criminals
• Acquaintances.
 Information
 Identity of the perpetrator and his
motive are revealed.

 The investigation acquires direction

and subsequent steps are meaningful
rather than merely experimental
Interrogation
Includes the skillful questioning of
witnesses and suspects
• The success of " information" depends
on the intelligent selection of
informative sources
 Interrogation
 The effectiveness of interrogation
varies with:
• The craft
• Logic
• Psychological insight
 In the investigator questions to a
person who is in possession of
information relevant to the case.
 Interrogation

 Interview ► The simple questioning of

a person who has no personal reason
to withhold information and therefore
may be expected to cooperate with the
investigator
 Interrogation
• Interrogation ► Describe the
questioning of a suspect or other
person who may normally be expected
to be reluctant to divulge information
concerning the offense under
investigation.
 Interrogation
 A guilty person under questioning by
the police is often a very frightened
who is driven by apprehension to seek
comfort

 The ability to obtain information by

questioning is the most talent of the
investigator
Instrumentation
• Include the application of the
instruments and methods of the
physical sciences to the detection of
crime.
• Physics e.g. microscopy; photography;
chemistry; biology; pathology.
Their utility is associated mainly with
physical evidence.
 Instrumentation
• Training in the resources of
instrumentation is of great importance
to an investigator.
• E.g. ability to anticipate from the
character of a surveillance the types of
cameras or other optical devices which
will be most useful to him.
 Phases of the Investigation
 The investigation divided into three
phases:
1. Identifying the Criminal
2. Location the Criminal
3. Proving the Guilt.
 Identifying the Criminal.1
 The identity of the criminal is
discovered in one or more of the
following ways:
A. Confession
B. Eyewitness testimony
C. Circumstantial evidence
1. Identifying the Criminal
A. Confession

• Admission or confession by a suspect

is a major objective of every
investigation. The confession is an
excellent means of identifying the
criminal.
 Identifying the Criminal .1
B. Eyewitness testimony

• The ideal identification is made by

several objective persons who are
familiar with the appearances of the
accused and who personally the
commission of the crime.
 1. Identifying the Criminal
C. Circumstantial evidence

• Identification may be established

indirectly by proving evidence.
 Phases of the Investigation
2. Location the Criminal
Concerned with locating the offender.

3. Proving the Guilt

The investigation, entered the third and
often the most difficult phase, gathering
the facts necessary in the trial to prove
the guilt of the accused beyond a
reasonable doubt.
Interviewing Witnesses
 Interviewing Witnesses

After completing his work at the scene

of the scene of the crime, the
investigator must direct his attention to
the witnesses.

This phase of the investigation is equal

in importance to the examination of the
physical evidence.
 Interviewing Witnesses

The vital question of the identity of the

perpetrator will be answered ordinarily
by the intelligent interviewing of
witnesses.
Most witnesses should be questioned
as soon as possible since the lapse of
time permits a deterioration of the
memory and opens the door to the
entry of motives for discreet silence.
 Interviewing Witnesses

The order in which the witnesses are

interviewed will initially depend on their
availability.
Witnesses may be classified according
to the type of testimony they are
expected to give.
Witnesses may place them in the
following categories:
 Interviewing Witnesses

A. Eyewitnesses► Persons who saw the

fatal act.
B. Circumstances ► Persons who can
give information concerning the
circumstances surrounding the crime e.g.
dry cleaner who can identify the jacket
left at the scene.
 Interviewing Witnesses

C. Motive ► Persons who can give

information concerning the motive for the
fatal act
D. Expert Witnesses ► Persons qualified
to give expert opinions on the
significance of the physical evidence.
E. Suspects ► Logical suspects should be
interrogated in appropriate order
 Interviewing Witnesses

A. Eyewitnesses
• A background history of the witness
should be developed
• Should be asked to give a brief
history of himself which will include
any criminal record or involvement
 A. Eyewitnesses
• He should be asked to account for his
presence at the scene of the crime and
the fact of his acquaintanceship with
either the victim or the accused.
• The witness should then be requested
to tell his story in his own way
• The witness should be subjected to
detailed questioning concerning the
identification of the accused
 A. Eyewitnesses

• List of representative question which

will suggest many others to the
investigator in an actual case:
 A. Eyewitnesses
A. Do you no the accused?
B. Was this the first time you have ever
seen the accused?
C. How long a time did you observe
him?
D. From what position?
E. What attracted your attention to the
accused?
 A. Eyewitnesses
F. What attracted your attention to the
victim?
G. Have you identified the accused
since his apprehension?
H. What were the circumstances
surrounding that identification?
Identification by Witnesses
 Identification by Witnesses

Difficulties

 The Typical witness is a layman

unskilled in the techniques of
investigation and unaware of the
special terminology that is used in the
portrait parle.
 Difficulties
 Witness is not a trained observer.
 When he is asked to describe a wanted
criminal, he offers a confusing set of
generalities from which it is difficult for
the investigator to from a definite
picture or even to establish one useful
peculiarity.
 Identification by Witnesses

Unknown Criminal Observed by Witness

• The problem of identifying the unknown
criminal by means of an eyewitness must
be approached with special caution by the
investigator.
 Identification by Witnesses

Identifying Methods
Methods for identifying an unknown
criminal by a witness:
A. The Verbal Description ► The portrait
parle may be used .
Because of its inadequacies the
investigator should judge its worth by
the capacity of the witness to describe
persons known to the investigator.
 Identifying Methods

B. Photographic Files (Rogues Gallery).

The witness requested to examine the
photographs in the known Criminals File.
 Identifying Methods

C. General Photographs. The investigator

should have own file of photographs
representing different features in each photo.
• The image should be of the same size in all
the pictures.
• The selection of photos should include the
varieties of features such as degree of
baldness, length and shape of nose, shape of
ear, and so forth.
Observation And Description
Gathering Information
 In the acquisition of the information the
investigator relies mainly on indirect
sources:
• The accounts of witnesses
• The reports of investigation prepared
by associates, photographs, sketches,
• The reports of laboratory experts.
 Gathering Information
 The investigator must ultimately rely on
his own observations for a
comprehensive and truly significant
representation.
 The accuracy of his observations will
depend chiefly upon his training and
experience
 his ability to communicate either orally
or in a report.
Observation And Description

Investigator must be trained to

describe as well as to observe
 Observation And Description

The Senses in Observation

• In recording the data of a scene or
occurrence the investigator must
employ his senses that of sight and
secondarily hearing, smell, touch, and
taste.
 The Senses in Observation

• Eye is the most fruitful source of

information, but in the absence of
training it is also one of the most
unreliable because of the tendency of
the observer to fill in the gaps that
inadequate observation may leave.
 Observation And Description

Psychological elements

The process of observation can be

divided into three stages:
 Psychological elements

A. Attention →The psychological process

of being brought into the presence of a
fact.
The observer cannot observe a
phenomenon until he is aware of it.
 Psychological elements

B. Perception → Recognition of the

significance of a phenomenon

The observer not only apprehends a

phenomenon but also understands it
 Psychological elements

Factors are contributory in perception :

1. Intelligence ►The mental capacity of
the observer is an obvious factor
2. Educational Background ►
Observation depends upon reference.
The educated person is at an obvious
advantage in being able to refer
observed phenomena to matters which
he has learned.
 Psychological elements

3. Experience and Occupation►These

elements constitute a frame of reference
for the observer.
 Psychological elements

C. Report → The third element of

observation is the identification of a fact:
subject identifies, names.
 Thank you

• Reference: Charles E. O’hara Fundamentals of Criminal

Investigation. Fifth edition