Vocabulary

1. Vocabulary Make a flashcard or make a vocabulary page (see example) in your notebook for each of the following words: • Forensic Science • Anthropometry • Locard’s Exchange Principle • Expert Witness

2. History of Forensic Science

3. Sherlock Holmes, 1887 “I've found it.  I've found it," he shouted to my companion, running toward us with a test tube in hand.  "I have found a reagent which is precipitated by hemoglobin and by nothing else.  . . . The old guaiacum test was very clumsy and uncertain.  So is the microscopic examination for blood corpuscles.  The latter is valueless if the stains are a few hours old.  Now, this appears to act as well whether the blood is old or new.  Had this test been invented, there are hundreds of men now walking the earth who would long ago have paid the penalty for their crimes.  . . . Criminal cases are continually hinging upon that one point.  A man is suspected of a crime months perhaps after it has been committed.  His linen or clothes are examined and brownish stains discovered upon them.  Are they blood stains, or rust stains, or fruit stains, or what are they?  That is a question which has puzzled many an expert, and why?  Because there was no reliable test.  Now we have the Sherlock Holmes test, and there will no longer be any difficulty.”

4. INTERACTIVE • After reading the quote from Sherlock Holmes…write at least 3 sentences about the quote. • What do you think? • Summarize his statement. • Does anything surprise you?

5. Definition • Forensic Science is the application of science to the criminal and civil laws that are enforced by police agencies in a criminal justice system.

6. Forensics in History • 3 A.D. • China; woman suspected of murdering her husband and then burning the body—claiming he died in an accidental fire • Investigators noticed there were no ashes in the husband’s mouth • Pig test: burned one alive, burned a dead pig • Pig that was burned alive had ashes in the mouth, pig that was already dead when burned did NOT have ashes in the mouth • There for the wife was convicted of her husband’s murder.

7. Forensics in History • 1690s, Salem Witch Trials • Person confessed • Person was tortured until they confessed • Sink/Swim test

8. Video Clip—Salem Witch Trials

9. Forensics in History • Mid 1700s • Age of Enlightenment • US Declaration of Independence, Constitution • Innocent until proven Guilty

10. Forensics in History • 1800s • More Science used to examine evidence • 1879: Anthropometry—created by Alphonese Bertillon, a systematic procedure of taking body measurements to distinguish one individual from another. • Anthropometry was considered the most accurate form of personal identification until fingerprinting.

11. Forensics in History • 1892, Galton • First proof that fingerprints are unique to the individual • Created the first system of identification by fingerprints

12. Forensics in History • 1880s, Sherlock Holmes • The character of Sherlock Holmes applied new techniques such as serology (study of blood), fingerprinting, firearm identification, and document examination long before they were used in real criminal investigations • 1901, Blood Typing • Dr. Karl Landsteiner discovered that blood could by grouped into types A, B, AB, and O • Blood types could be useful in identifying or eliminating suspects in an investigation

13. Forensics in History • 1910, Questioned Documents • Albert Osborn wrote a book on document examination. The book is still used today. • 1910, Locard’s Principle • “When two objects come into contact with each other, a cross-transfer of materials occurs.” • Locard strongly believed that every criminal can be connected to a crime by the dust particles carried from the crime scene. • Case: someone had made counterfeit coins, there were 3 suspects. Locard examined all 3 person’s clothing under a microscope. He located small metallic particles which matched the metallic elements of the coins on all of the garments. All 3 were convicted.

14. Edmond Locard • "Wherever he steps, whatever he touches, whatever he leaves, even unconsciously, will serve as a silent witness against him. Not only his fingerprints or his footprints, but his hair, the fibers from his clothes, the glass he breaks, the tool mark he leaves, the paint he scratches, the blood or semen he deposits or collects. All of these and more, bear mute witness against him. This is evidence that does not forget. It is not confused by the excitement of the moment. It is not absent because human witnesses are. It is factual evidence. Physical evidence cannot be wrong, it cannot perjure itself, it cannot be wholly absent. Only human failure to find it, study and understand it, can diminish its value."

15. Forensics in History • 1932, FBI Crime Lab • FBI crime lab opened under J. Edgar Hoover

16. Forensics in History • 1984, DNA • DNA Typing and Identification was discovered by Sir Alec Jeffries

17. INTERACTIVE • Draw a timeline of the events you recorded in your notes.

18. Forensics in Court • Ultimately all the forensic evidence must be admissible and hold up in a court of law • Expert Testimony: testimony given by individuals with a certain skill or knowledge • Expert Witness: An individual whom the court determines to posses a certain skill or knowledge. Example: entomologist, serologist • Expert Testimony

19. INTERACTIVE • Write a 1 paragraph summary of the “History of Forensics”