history of forensics

• What is the definition of forensic science?

  The application of scientific methods to legal issues
• Why do we need forensic science in court?

  To provide objective evidence for legal cases
• What are the roles of a normal court witness versus a forensic scientist?

  • Normal court witness: Subjective evidence
  • Forensic scientist: Expert witness, objective evidence
• What are the three questions arising from an investigated incident?

  Has a crime been committed? Who is responsible? Is there enough evidence?
• What are the steps in the forensic application pathway?

  1. Crime scene: Investigate, collect, package evidence
  2. Laboratory: Examine evidence, prepare report
  3. Court: Present findings
• Who popularized scientific crime-detection methods?

  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• What fictional character first applied serology and fingerprinting?

  Sherlock Holmes
• What ancient discovery did Erasistratus make around 250 BC?

  Pulse rates increase when lying
• What significant event occurred in 1235 related to forensic science?

  The story of Sung Tzu and the bloody sickle
• Who noted the patterns in fingerprints in 1686?

  Marcello Malpighi
• Who first used bullet comparison in 1835?

  Henry Goddard
• Who drew attention to petechial hemorrhages in asphyxial deaths in 1855?

  Ambroise August Tardieu
• Who is known as the founder of forensic toxicology?

  Mathieu Orfila
• Who founded criminal identification through anthropometry?

  Alphonse Bertillon
• Who is recognized as the founder of fingerprinting?

  Francis Galton
• Who founded blood grouping in 1887?

  Leone Lattes
• What principle did Edmond Locard establish?

  Every contact leaves a trace
• When was the first toxicology case recorded?

  1840
• What significant event occurred in 1988 in forensic science?

  The first DNA court case
• When was the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) established?

  1932
• When did the Metropolitan Police Laboratory open in the UK?

  1935
• What happened to the Forensic Science Service (FSS) in March 2012?

  It was closed down
• What are the career paths in forensic science?

  • Scene of Crime Officer (SOCO)
  • Forensic Scientist (various fields)
  • Lawyer
  • Consultant
• What are the main areas of the forensic laboratory?

  • Administration
  • Biology
  • DNA
  • Trace evidence
  • Toxicology
  • Chemistry
  • Document analysis
  • Firearms & Toolmarks
  • Fingerprints
• What are the three overarching phases of Case Assessment and Interpretation (CAI)?

  Customer requirement, case assessment, service delivery
• What approach is suggested in the critique of CAI?

  A probabilistic approach instead of uniqueness
• What does Bayes theorem relate to in forensic science?

  It relates to probabilistic assessments
• What is the significance of the DNA profile matching in a case?

  It indicates a high probability of guilt
• What are the considerations regarding the narrative of forensic investigations?

  • Should it be linear?
  • What if it is not linear?
  • Is the investigation always linear?
• What areas are included in the analysis of a crime scene?

  Toxicology, statistics, digital, decomposition, DNA