Forensic Accounting Basic concepts text

• Forensic


  Relating to the application of scientific methods to decide questions arising from crime or litigation
• Forensic


  Providing scientifically based or opinion-based evidence in issues related to law, court, physical evidence, archeology, anthropology, medicine, dentistry, art
• Forensic


  (in debating) Relating to debates, formal argumentation or to a type of speech competition characterized by individuals competing in a variety of different events
• The term 'forensic' originates from the Latin "forensus", or "forensis" meaning "belonging to the forum"
• The 'forum' refers to a place of debates or to the specific site in ancient central Rome where oratories, debates, public announcements and official events took place
• The term 'Forensic' started in mid 17th century to be applied to legal proceedings
• Forensic Science


  The application of science to law
• Modern forensic science applications

  • Civil cases such as forgeries, fraud, or negligence
  • Determining if laws/regulations have been violated in marketing of foods/drinks, manufacture of medicines, or use of pesticides
  • Determining if automobile emissions are within permissible levels
  • Determining if drinking water meets legal purity requirements
  • Monitoring compliance with international agreements like Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and Chemical Weapons Convention
  • Investigating criminal cases involving a victim, such as assault, robbery, kidnapping, rape, or murder
• Earliest account of fingerprint use to establish identity

  7th century China
• A debtor's fingerprints were affixed to a bill, which would then be given to the lender. This bill was legally recognized as proof of the validity of the debt
• First written account of using medicine and entomology to solve criminal cases, in the book "Xi Yuan Ji Lu"

  1248 China
• The book "Xi Yuan Ji Lu" offered advice on how to distinguish between a drowning (water in the lungs) and strangulation (broken neck cartilage)
• The "Eureka" legend of Archimedes (287-212 BC) can be considered an early account of the use of forensic science to prove a crown was not made of gold
• Sherlock Holmes, the fictional character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used forensic science
• The comic strip Dick Tracy also featured the detective using a considerable number of forensic methods
• The popular television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation depicts a glamorized version of the activities of forensic scientists
• The use of "forensics" used in place of "forensic science" could be considered incorrect, as "forensic" is effectively a synonym for "legal" or "related to courts"
• The combination of a medical and legal approach to dealing with crimes used in the United States today had its origin in England in the 12th century, when King Richard I established the Office of the Coroner
• In 1807 the University of Edinburgh in Scotland established a Department of Legal Medicine
• In 1877 Massachusetts adopted a statewide system requiring that an Office of the Medical Examiner, to be headed by a physician, replace the coroner's office
• In 1915 New York City established a comprehensive program in which the medical examiner was specifically authorized to investigate all deaths resulting from criminal violence, accidents, or suicides, and those that occurred suddenly to people who appeared to be in good health
• Forensic science as practiced today is a high-technology field using electron microscopes, lasers, ultraviolet and infrared light, advanced analytical chemical techniques, and computerized databanks to analyze and research evidence
• Medical Examiner


  The central figure in the forensic investigation of crimes involving a victim
• The medical examiner is responsible for visiting the crime scene, conducting an autopsy, examining medical evidence and laboratory reports, studying the victim's medical history, and putting all this information together in a report to the district attorney
• Forensic Pathology


  The study of structural and functional changes in the body as a result of injury
• The United States has no national system of medical examiners and has no federal law requiring that coroners be licensed physicians
• Forensic Medicine


  A science that applies medical knowledge to legal and criminal issues, using the autopsy to determine cause and time of death
• Other areas of Forensic Medicine

  • Forensic Psychiatry - determining an individual's mental ability to stand trial
  • Forensic Toxicology - dealing with poisons and drug use
• Examining Evidence


  1. Investigating the crime scene

  2. Conducting an autopsy
• In cases involving gunshot wounds, the medical examiner looks for gunpowder residues on the clothing of the victim and around wounds to estimate how far away the gun was when the victim was shot and to determine whether the victim or someone else fired the gun
• In the case of knife wounds, the medical examiner must distinguish between a cut (an injury that is longer than it is deep) and a stab wound (an injury that is deeper than it is long), and look for defense wounds
• Cuts, rather than stabs, are associated with suicide, usually with numerous superficial parallel cuts indicating repeated and hesitant trials before the final deep cut
• Asphyxiation may be caused by hanging, strangulation, obstruction of the air passage, or replacement of oxygen in the red blood cells by another gas like carbon monoxide
• Forensic Science Subspecialties


  • Pathology
  • Toxicology
  • Odontology
  • Psychiatry
  • Anthropology
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Physics
• Toxicologists detect and identify any drugs or poisons present in a person's body fluids, tissues, and organs
• Forensic odontologists examine and characterize the teeth of unidentified bodies when fingerprints or other identification is not available
• Forensic anthropologists are trained to determine the sex, height, weight, and ethnic group of a deceased person from an incomplete body
• Forensic scientists may choose to be certified by the American Board of Criminalistics
• Techniques of Forensic Science

  1. Measuring alcohol in breath or blood

  2. Gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to detect drugs

  3. Microscopic examination for diatoms to determine drowning location

  4. Scanning electron microscope to detect gunpowder particles

  5. Fingerprint dusting and analysis
• All material gathered during a criminal investigation must be collected, reported, recorded, classified, analyzed, processed, and stored