Forensics in the Criminal Justice System
The criminal justice system has changed a lot since the good old days of the Wild West when pretty much anything was legal. Criminals were dealt with in any fashion the law enforcement saw fit. The science of catching criminals has evolved since these days. We are better at catching criminals than ever and we owe this advancement to forensic science. The development of forensic science has given us the important techniques of fingerprinting and DNA analysis. We can use these techniques to catch criminals, prove people's innocence, and keep track of inmates after they have been paroled. There are many different ways of solving crimes using forensic evidence. One of these ways is using blood spatter analysis; this is where the distribution and pattern of bloodstains is studied to find the nature of the event that caused the blood spatter. Many things go into the determination of the cause including: the effects of various types of physical forces on blood, the interaction between blood and the surfaces on which it falls, the location of the person shedding the blood, the location and actions of the assailant, and the movement of them both during the incident. Another common type of forensic evidence is trace evidence. This is commonly recovered from any number of items at a crime scene. These items can include carpet fibers, clothing fibers, or hair found in or around the crime scene. Hairs recovered from crime scenes can be used as an important source of DNA. Examination of material recovered from a victim's or suspect's clothing can allow association to be made between the victim and other people, places, or things involved in the investigation. DNA analysis is the most important part of forensic science. DNA evidence can come in many forms at the crime scene. Some of these forms include hair; bodily fluids recovered at the crime scene or on the victim's body, skin under the victim's fingernails, blood, and many others. This DNA can be the basis of someone's guilt or innocence; it has decided many cases in the twentieth century. As the times continue to change and the criminals get smarter we will always need to find new ways to catch them. Forensic science is the most advanced method yet, but is only the beginning. As the field of science grows so will the abilities of the
Other evidence located within the grave consisted of a generic watch, two cigarette butts, a button, a washer and a shell casing. All of these could be analysed for finger prints and DNA. The cigarette butts would also show a serial number indicating the brand (shown in Figure 3), which can be useful if it is found a victim or offender smokes a particular type of cigarette.
Fingerprints are collected from the evidence, and ran through a database such as IAFIS. DNA evidence that is extracted from hair, bodily fluids and skin cells are also ran through databases that help identify the suspects. Firearms, bullets and cartridges are analyzed and can be used to trace a weapon back to its owner. All of the information gathered from collected evidence is pooled together to create a solid base for use in the conviction of suspects in a crime.
Forensic science is a key aspect of Criminal Justice that helps rid the streets of lunatics and murderers. One of the most important fields of forensic science is blood spatter analysis. Under the Crime Scene Investigation, analysts gather the information that could eventually lead to a victim’s killer. Basic and complex information can be found when analyzing blood. We can learn what kind of weapon was used, the time of death of a victim and other important facts that can help a case. The pattern that the blood gives off give forensic scientists the tools that they need to help solve cases.
The police arrived at a 911 call of a possible suicide. Two lovebirds had been walking along a bridge over the Arkansas River when they spotted an odd shape below. Upon further investigation, they realized it was a body. The police suspected it might have been a suicide, but the coroner who arrived shortly after they had noticed bruises on the wrists, pointing to foul play. Everything was photographed and mapped out in case it became relevant. The body was bloated and decomposed, meaning it had been in the river for a while. No identity was determined because of how long the deceased had been gone. All they knew was the deceased was a male adult and most likely Caucasian. All the evidence collected at a scene was transported to
By reconstructing the crime scene using bloodstains (blood spatter), the investigators can learn many useful things to aid in their investigation. They can learn what weapons were used and the location, type, and number of wounds caused by that the weapon. Whether the victim defended or tried to escape the perpetrator, if the victim’s body was moved when deceased, and if the victim experienced postmortem violence (Swanson,
The most important type of evidence is DNA. When DNA testing takes place, the samples are collected from the suspect and the crime scene. These evidences include hair, fingerprint, human secretions, blood, semen and other bodily fluids, are collected and sent to the lab for further investigation.
At every crime scene there is evidence and evidence is the vital part of crime scene investigation. From the time an officer arrives on the scene until a conviction of the perpetrator evidence is the key element in determining the guilt or innocence of those accused. A poorly conducted crime scene investigation can sometimes either destroy evidence or render it useless. The possibility of tainted evidence, miss-handled evidence, or lack of evidence, the guilty can go free or the wrongful convicted. When someone is convicted or acquitted wrongly it has an adverse effect on the entire criminal justice system.
People all around the world are becoming interested in forensic science. Students across the nation are taking courses in this very popular science. Many colleges are adopting classes and majors just for it. Why has this science become so popular? Is it because of the lack of people in the field now, and the overwhelming job opportunities that come with a degree in forensic science? Is it because the field is so interesting, and catchy that everyone is flooding to be in the programs? Or is the recent growth of this field due to the numerous television and media coverage of the subject? One thing is for sure, people really are starting to get interested in this field, and it is getting bigger by the second.
Crime scenes are known to have many clues left behind. The obvious would be a the body or bodies, clothing, and sometimes even the murder weapon. While these are great way to solve a case there's another kind of evidence; trace evidence. Trace evidence are small pieces of evidence that are laying around a crime scene. There are many types of trace evidence some of them include metal filings, plastic fragments, gunshot residue, glass fragments, feathers, food stains, building materials, lubricants, fingernail scrapings, pollens and spores, cosmetics, chemicals, paper fibers and sawdust, human and animal hairs, plant and vegetable fibers, blood and other body fluids, asphalt or tar, vegetable fats and oils, dusts and other airborne particles, insulation, textile fibers, soot, soils and mineral grains, and explosive residues. Although these are the most common found elements, they are not the only ones. The Trace Evidence Unit is known to examine the largest variety of evidence types and used the biggest range of analytical methods of any unit. materials are compared with standards or knowns samples to determine whether or not they share any common characteristics. In this paper I will discuss the different kinds of trace evidence and how crime scene investigaros use it to solve cases and convict criminal.
Once a crime has been committed the most important item to recover is any type of evidence left at the scene. If the suspect left any Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) at the crime scene, he could then be linked to the crime and eventually charged. A suspect’s DNA can be recovered if the suspect leaves a sample of his or her DNA at the crime scene. However, this method was not always used to track down a suspect. Not too long ago, detectives used to use bite marks, blood stain detection, blood grouping as the primary tool to identify a suspect. DNA can be left or collected from the hair, saliva, blood, mucus, semen, urine, fecal matter, and even the bones. DNA analysis has been the most recent technique employed by the forensic science community to identify a suspect or victim since the use of fingerprinting. Moreover, since the introduction of this new technique it has been a la...
Charles Darwin once said “False facts are highly injurious to the progress of science, for they often endure long; but false views, if supported by some evidence, do little harm, for everyone takes a salutary pleasure in proving their falseness” (Brainy Quote, 2013). Trace evidence is included as one of many studies that helps prove a suspect’s wrongness. Trace evidence is the study that identifies and compares specific types of trace materials that could be transferred during the commission of a violent crime. Physical contact between a suspect and a victim can result in a transfer of trace evidence. Identification and comparison of trace materials can often associate a suspect to become at fault. Educational requirements for trace evidence consist of numerous years of schooling and training in the field. History of trace evidence has shown that technology has been a great reliability in the 21st century. Large amounts of crime cases have been solved by trace evidence, because all it takes is one little hair, follicle, or fiber to fall and everything starts to come together. Trace evidence has been an incredible case solver, even if it takes over thirty years to do so.
Crime is a common public issue for people living in the inner city, but is not limited to only urban or highly populated cities as it can undoubtedly happen in small community and rural areas as well. In The Real CSI, the documentary exemplified many way in which experts used forensic science as evidence in trial cases to argue and to prove whether a person is innocent or guilty. In this paper, I explained the difference in fingerprinting technology depicted between television shows and in reality, how DNA technology change the way forensics evidence is used in the court proceedings, and how forensic evidence can be misused in the United States adversarial legal system.
DNA is known as a deoxyribonucleic acid. Every single cell contains DNA and every living organism contains DNA. DNA is in many things like people’s blood, saliva, skin tissue, hair, and bone. In that case DNA could play a big role in evidence of different cases like criminal cases. DNA could help convict people that are guilty or they could eliminate those who were wrongly accused. The most common form of DNA is called polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The process is when millions of copies of small amounts of the DNA is made and then can be compared with the DNA profile from a suspect. Investigators can collect DNA from many different numbers of sources. Almost anything can contain DNA. For example in a sexual assault case any evidence like hair, skin cells, semen, or blood that is left on a victim’s body could be collected and be compared with samples to place a suspect at the scene of the crime. Like in a sexual assault case for evidence a physician or sexual assault nurse examiner would test for sexually transmitted diseases and collect evidence like fingernail scrapings and hair. This can be collected as evidence to figure out the person who sexually assaulted the person. And possible evidence could be found at the scene that could possibly link it to the person’s DNA. Sweat and skin cells could as well be used as evidence. If none of that works out then a DNA profile can be put into the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) to identify a suspect anywhere in the U.S. DNA evidence could also be contaminated in the process of collecting the DNA. Because of this the investigators always wear disposable gloves and avoid touching other objects. With the right care of the evidence the DNA can be stored for years without degradatio...
Physical evidence is additionally important in every criminal investigation because too often witness accounts are sometimes biased or unreliable. Physical evidence such as trace evidence, DNA, and fingerprints may objectively attach one or more persons to a victim or suspect to a crime. Favorably, physical evidence can also demonstrate inestimable for exonerating an innocent suspect. Laboratory members and criminal investigators should perform together to resolve the biggest portion of evidence to institute the right suspect for a strong prosecution. Willingly, investigation officers should aggressively contact laboratory personnel when questions arise about the cases because DNA evidence is sensitive.
According to legal dictionary, DNA evidence has become a major tool in the world of forensic science that has provided for the analysis of forensic evidence, biological material that makes up the genetic code of most living organisms. DNA analysis, also known as DNA profiling and typing, examines the biological material found in DNA as physical evidence such as blood, hair, semen, tissue, bones, teeth, or other bodily fluids that is found at a crime scene, and is essential to linking to or excluding someone from crime scene evidence (legal dictionary).