Monday, July 16, 2018

What Is Forensic Science?


What is forensic science?  It is a method of gathering and collecting information for use in a court trial.  It comes from the Latin term “forensis” which means “of the forum.”  It originally comes from the Roman era when the accused and the accuser of a crime would present their sides of what happened in a public forum.  After both sides gave their side, the case would be decided in favor of the person giving the best delivery.  The origin gives two sources of the modern term “forensic”,  one being a form for legal evidence, and the other, a form for public presentation. 

Earlier Methods

Ancient methods lacked much of today's standardized practices that criminals were able to escape conviction.  Thus, this usually resulted in forced confessions and testimony.  However, these ancient methods may have foreshadowed much of today's concepts of forensic science that is used today.

For instance, Archimedes used the law of displacement when he had to figure out if a dishonest goldsmith substituted some silver for gold. 

A murder case was solved by the use of medicine and entomology, based on the book by Xi Yuan Lu (translated Washing Away Wrongs) by Song Ci in 1248 during the Song Dynasty.  The case was solved by an instructor asking everyone to bring a sickle to a single location.  It was realized when several blades were tested on animal carcass and comparing the wound.  When flies had gathered around the blood  on a sickle, the real murderer confessed to the crime.  This book also discusses how to determine if the cause of death was caused by drowning (water in lungs) or strangulation (broken cartilage in neck) and also how to tell if a corpse was the result of murder, suicide, or an accident.

Other methods involved using saliva, mouth and tongue to determine an accused's innocence or guilt.  In China and India, suspects were told to fill their mouths with rice and spit it back out.  Ancient middle-eastern cultures made the  accused lick hot metal rods for a short time.  The validity of this method determined the accused's guilt would produced a drier mouth than that of an innocent person.  In the case of the rice, the accused were usually guilty if the rice stuck to their mouths in abundance or they had severely burned tongues due to lack of saliva.

Origins of Forensic Science

By the 16th century, medical practitioners began to gather evidence that would determine the cause and manner of death.  French army surgeon, Ambroise Pare, studied the effects of violent death on internal organs.  Two Italian surgeons, Fortunato Fidelis and Paolo Zacchia, studied the effect of changes in the body as a result of disease.  By the late 18th century, articles such as these began to appear:  “A Treatise on Forensic Medicine and Public Health” by French physician Francois Immanuele Fodere and “The Complete System of Police Medicine” by German medical expert, Johann Peter Frank.

The rational values of the Enlightened Era began to permeate during the 18th century, criminal investigation began to use a more rational-based, and rational procedure.  Torture and forced confessions, as well as the use of witchcraft and the occult, ceased to influence the court's decisions.  An example of using logic and procedure in a criminal investigation happened around 1874 in Lancaser, when John Toms was tried and convicted of murdering Edward Cushaw with a pistol.  After examining Cushaw's body, a  pistol wad (crushed paper that was used to secure powder and balls in the muzzle) was found in Cushaw's head which matched with bits of torn newspaper found in Tom's pocket, which led to his conviction. 

In Warwick in 1816, a laborer was tried and convicted in the murder of a maidservant who drowned in a shallow pool from a violent assault.  Footprints and the corduroy impression found in the damp mud near the pool along with samples of scattered grains and chaff matched the laborers breeches which led to his conviction.

Toxicology and Ballistics

In 1773, Swedish chemist, Carl Wilhelm Scheele, devised a method to detect arsenic oxide, or arsenic, in corpses.  Later, in 1806, German chemist, Valentin Ross, learned how to detect the poison in victim's stomach wall.

The first to apply this to forensic science was James Marsh when he was called by the prosecution in the murder of John Bodie, accused of poisoning his grandfather with arsenic-laced coffee.  He mixed a sample of hydrogen sulfide and hydrochloride acid, which enabled him to detect the arsenic as yellow arsenic trisulfide.  When it was shown to the jury, the arsenic deteriorated, resulting in the accused to be acquitted due to reasonable doubt.

Bothered by this fact, Marsh then came up with a better way when he combined a sample of arsenic with sulfuric acid and and arsenic free zinc which produced arsine gas.  When the gas was ignited, it decomposed to pure metallic arsenic and when passed to a cold surface, appeared as a silvery-black deposit.  Marsh's test was so sensitive, it could detect as little as one-fiftieth of a milligram of arsenic.  Marsh published this in The Edinburgh Philosophical Journal in 1836. 

Henry Goddard of Scotland Yard is known for the use of bullet comparison in 1835 when he noticed a flaw in a bullet that killed a victim and traced it back to the mold he used in manufacturing the process.

Anthropometry

Dissatisfied with the use of ad hoc methods used to identify criminals, French police officer Alphonse Bertillion applied the used a form of anthropological technique of anthropometry to law enforcement which resulted in the use of creating an identification system of physical measurements as a means of human classification.  Before this, criminal were only identified by name or photo. 

Other forensic techniques Bertillion created were:  forensic document examination, use of galvanistic compounds to preserve footprints, ballistics, and the dynamometer (used to determine the degree of force in breaking and entering).  These methods of Bertillion were replaced with the use of fingerprinting, his other methods like mug shots and the systematization of crime-scene photography are still used today.

Fingerprints

Sir William Herschel was the first to use fingerprinting for identifying criminals when he worked for ht Indian Civil Service and used thumbprints on documents as a security measure to prevent the rampant use of signatures in 1858.

Herschel used these fingerprints in 1877 in Hooghly (near Calcutta) on contracts and deeds, and registered government pensioner's fingerprints to prevent relatives from collecting their pensions.  He also used the fingerprints of prisoners upon their sentence in order to prevent them from committing fraud to avoid a prison sentence.

In 1880, Scottish surgeon, Dr. Henry Faulds, discussed in the scientific journal, “Nature,” the usefulness of fingerprints for identification and the use of recording them with printing ink.  His first classification was first used on a vial, but was later dismissed by the Metropolitan Police in 1886. 

Faulds wrote to Charles Darwin about his method, but too old and too ill, Darwin gave the information to his cousin, Francis Galton, who had an interest in anthropology.  Inspired to study fingerprinting for ten years, Galton published a detailed scientific statistical model of fingerprint analysis, encouraging its use in forensic science.  Galton calculated the chance of “false positive” to be 1 in 64 billion, meaning no two different individuals having the same prints).

Maturation

By the 20th century, forensic science had become in criminal investigation.  Scientific and surgical investigation was used by the Metropolitan Police of London during the pursuit of the mysterious Jack the Ripper, who had killed a series of prostitutes during the 1880s.

“The Handbook for Coroners, Police Officials, and Military Policeman” which was written by Austrian criminal jurist, Hans Gross in 1893, is acknowledged as the birth to the field of criminalistics.  His work combined the fields of psychology and science as well as the use of crime scene photography that could be used against the crime. 

20th Century

Modern methods were later introduced to the field of forensic science by British pathologists Mikey Rochman, Francis Camps, Sydney Smith, and Keith Simpson.  Alec Jeffreys use of DNA profiling in forensic science in 1984 through the use of DNA fingerprinting (variations of genetic code to identify individuals) has gained importance in assisting police with detective work as well as resolving paternity and immigration disputes. 

Forensic Careers

         Forensic Investigation  also known as forensic audit is the examination of documents and the interviewing of people to extract evidence. Forensic investigation is fast emerging as a lucrative professional practice field. With increased sophistication of white collar criminals, there is demand for well trained experts to carry out investigations and also institute preventive, deterrence and detective measures.

         Art forensics  concerns the art authentication cases to help research the work's authenticity. Art authentication methods are used to detect and identify forgery, faking and copying of art works, e.g. paintings.
          
         Computational forensics  concerns the development of algorithms and software to assist forensic examination.
          
         Criminalistics  is the application of various sciences to answer questions relating to examination and comparison of  biological evidencetrace evidence, impression evidence (such as  fingerprintsfootwear impressions, and  tire tracks),  controlled substancesballistics, firearm and toolmark examination, and other evidence in criminal investigations. In typical circumstances evidence is processed in a  Crime lab.
          
         Digital forensics  is the application of proven scientific methods and techniques in order to recover data from electronic / digital media. Digital Forensic specialists work in the field as well as in the lab.
          
         Forensic accounting  is the study and interpretation of accounting evidence.
          
         Forensic aerial photography  is the study and interpretation of aerial photographic evidence.
          
         Forensic anthropology  is the application of  physical anthropology  in a legal setting, usually for the recovery and identification of  skeletonized  human remains.
          
         Forensic archaeology  is the application of a combination of  archaeological  techniques and forensic science, typically in law enforcement.
          
         Forensic astronomy  uses methods from  astronomy  to determine past celestial constellations for forensic purposes.
          
         Forensic botany  is the study of plant life in order to gain information regarding possible crimes.
          
         Forensic chemistry  is the study of detection and identification of  illicit drugs, accelerants used in  arson  cases, explosive and  gunshot residue.
          
         Forensic dactyloscopy  is the study of  fingerprints.
          
         Forensic document examination or   questioned document examination  answers questions about a disputed document using a variety of scientific processes and methods. Many examinations involve a comparison of the questioned document, or components of the document, with a set of known standards. The most common type of examination involves handwriting, whereby the examiner tries to address concerns about potential authorship.
          
         Forensic DNA analysis  takes advantage of the uniqueness of an individual's DNA to answer forensic questions such as  paternity/maternity testing  and placing a suspect at a crime scene, e.g. in a  rape investigation.
          
         Forensic engineering  is the scientific examination and analysis of structures and products relating to their failure or cause of damage.
          
         Forensic entomology  deals with the examination of  insects  in, on and around human remains to assist in determination of time or location of death. It is also possible to determine if the body was moved after death using entomology.
          
         Forensic geology  deals with  trace evidence  in the form of soils, minerals and petroleum.
          
         Forensic geophysics  is the application of geophysical techniques such as radar for detecting objects hidden underground or underwater.
          
         Forensic intelligence  process starts with the collection of data and ends with the integration of results within into the analysis of crimes under investigation.
          
         Forensic Interviews  are conducted using the science of professionally using expertise to conduct a variety of investigative interviews with victims, witnesses, suspects or other sources to determine the facts regarding suspicions, allegations or specific incidents in either public or private sector settings.
          
         Forensic limnology  is the analysis of evidence collected from crime scenes in or around fresh-water sources. Examination of biological organisms, in particular  diatoms, can be useful in connecting suspects with victims.
          
         Forensic linguistics  deals with issues in the legal system that requires linguistic expertise.
          
         Forensic meteorology  is a site-specific analysis of past weather conditions for a point of loss.
          
         Forensic odontology  is the study of the uniqueness of dentition, better known as the study of teeth.
          
         Forensic optometry  is the study of glasses and other eyewear relating to crime scenes and criminal investigations.
          
         Forensic pathology  is a field in which the principles of  medicine  and  pathology  are applied to determine a cause of death or injury in the context of a legal inquiry.
          
         Forensic podiatry  is an application of the study of feet  footprint  or footwear and their traces to analyze scene of crime and to establish personal identity in forensic examinations.
          
         Forensic psychiatry  is a specialized branch of  psychiatry  as applied to and based on scientific  criminology.
          
         Forensic psychology  is the study of the mind of an individual, using forensic methods. Usually it determines the circumstances behind a criminal's behavior.
          
         Forensic seismology  is the study of techniques to distinguish the seismic signals generated by underground nuclear explosions from those generated by earthquakes.
         Forensic serology  is the study of the body fluids.
         Forensic social work  is the specialist study of  social work  theories and their applications to a clinical, criminal justice or  psychiatric  setting. Practitioners of forensic social work connected with thecriminal justice system  are often termed Social Supervisors, whilst the remaining use the interchangeable titles  Forensic Social WorkerApproved Mental Health Professional  or Forensic Practitioner and they conduct specialist assessments of risk, care planning and act as an officer of the court.
          
         Forensic toxicology  is the study of the effect of  drugs  and  poisons  on/in the human body.
          
         Forensic video analysis  is the scientific examination, comparison and evaluation of video in legal matters.
          
         Mobile device forensics  is the scientific examination and evaluation of evidence found in mobile phones, e.g. Call History and Deleted SMS, and includes SIM Card Forensics.
          
         Trace evidence  analysis is the analysis and comparison of trace evidence including glass, paint, fibres and hair (e.g., using  micro-spectrophotometry).
          
         Wildlife Forensic Science  applies a range of scientific disciplines to legal cases involving non-human biological evidence, to solve crimes such as poaching,  animal abuse, and trade in endangered species.
          
         Blood Spatter Analysis  is the scientific examination of blood spatter patterns found at a crime scene to reconstruct the events of the crime.

Reference

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensic_science

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