FRSC3-18 - Forensic Chemistry and Toxicology

Name: Jerome T. Figuracion

Section: CCR 3. B1

Forum 1

1. Discuss the difference between an expert witness and an ordinary witness.

• An ordinary witness is someone who personally saw or heard something
about the crime. An ordinary witness can be the police officer who made the
arrest or a person who was at the scene of the crime. An expert witness is
someone who has special expertise about an element of the crime.
• An expert witness gives evidence of his opinion.
An ordinary witness is a witness of fact and gives evidence of those facts
which are under inquiry.
• The expert witness supports his evidence by the experiments which have
been performed by him in the absence of the opposite party.
The ordinary witness is available to the opposite party for
veracity (truthfulness, accuracy, correctness, faithfulness, fidelity;
reputability, honesty, sincerity, trustworthiness, reliability, dependability)
(refer section 146 of the Evidence Act)

• The expert gives the rules and reasons which support his opinion.

• For example-

If a medical expert gives an opinion on symptoms or after-effects of a

particular poison, then he may also refer the book in support to his opinion,

based on which he has opined (suggest, comment, remark, declare).

• The ordinary witness gives evidence of what he has perceived by his

senses.
 • The significant difference between these two types of witnesses is

personal knowledge. An expert may use their knowledge or skill to draw

conclusions, whereas ordinary witness can base their opinion only on

what they observed.

2. Discuss the four stages of the work of a Forensic chemist in criminal investigation

Forensic chemists analyze non-biological trace evidence found at crime scenes

in order to identify unknown materials and match samples to known substances. They
also analyze drugs/controlled substances taken from scenes and people in order to
identify and sometimes quantify these materials.

Four stages in the practice of forensic chemistry

IDENTIFICATION BY TRACE EVIDENCE
• Microscopic examination - which identifies and counts the type of cells, casts,
crystals, and other components such as bacteria and mucus that can be present
in urine..
• Staining test - A Gram stain is a test that checks for bacteria at the site of a
suspected infection or in certain body fluids, such as blood or urine. These sites
include the throat, lungs, and genitals, and in skin wounds. There are two main
categories of bacterial infections: Gram-positive and Gram-negative.
• Salability - the quality of being salable or marketable. salableness. quality - an
essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone.
• Chemical and physical methods of analysis - Various analytical techniques
including Gas/Liquid Chromatography, HPLC, Mass Spectrometry,
Immunoassays, enzymatic assays, DNA profiling techniques, PCR, biosensing
and metabolomics involved for forensic studies. LC-MS is efficient in telling the
chemical nature of almost all kind of samples.
In terms of Criminal Investigations:

1. Collection or reception of the specimen.

2. The actual examination of the specimen.
3. The communication of the results of the examination
4. Court appearance.