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FORENSICS & CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Designed for a single-term course at the lower undergraduate level, the book begins by discussing the intersection of law
Forensic Science
and forensic science, how things become evidence, and how courts decide if an item or testimony should be admissible. It
takes the evidence from crime scene investigation into laboratory analysis and even onto the autopsy table for the fullest
breadth of subject matter of any forensic text available. Topics include
Going beyond theory to application, this text incorporates the wisdom of forensic practitioners who discuss the real cases
they have investigated. Color-coded sidebars in each chapter provide historical notes, case studies, and current events as well
as advice for career advancement. Each section and each chapter begins with an overview and ends with a summary, and key
terms, review questions, and up-to-date references are provided. Appropriate for any sensibility, more than 300 photos from
real cases give students a true-to-life learning experience.
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Section IX Summary.............................................................................................559
Appendix A..............................................................................................................561
Appendix B..............................................................................................................563
Index.........................................................................................................................587
Becky Masterman
Senior Acquisitions Editor for Forensic Science
Taylor & Francis/CRC Press
ix
Jon J. Nordby, PhD, D-ABMDI, earned his advanced degrees from the University
of Massachusetts–Amherst. He works as a forensic science consultant for Final
Analysis, an independent consulting practice in death investigation, forensic
science, and forensic medicine. He specializes in scene reconstruction and evidence
recognition, collection, and analysis, as well as bloodstain pattern analysis and the
investigation of police shootings. He serves the National Disaster Medical System
xi
as a medical investigator and forensic specialist with the Region X DMORT team.
As such, he served in New York City after the World Trade Center terrorist attack.
He is a professor emeritus and former department chair with Pacific Lutheran
University and is a consultant with the BC Coroners Service Forensic Unit, King
County Medical Examiners Office, Pierce County Medical Examiners Office, and
Puyallup Police Department’s Homicide Investigation Section. An instructor at the
Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission (Police Academy), Dr.
Nordby formerly worked as a medical investigator and training officer with both
the Pierce and King County Medical Examiner’s Offices. A fellow of the American
Academy of Forensic Sciences, he currently serves as General Section member of
the Academy Board of Directors and member of the Academy’s Ethics Committee.
He belongs to the Association for Crime Scene Reconstruction, International
Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts, Pacific Northwest Forensic Science
Study Group, and Philosophy of Science Association. He formerly served as chair
of the International Law Enforcement Expert Systems Association. His many
publications include the book Dead Reckoning: The Art of Forensic Detection (CRC
Press, 1999).
Suzanne Bell, PhD, earned a bachelor of science degree in 1981 from Northern
Arizona University with a dual major in chemistry and police science (criminal
justice). She ventured east for the first time that year and obtained her master’s
degree in forensic science from the University of New Haven in Connecticut. During
the last year of that program, she did an internship with the New Mexico State Police
Laboratory in Santa Fe and was offered a job. She began work there in 1983 while
completing her master’s thesis. She worked for the State Police as a forensic chemist
during which time she processed dozens of crime scenes and testified over 80 times
in local, state, and federal courts. In 1985, she moved north to Los Alamos National
Laboratory (LANL), where she worked as an organic analytical chemist in the
environmental chemistry group. For about two of those years she served as section
leader of the organic analysis group.
In 1989, she took the leap and returned to graduate school, seeking a doctorate
in chemistry from the research group of Dr. Gary Eiceman at New Mexico State
University (NMSU). She moved to Las Cruces and completed the degree in 1991.
Her research focused on ion mobility spectrometry, and the application of statistical
methods and chemometrics to information management system (IMS) data. She
returned to LANL and stayed there until 1992. Bitten by the academic bug, she
completed a postdoctoral appointment at NMSU before joining the chemistry
department at Eastern Washington University in 1994. She worked with the
Washington State Patrol (WSP) to establish a bachelor of science option in the
chemistry department in forensic chemistry, and the WSP built a new forensic
laboratory on the campus in 2003. She also developed an interdisciplinary program
in environmental science.
In 2003, she moved to a research position and joined the faculty of West Virginia
University in the chemistry department, analytical division, where she assists both
the department and the forensic and investigative sciences (FIS) in the forensic
chemistry track. She oversees several master’s students from FIS as well as her
group of chemistry doctoral students. She was tenured in 2011 and is now an
associate professor with research interests in gunshot residue, forensic toxicology,
ion mobility spectrometry, and chemical data analysis.
xiii
Section Overview
[Crimiinalistics (forensic science)] is concerned with the unlikely and the unusual. Other sciences are concerned
primarily with the likely and the usual. The derivation of equations, formulas, and generalizations summarizing
the normal behavior of any system in the universe is a major goal of the established sciences. It is not normal to be
murdered, and most persons never experience this unlikely event. Yet, when a murder occurs, some combination
of circumstances suddenly alters the situation from unlikely to certain.
The above is a quotation from one of the pioneers of American forensic science, Paul Kirk (1902–1970).
It captures the uniqueness of forensic science within the broader context of the natural sciences and
engineering. The forensic scientist serves two masters—science and the legal system. This is not
the natural pairing that you might expect it to be. In this section, we study the evolution of forensic
science to what it is today, look at how the forensic scientist interacts with the legal system, discuss
the concept of evidence, and learn how forensic scientists work within the two worlds.
Chapter Overview
… When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either cease being mistaken, or cease being
honest.
Thomas Paine (1737–1809)
The hard chair in the witness stand is much like the hard seat in the classroom—good for keeping
one alert, bad for inducing comfort. But neither the courtroom nor the classroom is designed for com-
fort. Ideally, along with any discomfort, the occupants of both the witness chair and the classroom
desk also share the quest for truth, or as near to truth as humanly possible. It is often thought that
science and justice, like science and learning, have the same goal—elucidation of the truth. However,
this is an oversimplification that masks the complexity of the intersection of justice and science
where this book was born.
It may surprise you to learn that the ultimate goal of litigation is not to find truth. Any system
that allows a jury to reach a verdict of “guilty” or “not guilty” in such important matters would
appear to have something else in mind. The hope of the American litigation system is to provide the
best, fairest, and optimal context for a jury to find the truth and use that truth to settle a dispute.
Creating such an environment is a complex challenge that involves scientists and lawyers, profes-
sionals that approach their work from surprisingly different perspectives. In this chapter, we will
explore these different perspectives, beginning with a very brief overview of the history of law and
forensic science. We will also explore the similarities and surprising differences between science and
the law and discuss ethics as it relates to forensic scientists.
Chapter 1
Justice and Science*
Jon J. Nordby and Suzanne Bell
Chapter Outline
1.1.1 Overview
We could never hope to cover all aspects of the history of forensic science here, but
we can address the highlights that will help you understand how forensic science
began, how it evolved, and how it developed into the diverse field that it has become
today. Most chapters will also cover history of that particular subject to round out
your knowledge. The reference section at the end of the chapters lists several books
that discuss the history of forensic science in detail. Forensic science arose out of
other sciences such as biology, chemistry, medicine, and pharmacology (how drugs
and poisons interact with the body). An important early driving force was death
investigation, which we will examine in Section III, Chapters 5, 6, and 7. This his-
tory of death investigation is surprisingly long. Consider the following common-
sense advice quoted from a forensic text:
* This chapter is based in part on Chapter 1, “Here We Stand: What a Forensic Scientist Does,” and Chapter 34,
“Countering Chaos: Logic, Ethics, and the Criminal Justice System,” both by Jon J. Nordby, as published in the
third edition of this text.
The similarities between those who jump into wells, those who are thrown in, and those
who lose their footing and fall are very great. The differences are slight. … If the victim was
thrown in or fell in accidentally, the hands will be open and the eyes slightly open, and about
the person he may have money or other valuables. But, if he was committing suicide, then his
eyes will be shut and the hands clenched. There will be no valuables on the body. Generally,
when someone deliberately jumps into a well, they enter feet first. If a body is found to have
gone in head first, it is probable that the victim was being chased or was thrown in by others.
If he lost his footing and fell in, you must check the point where his feet slipped to see if the
ground has been disturbed.
There is nothing remarkable about this passage, except that it was written in 1247
CE and was printed in a book in China entitled (translated) The Washing Away of
Wrongs. Although the investigation of death was only one motivating force in the
development of forensic science, it certainly was one of the most important.
Figure 1.5 Comparison scope. This is the type of instrument used by firearms examiners today
using methods pioneered by Goddard.
Holmes, Sherlock
Although fictional, no history of forensic science would be complete without mention-
ing the role these stories played in shaping the public’s image of forensic science.
Over the course of 40 years (1887 to 1927), Sir Arthur Doyle published 56 short
stories and 4 novellas starring Holmes and his good-humored assistant, Watson, as
they solved crimes using logic and science. In his career, Holmes delved into many
areas of forensic science, including forensic biology, trace and transfer evidence, fire-
arms, and questioned documents, using fictional techniques that in many cases
accurately predicted later developments in the field. Doyle’s stories influenced and
inspired many of the pioneers of forensic science including Hans Gross and Edmond
Locard. Holmes is best described as a forensic chemist, although his scientific inter-
ests and skills were broad and deep. In A Study in Scarlet, Holmes announces the
discovery of the “Sherlock Holmes” test, a chemical reagent that detected not just
blood, but specifically human blood. This was in 1887, 14 years before an immuno-
logical test for human blood was announced in 1901. It was not until 1904, 17 years
later, that a presumptive test for blood that reacts with hemoglobin was developed.
As Doyle wrote:
“I’ve found it. I’ve found it,” he shouted to my companion, running towards us with a test tube
in his hand. “I’ve found a reagent which is precipitated by hemoglobin and by nothing else. …
The old guaiacum test is very clumsy and uncertain. So is the microscopic examination for
blood corpuscles. The latter is valueless if the stains are a few hours old. … Are they blood
stains, or rust stains or fruit stains, or what are they? This is a question which has puzzled
many an expert and why? Because there was no reliable test. Now we have the Sherlock
Holmes test, and there will no longer be any difficulty.”
The guaiacum test was the oldest presumptive test for blood and, like all pre-
sumptive tests, was subject to false positives, meaning that the reagent would react
with materials other than blood. The other option he mentions, looking for red blood
cells (corpuscles), only works on fresh stains that are still wet. Once a stain dries
out, the cells lyse (break open) and are no longer recognizable under a microscope.
As occurs in many kinds of fiction, a hero from literature manages to accurately pre-
dict developments years ahead of their time. As a character, Sherlock Holmes has
been constantly revised and reinvented in movies and on television. For a modern
take on forensic science in fiction, see Sidebar 1.2.
Figure 1.7 Fibers under crossed polars. Fibers are a type of trace evidence.
murder her much older husband. Initial results of the analysis of the husband’s
body were negative, but Orfila was able to detect arsenic in the exhumed remains.
Marie was eventually convicted of the crime. His testimony in the case was one
of the earliest examples of sound scientific testimony by a recognized scientific
expert in a court of law.
Lawyers and forensic scientists enjoy a close, yet often uneasy, relationship. In this
sense, at least, forensic scientists and lawyers speak different languages with dif-
ferent objectives, although unfortunately using many of the same words. The words
“truth,” “fact,” “certainty,” “possible,” and “probable” can mean very different things
in law and in science. Lawyers work in adversarial situations where the clear objec-
tive remains winning a favorable decision for one’s client through knowledge of the
law. The adversarial system depends for its success upon the vigilance of opposing
counsel, who also works toward the same objective. In this sense, law is outcome
based. In law, a judge or a jury (finder of fact or trier of fact) determines the
truth. What juries or judges say, through their verdicts, is what is so.
In contrast, science is data based and founded on concepts that taken collec-
tively are called the scientific method. The goal of science, broadly speaking, is to
improve our understanding of the natural world. This goal has nothing to do with
justice directly. In science, understanding “truth” or as close as one can come to it,
depends upon the available evidence combined with a reliable method. Scientists
remain dependent upon data and present their conclusions as tentative, conditional,
or probable in nature where appropriate.
The scientific method can be thought of as a series of steps:
This list provides a useful way to organize a discussion of method for what we call
the “natural sciences.” However, the list is not meant to name the steps to take in the
actual activities of working as a forensic scientist. The sciences begin with data—
information, or facts—not with hypotheses. Scientists observe and collect facts. They
then develop measurements—for example, the length, width, mass, or some other
feature of interest. These facts are studied to develop useful relationships one to
another—for example, in medicine, the weight of a patient and that patient’s blood
pressure. Only then do scientists begin formulating hypotheses; for example, after
a medical examination, a researcher could form the hypothesis that “as a patient’s
weight increases, that patient’s blood pressure increases.” That researcher could
then formulate tests for the hypothesis that evaluate varying weights (as measured)
and blood pressures (as measured) to discover any relationships among them that
might help explain, in this example, the fact of high blood pressure. This model,
however, does not apply to the justice system.
Lawyers represent one of two rival positions arguing for acceptance, and this
is called the adversarial system. The two models—the scientific method and the
adversarial system—make for an odd couple. They may be operating with a different
set of facts. The scientist may present the data, but the lawyer may argue that the
data are inadmissible and prevent the data from becoming evidence. Where a sci-
entist may see a complex issue consisting of many related parts whose interactions
may be unclear to varying degrees, a lawyer may see the issue simply as yes or no,
black or white, on or off, true or false. In other cases, what the scientist sees as black
and white data may become more complex in the law’s view.
How then can the two systems (justice and science) find a way to serve their mutual
goals? Science is not flexible; it must be data centered and data driven. With that in
mind, it is possible to detail some of the ways that scientific data and investigation
can be presented to a court. Specifically, forensic science should, among other things:
A reasonable model for thinking about the goals, objectives, and practices of
forensic science is medicine, an area in which we all have some experience and
understanding. A physician attempts to diagnose an illness based on data obtained
from observation, testing, and questioning. In the forensic sciences, we reason from
a set of given results (a crime scene, for example) to their probable explanations
(hopefully, a link to the perpetrator). The aims of forensic science and medicine
rest with developing justified explanations. Obviously, not all forensic explanations
are alike. Some involve entirely appropriate statistical assessments and degrees of
error suitably dependent on accurate mathematical models and accurate population
studies. You will see such explanations, for example, when studying DNA and other
population-based sciences presented in this text. However, not all forensic scien-
tific explanations involve such statistical issues. Instead, individual, non-repeatable
events with no statistical characteristics may demand scientific explanation.
A medical diagnosis involves selecting the best explanation of abnormalities in
the observed data from among the clinically available alternatives. The diagnosis
concerns what is wrong with one individual, not just what affliction correlates to
some population group. In forensic medicine, the diagnosis focuses on the cause and
manner of an individual’s death. Although statistics are applied differently than in
DNA, pathologists do see similar cases over time and use their experience in mak-
ing their determinations; for example, a forensic pathologist may testify that he has
“seen this in 10 cases” to add a quantitative dimension to his presentation.
In either clinical medicine or in the forensic sciences, how one’s opinion is con-
structed determines its certainty. The certainty of forensic explanations is measured
by assessing their explanatory justifications. This, in turn, involves showing, first,
that the explanation is justified, and, second, that the explanation is better justified
than any available alternative explanation. In this forensic setting, certainty assess-
ments address the scientific explanation’s rational justification, leaving the question
of the explanation’s truth and role in legal deliberations to the court. This allows for
a clearer understanding of requests for certainty assessments when scientists are
asked by attorneys to attach some degree of certainty to their work product.
All reliably constructed scientific explanations are best viewed as works in prog-
ress. We could always learn additional facts that may alter our views. Sometimes,
however, no additional information would be relevant. In either case, our opinions
must be held with what American philosopher and scientist Charles Sanders Peirce
called contrite fallibilism—an awareness of how much we do not know and the
humility to acknowledge the possibility of making mistakes. Forensic scientists
must develop an intellect not too sure of what must remain uncertain and not too
uncertain about what must remain sure.
Many, but not all, forensic scientists work in public and private forensic laboratories.
The remainder work outside of the laboratory systems as independent consultants
and contractors. Some practitioners that work in laboratories also take on private
casework, combining the two settings. People who work in fields such as forensic
anthropology or forensic engineering are typically private consultants; often these
types of professionals work at universities. Often, forensic work is only part of their
job. On the other hand, forensic scientists working in public and private forensic lab-
oratories generally work full time in the profession. Public laboratories are those
funded by governments such as states, counties, and cities. Private laboratories
are businesses that are designed to make a profit; most of these labs specialize in
DNA and forensic toxicology.
There is no such thing as a typical forensic science laboratory. The laboratory
system in one state can be completely different than that in the neighboring states.
Some cities and counties maintain forensic laboratories, while rural states often
rely on only one state laboratory. One laboratory might be full service, while another
might perform a subset of forensic analyses. The federal government is home to sev-
eral agencies that maintain forensic laboratory systems; examples include the Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA, www.dea.gov); Secret Service (http://www.
secretservice.gov/forensics.html); Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI, http://www.
fbi.gov/about-us/lab), and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
(ATF, www.aft.gov). These laboratories focus on the forensic disciplines that are
most critical to that particular agency. The military also maintains a complete
forensic science system, including a full-service forensic laboratory near Atlanta,
Georgia (Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory, http://www.cid.army.mil/
usacil.html) and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System (http://www.afmes.
mil/), which focuses on death investigation and toxicology.
In many states, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is tasked with death
investigation (see Section III) and houses the laboratories associated with perform-
ing autopsies. Often, these facilities will have toxicology laboratories onsite so that
postmortem samples such as blood and tissue can be analyzed there as well. A
full-service forensic laboratory usually covers disciplines such as DNA, drug analy-
sis, firearms and toolmarks, trace evidence, fingerprints, questioned documents, or
some combination of these disciplines. One well-known example of a full-service lab-
oratory is the FBI laboratory in Quantico, Virginia. Conversely, there can be small
branch laboratories that work exclusively on one type of evidence, such as seized
drugs. Increasingly, crime scene response is being handled by police departments
and units such as major crime scene squads. In these scenarios, forensic scientists
are also police officers and their primary job is to respond to crime scenes, process
and collect evidence, and deliver that evidence to the appropriate agency for further
testing. These officers may work with some types of evidence such as fingerprints,
but they usually do not get involved in the other forensic specialties.
One of the most important developments of the past few years related to forensic
science laboratories is the increasing attention being paid to accreditation. Many
kinds of laboratories are accredited; for example, clinical laboratories in hospitals
that perform blood tests are accredited. Accreditation means that a laboratory has
agreed to operate according to a professional or industry standard and has proven
that it can and does operate this way. The process of obtaining accreditation is often
long and complex and involves planning, documentation, recordkeeping, training,
and site visits by the accrediting agency. Once a laboratory is accredited, it must be
reaccredited on a set schedule, such as every 5 years.
Accreditation is increasingly being demanded of forensic laboratories. As noted
by in the 2009 National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report entitled Strengthening
Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward, “Laboratory accreditation
and individual certification of forensic science professionals should be mandatory. …
All laboratories and facilities (public or private) should be accredited.” Currently, the
largest forensic accrediting body is the American Association of Crime Laboratory
Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB, http://www.ascld-lab.
org/). As of 2012, 390 laboratories in the United States and abroad were accredited
by ASCLD/LAB. Currently, accreditation is voluntary.
The other issue noted in the NAS quote is that of analyst certification.
Certification means that a forensic scientist has completed a written test covering
his or her discipline and that the analyst participates in yearly proficiency test-
ing to ensure that their laboratory methods and techniques are sound. Because
forensic science is such a broad discipline, accreditation is not currently the respon-
sibility of a single organization. For example, forensic toxicologists are certified
by the American Board of Forensic Toxicology (http://www.abft.org/), an organi-
zation that also accredits certain types of forensic toxicology laboratories. The
National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME, www.thename.org) accred-
its medical examiner’s offices, and the American Board of Pathology (ABP, www.
abpath.org) certifies doctors in forensic pathology. The International Association of
Identification certifies several forensic disciplines (www.theiai.org). The American
Board of Criminalistics (ABC, www.criminalistics.com) covers the most diverse set
of forensic disciplines from chemistry to toolmarks. The certification process begins
by passing a multiple-choice test. Forensic scientists can then elect to be further
certified in a specialty area. Currently, these areas are molecular biology, drug
analysis, fire debris analysis, trace evidence (hairs and fibers), and trace evidence
(paint and polymers). This level of certification requires the successful annual com-
pletion of proficiency tests.
1.4.1 Overview
A key part of most forensic science jobs is interacting with the justice system
through various procedures and mechanisms. Sometimes, all that is required is a
signed report, and the forensic scientist’s role in the case ends. At other times, days
spent in grueling testimony are required before a judge, jury, and even national
television audiences. We will discuss the most common ways, but certainly not the
only ways, in which a forensic scientist interacts with the judicial system. Broadly
speaking, the legal system in the United States can be divided into the realm of
civil law and criminal law. To simplify, civil cases are cases between individuals
or parties, the common meaning of the terms “lawsuit” or “being sued.” For exam-
ple, a victim’s family may sue a suspected or convicted murderer in a civil case on a
“wrongful death.” Another example is a patent infringement suit in which one com-
pany has accused another of violating a patent. On the other hand, criminal cases
involve violation of criminal laws and involve the government as the body that is
charging an individual, individuals, or companies with violation of criminal laws.
Typically, the party that files criminal charges is called the prosecution (plain-
tiff in civil actions) and the accused is the defendant. Forensic scientists can tes-
tify in either type of legal action and for either party, the accused or the defendant.
Various levels of government can be involved in legal proceedings—local (cities
and counties, for example), state, or federal. A jurisdiction is a region or geographi-
cal area over which law enforcement or a legal entity can excise authority. In the
United States, different legal rules and procedures often apply depending on the
jurisdiction in which the procedure is conducted. For example, the rules that apply
in the city of New York may differ from those Chicago, which may differ from the
rules that apply in the states of New York and Illinois, which in turn may differ from
rules used in federal courts. As an example, a person who sells a sample of an illegal
drug in a state may be tried at a local or state level. If that same person smuggles
drugs across state lines, then federal jurisdiction applies. The legal procedures may
be similar, but they are not necessarily the same. We will discuss this in the context
of admissibility in detail in the next chapter.
It is important to know to whom evidence is presented and who will make the deci-
sion based on the evidence presented. This entity is defined as the trier of fact, which
can be a jury of some type or a judge. A grand jury is a special type of jury that is
empowered to decide if the evidence against a defendant warrants proceeding to the
next step. If the jury decides there is sufficient evidence to warrant further action,
this is referred to as handing down an indictment. In other cases, some form of prelim-
inary hearings may be required. In a criminal proceeding, the prosecutor bears the
burden of proving a defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, a burden that never
shifts. However, in a civil case, the plaintiff need only prove his case by a preponder-
ance of the evidence, a much easier standard to meet. Informally, beyond a reasonable
doubt might be thought of as 99% certainty, while preponderance of evidence would
be 51%. These are not hard numbers but examples to put the difference between civil
and criminal burdens in perspective. Criminal cases are divided into the more serious
(felony) vs. less serious (misdemeanor), a division that is important in determining
the severity of the punishment handed out to a defendant found guilty.
Once the laboratory analysis is completed, a report is written and sent to the offi-
cer or agent that submitted the evidence. The report is then shared with prosecut-
ing attorneys and, if charges are filed, with the defense. If a trial is scheduled and
the forensic scientist is required to testify, a subpoena is delivered to the scientist
that states when and where the trial is to be held. The analyst is required to appear
under penalty of law.
After the scientist takes the witness stand and is sworn in, the first task is to
establish that he or she is qualified to offer expert testimony to the court. This is
accomplished by the voir dire, where the prosecution introduces the scientist and
then has that person describe his or her qualifications, including academic back-
ground, training, and experience. The defense can ask questions of experts and
may attempt to discredit them. Normally, at the end of this procedure, the forensic
scientist is accepted as expert by the trier of fact and allowed to testify about the
case being tried.
Next, the prosecution begins the direct examination, which can take a descrip-
tive or question-and-answer format. One of the goals of the direct examination is to
lay the foundation for the admissibility of the evidence in question. The defense has
the opportunity to attack the admissibility of the evidence much as they have the
opportunity to attack the qualifications of the expert during the voir dire procedure.
If the evidence is not ruled admissible, the expert is not allowed to testify about
work done on it or conclusions reached.
At the conclusion of the direct examination, the defense has the opportunity for
cross-examination of the witness if they so desire. After the cross-examination,
the prosecution can again ask questions in the redirect, followed by recross. This
cycle continues until both parties are satisfied and there are no further questions.
The duration of expert testimony varies based on the complexity of the case and the
laboratory analysis involved. Many simple drug analysis cases may involve only a
few minutes, while more complex cases may require days on the stand. Once the
final recross is complete, the witness is excused and is either allowed to leave (dis-
missed) or told to remain available for possible recall.
The importance of ethics as part of forensic science is obvious. As with most profes-
sions, there are formal written codes of ethics that members of professional societies
agree to and are expected to follow. However, because there are so many different
subdisciplines in forensic science, there is no one code of ethics that covers all forensic
scientists. The American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS, www.aafs.org) has a
code of ethics and an ethics committee that deals with ethics issues and challenges.
Other societies and groups have separate codes. Examples include the Society of
Forensic Toxicology (www.soft-tox.org), the American Society of Questioned Document
Examiners (www.asqde.org), and the organizations discussed in the section describ-
ing accreditation. However, as we all know, having a code of ethics does not always
prevent ethical lapses from occurring. In a profession such as forensic science, these
ethical lapses can have serious and long-term effects. (See Case Study 1.1.)
The fundamentals of forensic ethics are simple to define in a broad sense. First
is ethics, which we can think of as a set of rules the govern conduct of a profes-
sional working in a given field. These rules define what is considered to be proper,
acceptable, and honest behavior within that discipline. Here, a forensic scientist is
expected to do the best work that they can on every case that is submitted, provide
a complete and honest report of their work, and testify as to their scientific opinion
based on that report and their knowledge in the field. This does not imply that dis-
agreements between two experts automatically mean that one of the scientists is
being unethical—far from it. In complex cases that involve opinion evidence such as
crime scene reconstruction, death investigations, and toxicological testing and data
interpretation, different experts often have different opinions that are derived from
the same data. It is important to remember that testimony provided by accepted
scientific experts is still opinion evidence. The degree to which expert opinions can
be reasonably expected to disagree usually depends on the complexity of a case. You
would not expect two experienced forensic chemists to disagree over the identifica-
tion of a white powder as cocaine, for example, but you can reasonably expect two
bloodstain pattern experts to disagree over stains found in a large and complex
crime scene. It is up to the experts to present their opinion and defend it, but in the
end it is the trier of fact that will decide how that testimony is integrated into their
decision in the case.
Another ethical issue that arises in forensic science is that of bias. For example,
if a forensic DNA analyst works for a laboratory that is run by a law enforcement
agency, what are the obligations of that analyst in any case? Are they expected to
find results that support their submitting agency? This is sometimes referred to as
prosecutorial bias. Forensic scientists have to be constantly aware of their pri-
mary responsibility, which is to perform scientific analyses and report their results
regardless of how the results might help or hurt the agency’s case. It is not the
forensic scientist’s job to identify the guilty party and make sure they are punished;
rather, their job is to supply scientific data and information that can be used to find
the truth in any given case, regardless of who or what their data support, incrimi-
nate, or exonerate.
Chapter Summary
1.6 Review Material
1.6.2 Review Questions
1. The systems of science and the law have two different purposes. Summarize
these in your own words.
2. What type of incident was the most important in driving the initial develop-
ment of forensic science?
3. What is the difference between a forensic generalist and a forensic special-
ist? Name two forensic specialties that you have heard of.
4. List the forensic scientists that were involved in the early development of
fingerprints. What made fingerprints so important to forensic science at the
turn of the 20th century?
5. What would you expect to be the biggest disadvantages to the Bertillon sys-
tem of identification of individuals?
6. What is the fundamental characteristic of an adversarial system such as the
law?
7. What are the differences between public and private forensic laboratories?
8. What is the difference between accreditation and certification?
9. What process is used by the trier-of-fact and the courts to determine if a
scientist is qualified to offer expert testimony in a given case?
10. You are a new fingerprint examiner hired to work in a forensic laboratory.
You have been trained in fingerprint evaluation and have a degree in foren-
sic science. One day, your supervisor brings you a case file and asks you to
see if you agree or disagree with his identification of a fingerprint. You study
the case and come to the conclusion that the senior analyst was incorrect.
When you discuss this with him, he becomes angry and refuses to reconsider
his findings. What do you do, and why?
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