- the application of science to law

- the application of science to criminal and civil laws that are enforced by police agencies in the c.j.s

- work in labs, analyze specimens

- don't go to crime scenes

- are civilians with strong core scientific backgrounds who perform scientific analysis analysis on evidence

- testify as witnesses

- are specially trained police officers

- collect evidence at crime scenes

- are Identification officers at the RCMP

- didn't see the event happen, they analyse the evidence

- give their opinion of what the evidence indicates

- has specialist knowledge in a specific area (educated, trained, research)

- present the qualifications at court

- opposing council can cross-examine

- judge has final say

- must give their unbiased opinion 

- can include hair, fibres, fingerprints, writing, etc

- people leave and pick up trace as they go

- Dr. Edmond Locard, who founded the first forensic lab in France

- an all cases, the criminal will leave something at the scene and take something away from it

- Frye vs US

- court must question whether the procedure, technique or method is "generally accepted" by a meaningful segment of the scientific community

-Daubert

- trial judge decides amissibility

- suggested areas of inquiry:

1. can it be tested?
2. has it been subject to peer review?
3. what is the potential rate of error?
4. is there wide spread acceptance?

- can be associated with a group but not a single source

- its value depends on the probability of the evidence being found else where

-ex. white t-shirt fibres

- characteristics can be identified with just one source with a high degree of accuracy

- is very valuable and very significant

- ex. fingerprint, DNA

- adapted father's seriation system

- used 14 charactersitics and 5 ranks for each person so that everyone had a unique description

-caught repeat offenders

was called "Bertillionage" or "anthropometric indications"

-Flaw:

Thought each characteristic was seperate from the others.

We know this is wrong! Basic genetics indicates that characterisitics are often linked together genetically and so they are inheriated together.

- was adopted in France and used in prisons

-was the founder of mug shots and crime scene photos

-to determine there is a victim

- once id is determined, police can get info on when/where they were last seen, ask friends/fam is the vic had problems or suspicions

- without an id, chances of solving the case are low

- gives an idea of who the person was

method:

1. use items on the body of the victim at the crime scene
2. create a biological description

Sex:

-Adult: pelvis and cranium

-Subadults: harder to determine because bones are not fully developed, not expressed until puberty

Age:

- teeth and ossifcation centers (epiphyseal fusion=young adults, pubis syhphysis remodelling= adults)

Race:

- cranium and dentition

Stature:

- use measurements of a single long bone

-use measurements in formulae to predict stature

- there are standards

- can only use on populations that have been analyzed

- visual

=most common, least scientific, only when body is fresh

-fingerprints

=common method, only valuable if there are premortem records or latent prints, if skin has shrunk and wrinkled, need to re-hydrate

-dental/x-rays

=common method, each mouth unique, compare to antemortem records

-DNA

=collect DNA from personal property of the tentative id, nuclear DNA (both parents), mitochondrial DNA (mother)

- corporal evidence: stage of decomp

- environmental evidence: insect colonization or plant growth

- anamnestic evidence: a person's recall of a common activity that can be dated

- eyewitness evidence: someone who saw the death happen

- the cooling of the body after death

- cooling rates can give tsd in the first few hours

- drop in body temp happens at a predictible rate

- only valuable up to 18 hour after death

-there are variables (original body temp, body size)

- the stiffening of the body after death

- results from chemical and physical changes in the body

-glycogen is muscles become a gel, gel thickens when there is a pH change, causes stiffening in muscles, will become flaccid again

- smaller muscles show the effects faster

face: 1-4h

limbs: 4-6 h

rigor complete: 6-12h

rigor leaves: 24-50h

variable: speeds up warm temp, cocaine, exercise more

slows in cool temp

- settling and pooling of blood after death

- the blood falls downwards after death, drops to lowest points in the body

- skin develops a dark red colouration

- red colouration usually not visible till after 30min

- tod is based if lividity is visible, moveable, set

- min 3 years of basic police service

- 3 wk assessment that exposes them to aspects of the job

-judge aptitude and ability for job

-successful candidates take the basic ident course at Canadian Police College in Ottawa

- assigned to ident section to do an understudy to a senior ident specialist

-must do 5 research projects and gradually take cases under their mentors until they can do indiv work

- at end of understudy period and final fingerprint exam, are presented to certification board

- takes 6h exam

->250-350 oral qs asked rapidly, need 90% min

->mock trail, presents fingerprint individualization from one of their cases

- must keep certification by continued studies and participate in recognized professional organization

FATAL MISTAKE: one mistake will end career

1) crime reported

2) first respondants attend scene. Must determine if crime has been committed

3) if there's a crime police take scene

1st duty: police safety

2nd duty: protect the public

3rd duty: protect the scene and evidence

4)first responders notify various support services (coroner, f.ident.serv, serious crime section)

** ident processes the crime, not responsible for the investigation

*** serious crime section actually persue the crime

- if vic alive, try to save them

- post guards at appropriate points at the scene

- install barricade (crime tape)

- evidence not touched yet unless perishable

- id each piece of evidence

- describe exactly where it was found

- prove the continuity of the evidence from the scene until it is presented to court (chain of custody)

- describe any changes to the evidence that may occur

- must get as much info before entering scene

- will speak to first responder (what scene contains, disturbances)

- witness statements

- cover clothing, hair, shoes with bunny suits

- fingerprints, DNA boot prints collected from first responders

- mark out safety zone (1m wide from boundry of scene)

- evidence sketched, catalogued, photographed and seized

responsibility:

-protecting/preserving evidence

- taking photos, stills, video

-taking detailed notes

- searching scene

- sketching measuring, and drawing

- collecting recording evidecne

1. are individual characteristics
2. remain unchanged through life
3. have general ridge patterns that allow them to be identified

- have one or more ridge entering from one side of the print

- curve around to exit from the same side of the pattern

->ulnar loop

->radial loop

-ridge patterns are genrally rounded or circular in shape and have two deltas

- 4 groups: plain, central pocket, double, accidental

- ridge lines enter the print from one side and flow out from the other side

- tends to rise in the center of the pattern, forming a wave-like pattern

- 2 groups: tented, plain

- any print has 150 indiv ridge characteristics

- there must be no charateristics that don't match

- no min # of required characterisitics for a match, depends on examiner

- examiner will look at 3 levels of detail:

- pattern

- ridge characteristic

- sweat pores (if visible)

- responsible for overseeing the investigation into a sudden death under the criteria of each provinces Coroner Act

-medical or investigative background

- do training and understudy before taking own cases

- are on call and attend all sudden deaths

- help police investigations in homicides

- have legal jurisdication over deceased

- don't preform autopsies

= have juducal power

- used in Alberta, Manitoba, Newfoundland, Nove Scotia

- medical doctors

- chief/deputy med examiners are forensic pathologists and conduct autopsies

- have Fataality Inquiry Act

- can authorize external autopsy if full autopsy not reuqired

- determine cause and means of death

- all sudden and unexplained deaths

Coroner's Act: if death occured by..

- unfair means

- result of violence, misadventure, negligence, misconduct, suicide

-pregnancy or following pregnancy

- from disease, sickness, unknown cause

- any cause other than disease

- correnction center, penitentary

- investigative: involves technical aspects of death scene

- preventive: determining cause of death and ensure a similar doesn't occur again

- administrative: providing death certificate and writing reports related to death

- judicial: powers/authority to conduct inquests

- who: who is the deceased

- how: cause of death

- where: ehere did the victim die

-when: when did they die

- by what means: what is the mechanism or mode of death

- accident: death casued by unintentional/unexpected factors

-natural: death caused by disease and is not the result of injury or abnormal environment factors

-homicide: the taking of one's life at the hands of another

-suicide: the intentional taking of one's life

-undetermined: no obvious reason why they died

- history: medical, social, psychiatric, and what this tells us about the death... habits, lifestyle, talk to fam

-scene: tells us about the scene and the circumstances surrounding it. ex. drugs

- body: moved, trauma, trace evidence, position

- instrument of death

-ex. rope, bullet, hands

1. deceased and family/friends
2. society as a whole
3. other government agencies and organizations