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Forensics Unit 1 Notes

Forensics Unit 1 Notes

The Importance of Observation

  • The forensic examiner must be able to FIND—identify the evidence.
  • The forensic examiner must be able to DOCUMENT—record the evidence.
  • The forensic examiner must be able to INTERPRET—accurately determine the significance of the evidence.
  • Basis for all crime scene investigation
  • Finding the facts without bias (driven by your own emotions or ideas)
  • Allows you to find clues or tail a suspect
  • Creates in mind images of what a person sees which can be stored in order for the person to remember later
  • To testify in court where you must know the details months after you made your observations
  • Inadequate information and details will allow a criminal to get off
  • How information from our brain is processed 
    • Information from our senses
    • What we pay attention to
    • Perception
    • Short term memory
    • Long term memory
  • Our brain can FILTER out information, as well as fill in GAPS in our perception.
  • In order to make sense of what we perceive, our brains often enrich with detail what we see, taste, hear, smell, or feel.
  • After an event, we can believe things were part of the BACKGROUND even though they were not.
  • Our brains apply previous KNOWLEDGE to new situations.
  • Observation requires persistence, patience, and practice
  • What are witnesses affected by
    • their EMOTIONAL states
    • whether they were ALONE, part of a GROUP
    • whether OTHERS were in the area
    • what type of and how much ACTIVITY was going on around them.
    • PREJUDICES, beliefs, motives and lapse in time
  • Eyewitness account reports from individuals about crime scene events vary
  • What to remember as an eyewitness
    • Who was involved?
    • What happened?
    • When did it take place?
    • Where did it take place?
    • How did it happen?
    • Anything else unusual or out of the ordinary
  • How to be a good forensic observer
    • Observe systematically
      • Start at one part of a crime scene and run your eyes slowly over every space.
      • Slowly look at every part of a piece of evidence.
      • Do not assume that later on you will be able to remember everything.
    • Turn off filters
      • Do not pay attention to only what you think is important
      • On a crime scene you will not know what will turn out to be important
      • Make a conscious effort to pay attention to all the details in your surroundings.
    • Leave the final interpretation of data until later—
      • Do look for patterns and make connections.
      • But the more information obtained, the better will be the interpretations.
      • Remember that eyewitness accounts and your own thinking can include prejudices.
    • Document everything
      • It is important to write down and photograph as much information as possible.
      • Keep in mind that memory is faulty.
      • Remember that our brains tend to automatically fill in gaps in our perceptions.
  • Tools used to enhance observations
    • Cameras, video to record observations so they can be viewed again.
    • Microscopes provide fast, low-cost, and definitive results whether it’s simple hand-lenses or more the more powerful types found in labs
    • Ultraviolet and infrared lights can reveal evidence our eyes can’t see

Eye Witness Testimony

  • The benefits of eyewitness testimony are that they are reliable, and in some cases, people remember important Information that may lead to a suspect being convicted. In the case that there are many people witnessing a crime take place, some people may remember different details of a specific crime scene. The eyewitness testimony in many cases heavily influences the Judges decision. It also may validate other evidence to convict a criminal. 
  • The drawbacks to eyewitness testimony are that it relies on the witness credibility, and people may have inaccurate memories. It can lead to a wrongful conviction just from a witness' statements made from a mistaken memory. The witness may not be credible in the case that they are working with the real criminal. People also have selective memory, and it is not always perfect as our brain fills in absent information. Since eyewitness testimonies are so influential, it may lead to wrongful convictions. 
  • One case that eyewitness testimony was used in a beneficial way to help convict the perpetrator was in the Perry vs New Hampshire case. Barion Perry is now in prison for breaking into a car in 2008. The eyewitness testimony was from Nubia Blandon who stated that she observed Perry from her apartment window taking items out of a parked car. 
  • One case that eyewitness testimony was used to wrongfully convict someone who was later exonerated was Lydell Grants case. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2012 for the murder of Aaron Scheerhoorn. Six eyewitness testimonies stated that Grant was the criminal, but DNA under the victims nails proved  that the real murder was Jermarico Carter. Lydell Grant was released from prison.
  • Two methods that have been implemented to increase the credibility of witness testimony are asking open ended questions and not interrupting their statement. This gives them the ability to elaborate and think through who the real attacker is.
  • Specifically, there are two methods that eyewitness identification is becoming more accurate. One is the confidence statement, where immediately following the lineup procedure, the witness should provide a statement in their own words that articulates the confidence they have in the identification that they just made. Another method is that the lineup is documented. This means the lineup should be electronically recorded to reduce the wrongful identification of an attacker.


Forensics Unit 1 Notes

The Importance of Observation

  • The forensic examiner must be able to FIND—identify the evidence.
  • The forensic examiner must be able to DOCUMENT—record the evidence.
  • The forensic examiner must be able to INTERPRET—accurately determine the significance of the evidence.
  • Basis for all crime scene investigation
  • Finding the facts without bias (driven by your own emotions or ideas)
  • Allows you to find clues or tail a suspect
  • Creates in mind images of what a person sees which can be stored in order for the person to remember later
  • To testify in court where you must know the details months after you made your observations
  • Inadequate information and details will allow a criminal to get off
  • How information from our brain is processed 
    • Information from our senses
    • What we pay attention to
    • Perception
    • Short term memory
    • Long term memory
  • Our brain can FILTER out information, as well as fill in GAPS in our perception.
  • In order to make sense of what we perceive, our brains often enrich with detail what we see, taste, hear, smell, or feel.
  • After an event, we can believe things were part of the BACKGROUND even though they were not.
  • Our brains apply previous KNOWLEDGE to new situations.
  • Observation requires persistence, patience, and practice
  • What are witnesses affected by
    • their EMOTIONAL states
    • whether they were ALONE, part of a GROUP
    • whether OTHERS were in the area
    • what type of and how much ACTIVITY was going on around them.
    • PREJUDICES, beliefs, motives and lapse in time
  • Eyewitness account reports from individuals about crime scene events vary
  • What to remember as an eyewitness
    • Who was involved?
    • What happened?
    • When did it take place?
    • Where did it take place?
    • How did it happen?
    • Anything else unusual or out of the ordinary
  • How to be a good forensic observer
    • Observe systematically
      • Start at one part of a crime scene and run your eyes slowly over every space.
      • Slowly look at every part of a piece of evidence.
      • Do not assume that later on you will be able to remember everything.
    • Turn off filters
      • Do not pay attention to only what you think is important
      • On a crime scene you will not know what will turn out to be important
      • Make a conscious effort to pay attention to all the details in your surroundings.
    • Leave the final interpretation of data until later—
      • Do look for patterns and make connections.
      • But the more information obtained, the better will be the interpretations.
      • Remember that eyewitness accounts and your own thinking can include prejudices.
    • Document everything
      • It is important to write down and photograph as much information as possible.
      • Keep in mind that memory is faulty.
      • Remember that our brains tend to automatically fill in gaps in our perceptions.
  • Tools used to enhance observations
    • Cameras, video to record observations so they can be viewed again.
    • Microscopes provide fast, low-cost, and definitive results whether it’s simple hand-lenses or more the more powerful types found in labs
    • Ultraviolet and infrared lights can reveal evidence our eyes can’t see

Eye Witness Testimony

  • The benefits of eyewitness testimony are that they are reliable, and in some cases, people remember important Information that may lead to a suspect being convicted. In the case that there are many people witnessing a crime take place, some people may remember different details of a specific crime scene. The eyewitness testimony in many cases heavily influences the Judges decision. It also may validate other evidence to convict a criminal. 
  • The drawbacks to eyewitness testimony are that it relies on the witness credibility, and people may have inaccurate memories. It can lead to a wrongful conviction just from a witness' statements made from a mistaken memory. The witness may not be credible in the case that they are working with the real criminal. People also have selective memory, and it is not always perfect as our brain fills in absent information. Since eyewitness testimonies are so influential, it may lead to wrongful convictions. 
  • One case that eyewitness testimony was used in a beneficial way to help convict the perpetrator was in the Perry vs New Hampshire case. Barion Perry is now in prison for breaking into a car in 2008. The eyewitness testimony was from Nubia Blandon who stated that she observed Perry from her apartment window taking items out of a parked car. 
  • One case that eyewitness testimony was used to wrongfully convict someone who was later exonerated was Lydell Grants case. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2012 for the murder of Aaron Scheerhoorn. Six eyewitness testimonies stated that Grant was the criminal, but DNA under the victims nails proved  that the real murder was Jermarico Carter. Lydell Grant was released from prison.
  • Two methods that have been implemented to increase the credibility of witness testimony are asking open ended questions and not interrupting their statement. This gives them the ability to elaborate and think through who the real attacker is.
  • Specifically, there are two methods that eyewitness identification is becoming more accurate. One is the confidence statement, where immediately following the lineup procedure, the witness should provide a statement in their own words that articulates the confidence they have in the identification that they just made. Another method is that the lineup is documented. This means the lineup should be electronically recorded to reduce the wrongful identification of an attacker.