Chapter 7 Crime Scene Evidence and Experiments and Chapter 8 Documentary Evidence Models, Maps and Diagrams

Most cases are solved by DNA test? False - All types of real evidence has two things in common - They must be marked and formally introduced into evidene and - the attorney who wishes to introduce them must lay a foundation to establish the admissibility if the items in question Previous Play Next Rewind 10 seconds Move forward 10 seconds Unmute 0:00 / 0:15 Full screen Brainpower Read More Process of marking has 4 steps - First, the item must be shown to opposing counsel before testimony about it is introduced (give the attorney the chance to see what is to be discussed and form appropriate questions) - Second, the side that tends to introduce the item has the court cleark assign it a number or letter for identificiation - Third, the witness must be called to lay a foundation necessary to show that each item is admissible - Last, a formal request is made to admit it into evidence Crime Scene Evidence - All items that are admitted as exhibits must be authenticated, which means shown to be genuine - To authenticate evidence found at the crime scene it is necessary to show that the item is the same one described by the witness - It needs to be in the same condition that it was in at the same time it was found by the police unless it was necessary to conduct laboratory tests on it -No one should be allowed to try to clean up the arean before the investigation is completed because evidence could be destroyed Processing the Evidence at the Crime Scene - The first step in laying the foundation for the admission of crime scene evidence is to have someone identify the object and testify about where the item was found - If the item has a serial number or some other of identification it is easy process to identify - However just describing it is not good because there were more than one of these made *Most common solution to this problem is to make a mark usually the officers initial on the item at the time it was collected. -Marks should not be placed where they will be in the way when labratory tests are done - Before collecting and packaging evidence for storage, the officer should make a detailed record of the crime scene with clear indications of where each item was found, can be done by sketching the location, detailed notes or