Introduction to forensic science

Introduction to forensic science-week 1;

Forensic science is the application of scientific ideas and methodology to aid legal proceedings;
 Biology
 Chemistry
 Computing
 Engineering
 Mathematics
 Physics

Definition;
“Forensic Science is any scientific and technical knowledge that is
applied to the investigation of a crime and the evaluation of
evidence to assist courts in resolving questions of fact in court.”

Civil;
 Negligence
 Fire/road accident-damage claimed
 Breach of contract
Criminal;
 Murder
 Sexual assault
 Burglary/theft

Has a crime been committed?
 Is the death unnatural
 Has a fraud been committed
 Was the fire deliberate
 Was the suspect in position of a controlled drug
 Was the RTC a result of drink driving?
 Has the victim of an attack been sexually assaulted

Who is responsible?
 Location of the evidence on scene
 Can evidence be linked to a suspect or a person responsible for the incident
 In the lab evidence can be examined in more detail
 Fingerprints found at the scene can match known offenders
 A dna sample could match on NDNAD
 Examination of material left of the victim or at the scene
 Examination of the clothes of the suspect to match things found at the scene

Is there enough evidence?
 Aim is to provide evidence to help with court
 Not enough evidence?- is prosecution possible
 Poor quality evidence?- can the court rely on the evidence?
 The criminal prosecution service (CPS) will make the decision based on evidence available

Duties of a forensic scientist;
 Recover and/or examine evidence and interpret results from examination
 Provide the findings of the examinations in a report
 Present evidence in court (written and/or verbal)