Forensic Final Review Sheet

Know the following:

Law & History

What does forensics mean?

People – Orfila, Bertillon, Galton, Osborne, Lattes, Goddard, Gross, Kirk, LOCARD

Quantitative vs Qualitative

Felony vs Misdemeanor

What makes evidence admissible in court (Relevance & competence)

Expert witness vs lay witness

Crime scene investigation

Chain of custody

How to package evidence properly (what is necessary / what isn’t)

Locard’s exchange principal

Direct vs circumstantial evidence (physical or biological)

7 S’s of crime scene investigation (steps in a crime scene)

Types of crime scene searches (zone, line, & spiral)

Who does what at the crime scene (first responder, lead investigator, etc…)

Fingerprints

Epidermis vs Dermis

When they form in the womb (weeks)

What skin layer creates the fingerprints

Identify: Arch (plain or tented) , Whorl, & Loops (radial or ulnar)

Ridge characteristics (bifurcation, island, bridge, etc…)

Patent vs Plastic vs latent prints

DNA Profiling

What is DNA profiling (straight off slides)

What are the 4 steps in DNA profiling

What are the chances of 2 people having exactly the same DNA profile?

Who gives mitochondrial DNA (mom or dad)

What kind of evidence is hair (biological class) unless what?

Absorb (from within) vs adsorb (added to outside)

Cuticle / cortex / medulla

3 kinds of cuticle: Coronal / spinous / imbricate Medulla: intermittent or interrupted / fragmented / continuous / stacked / absent

Anagen / catagen / telogen

How fast does hair grow per month? (1 cm)

What kind of evidence is fiber (class? Individual? )

Wayne Williams case (pg 76)

Spiders web organ

Tests used to determine fiber (microscopic observation, burn test, & chemical test)

What kind of evidence is blood?

# pints in average human body (10)

3 questions to ask when encountering possible blood at crime scene (in order)

Agglutination (antigen + ? = agglutination)

Presumptive blood tests

Back spatter, swipe, cast off, & bloodstain transfer

Low velocity, medium velocity, & high velocity impact spatters

Area of convergence

Documents

Identify what ISN’T one of the 12 points of handwriting analysis

Graphology

Forgery

Chroatography

Ballistics

What is ballistics

Internal, external, & terminal ballistics

Firearms identification

How a gun works (4 steps off ppt)

Lands vs groves

Parts of a cartridge

Order bullet holes in glass due to fractured glass patterns

Cause / Mechanism / Manner of Death

Entomology / Livor mortis / Algor mortis / Rigor mortis

Anthropology

bones used to determine race / gender Marijuana stays in body for up to 2 months depending on body fat %

Veisalgia = Hangover (Greek /Norwegian)

Depressant = suppresses respiration, causes lethargy & sleepiness

Stimulant = increase respiration & wakes

BAC = Blood Alcohol Content

Meningies = connective tissue in head that gives up “excess” liquid during extreme dehydration

Spinneret = a spider silk spinning organ

Poison = any substance that can cause death