MEANING AND SCOPE OF FORENSIC SCIENCE

CONTENTS

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Forensic science is a very interesting study and refers to something “of pertaining to, or used
in a court of law”. In today‟s day and age, it almost always refers to a method of
obtaining criminal evidence for the purpose of using it in a court of law. The various aspects
that will be examined in this unit will introduce you to; definition and meaning of forensic
science, history of forensic science, subdivision of forensic science, forensic profiling, and
forensic identification.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

 define forensic science

 state the subdivisions of forensic science
 describe forensic identification procedure
 mention the various steps in forensic profiling
 explain forensic profiling process analysis
 discuss the history of forensic science
 list some notable forensic scientists.
 3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 Definition and Meaning of Forensic Science

The word forensic comes from Latin (forensic meaning “before the forum”) and refers to something “of
pertaining to or used in a court of law. In today‟s day and age, it almost refers to a method of obtaining
criminal evidence for the purpose of using it in the court of law.

Forensic science is typically just referred to as “forensics” and is the practical application of numerous
sciences to solve legal system – related questions, which can include either a civil or criminal action or suit.

The use of the term “forensics” in place of “forensic science” is actually a globally–accepted misnomer
considering that the term “forensic” is effectively a synonym for “legal” or “pertaining to court”, from the root
Latin meaning. Because it is now so closely associated with the criminal scientific field, many dictionaries
equate the word “forensics” with forensic science”.

Forensic science extends into a broad range of sub-sciences which utilises natural science technique to
obtain relevant criminal and legal evidence.

Also forensic science (often shortened to forensics) is the application of a broad spectrum of science to
answer questions of interest to a legal system. This may be in relation to a crime or a civil action. Besides, its
relevance to a legal system, more generally forensics encompasses the accepted scholarly or scientific
methodology and norms under which the facts regarding an event, or an artefact or some other physical item
(such as a corpse) are ascertained as being the case. In that regard, the concept is related to the notion of
authentication, whereby an interest outside of a legal form exists in determining whether an object is what it
purports to be, or is alleged as being.

As earlier stated, the word forensic comes from the Latin adjective forensic, meaning “of or before the
forum”. In Roman times, a criminal charge meant presenting the case before a group of public individuals in
the forum. Both the person accused of the crime; and his side of the story will determine the outcome of
the case. Basically, the person with the sharpest forensic skills would win. This origin is the source of
the two modern usages of the word forensic – as a form of legal evidence and as a category of public
presentation
In modern use, the term “forensics” in place of “forensic science” can be considered incorrect as
the term “forensic” is effectively a synonym for “legal” or “related to courts” however, the term
is now so closely associated with the scientific field that many dictionaries include the meaning
that equates the word “forensics” with forensic science”

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

Explain the meaning of forensic science and define the term forensic”.

3.2 History of Forensic Science

After the definition and meaning of forensic science as discussed in the above section, the next
issue to deal with is the history or evolution of forensic science of course, simply put, how does
these forensic practice come to be?

The ancient world lacked standardised forensic practices, which aided criminals in escaping
punishment. Criminal investigations and trials relied on forced confessions and witness
testimony. However, ancient sources contain several accounts of techniques that foreshadow the
concepts of forensic science, developed centuries later, such as the “Eureka” Legend told of
Archimedes 289 – 212 BC.

The first written account of using medicine and entomology to solve (separate) criminal cases is
attributed to the Book xi Yuan Ji Lu, (translated as “Collected Cases of Injustice Rectified),
written in a song Dynasty China by Sung Ci, in 1248. In one of the accounts, the case of a
person murdered with a sickle was solved by a death investigator who instructed everyone to
bring his sickle to one location. Flies, attracted by the smell of blood, eventually gathered on a
single sickle. In light of this the murderer confessed. The book also offered advice on how to
distinguish between a drawing (water in the lungs) and with other evidence from examining
corpses or determining if a death was caused by murder, suicide, or an accident.

In sixteenth century Europe, medical practitioners in army and university settings began to
gather information on cause and manner of death. A French army surgeon systematically
studied the effects of violent death on internal organs. Two Italian surgeons laid the
foundation of modern pathology by studying change which occurred in the structure of the
body as the result of disease. In the late 1700s, writings on these topics began to appear.
These included: A Treatise on Forensic Medicine and Public Health by French Physician
Fodere‟ and The Complete Police Medicine by the German medical expert Johann Peter
Frank.
In 1776, Swedish chemist, Scheele devised a way of detecting arsenous oxide, a simple arsenic in corpses,
although only in large quantities. This investigation was expanded in 1806 by German chemist Val Ross, who
learned to detect the poison in the walls of a victim‟s stomach, and by English chemist James Marsh who used
chemical processes to confirm arsenic as the cause of death in an 1836 murder trial.

Two early examples of English forensic science in individual legal proceedings demonstrate the
increasing use of logic and procedure in criminal investigations. In 1784, in England, John Toms was
tried and convicted for murdering Edward Culshaw with a pistil. When the dead body of Culshaw was
examined, a pistil wad (crushed paper used to secure powder and balls in the muzzle) found in his
head wound matched perfectly with a torn newspaper found in Tom‟s pocket. In Warwick, England in
1816, a farm labourer was tried and convicted of the murder of a young maid servant. She had been
drowned in a shallow pool and bore the marks of violent assault. The police found foot prints and an
impression from corduroy cloth with a sewn patch in the damp earth near the pool. There were also
scattered grains of wheat and chaff. The breeches of the farm labourer who had been threshing wheat nearby
were examined and corresponded exactly to the impression in the earth near the pool. Later in the 20th
century, there were several British pathologists, Bernard Spitsbury, Francis camps, Sydney Smith and
Keith Simpson.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

Trace the evolution of forensic science to modern times.

3.3 Subdivisions of Forensic Science

Having looked at the history of modern forensic science, we shall now consider the subdivisions of forensic
science. Forensic science specialties include:

Forensic Accounting

The acquisition, interpretation and study of accounting evidence.

Computational Forensics –
also known as digital forensics is the retrieval, reconstruction
and interpretation of digital media (i.e. images, PDFs, e-mail messages, etc.) stored on a computer, for use as
evidence.
Forensic Document Examination

The reconstruction, study and interpretation of physical document– related evidence,

such as hand writing analysis and printmaking.

Forensic Economics

The acquisition, study and interpretation of evidence related to economic damage, which
includes determination of lost benefits and earnings, business value and profit loss, household
service value, labour replacement and future medical expense cost, etc.

Forensic Engineering

The scientific examination and analysis of structures and other objects to answer questions as
to their failure or cause of damage. Typically their evaluation is used to answer legal
questions.

Forensic Linguistics

The study and interpretation of language for use as legal evidence.

Forensic Origin and Cause

The study, interpretation and identification of a fire for the express purpose of determining
the cause of ignition and origin of the fire (i.e. arson cases).

Forensic Photography

The art-science of reconstructing, interpreting and producing an accurate photographic

reproduction of a crime scene for a court‟s benefit.

Forensic Psychology and Psychiatry

The study of the mind of an individual, using forensic methods. Also it is the study,
evaluation and identification of mentally–related illnesses and human behaviour for the
purpose of obtaining legal evidence.

Forensic Anthropology

The practice of physical anthropology, as applied to a legal situation - typically the

identification and recovery of skeletonised human remains (bones).
 Forensic Entomology

Deals with examination of insects in, and around human remains to assist in determination of time or
location of death. It is also possible to determine if the body was moved after death.

Criminalistics

Includes evidence collected from a wide range of sciences to determine the answers of questions relating to
the examination and comparison of criminal investigations. This evidence is typically processed in a crime
laboratory.

Forensic DNA Analysis

Performing individual‟s DNA to answer forensic questions such as determining paternity/maternity or placing
a suspect at a crime scene.

Forensic Geology

The application of trace evidence found in soils, minerals and petroleum, as applied to legal setting.

Forensic Meteorology

Is the analysis of prior weather conditions, specific on the site being examined.

Forensic Odontology

Is the study of teeth – specifically, the uniqueness of dentition.

Forensic Pathology

This combines the discipline of medicine and pathology, as applied to a legal inquiry, to determine the cause
of injury or death.

Forensic Toxicology

Is the study evaluation and identification of the effects of poison chemicals or drugs in and on the human
body.

Forensic Limnology

Is the analysis of evidence collected from crime scenes in or around fresh water sources. Examination of
biological organisms, particularly diatoms can be useful in connecting suspects with victims.
SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 3

List ten areas of forensic science and discuss on any of five of them.

Forensic Science is an applied science in which all the principles of basic Science are utilized
for the purpose of law. As other sciences are based on some fundamental principles, Forensic
Science is also based on some principles. The main principles of Forensic Science are Law of
Exchange (Every contact leave traces), Principle of Individuality (Everything in unique), Law
of Comparison (only similar things can be compared with similar), Principle of Linkage
(crime scene, evidences, victim and accused somewhere linked with each other), Law of
Probability (Probability is a mathematical concept which determines chance of occurrence of
event or phenomenon), Law of Progressive change (Everything changes with passage of time)
and Law of Analysis (The analysis can be no better than the sample analyzed). These all
principles are very useful for solving the crime and in identification of accused. These
principles are useful in linking of suspect with crime scene, as well as with victim. These
principles are very useful in analysis of physical evidences.

1) Law of Individuality -

This law states that, “Every object whether natural or man-made has a distinctive quality or
characteristic in it which is not duplicated in any other object,” in other words, no two things
in this universe are alike. Most common example is the human fingerprints; they are unique,
permanent and prove individuality of a person. Even the twins did not have the same
fingerprints.

Consider grains of sand, salt, seeds or man-made objects such as currency notes, laptop,
typewriter, etc. they may look similar but a unique characteristic is always present between
them.

This principle considered as the most basic elementary unit of Forensic Science. Fingerprints,
footprints, tool marks, obtained from the crime scene are studied and analyzed on the principle
of individuality.

2) Law of Progressive Change

This principle emphasizes that, “Everything changes with the passage of time and nothing
remains constant. “ The changing frequency varies from sample to sample and on different
objects.

The crime scene must be secured in time otherwise a change in weather (rain, heat, wind),
presence of animals/humans, etc. affects the crime scene. For example, a road accident on a
busy highway may lose all essential evidence if not properly secured on time.

A bullet fragments may grow rust, firearm barrels loosen, shoes suffer wear and tear marks,
wooden objects may suffer due to presence of termite, etc. Longer the delay, greater the
changes.

When samples are not much durable, several complications occur in an investigation as the
process of identification is affected due to the variations in the main features of identification.
Without an appropriate preservative, tissue samples start degrading immediately and they
need immediate analysis.

The criminals undergo progressive changes with time. If he is not apprehended in time he
becomes unrecognizable except his fingerprints or other characteristics of permanent nature.

3) Locard’s principle of Exchange (Law of exchange)

This principle was stated by French scientist -Edmond Locard (a pioneer in criminology and
forensic science). Law of exchange states that, “As soon as two things come in connection
with each other, they mutually interchange the traces between them.”

Whenever criminal or his weapon/instrument made connection with the victim or the things
surrounding him he left some traces at crime scene and also picked up the traces from the area
or person he has been in contacted with (mutual exchange of matter). These traces are very
helpful for investigation purposes as these traces are identified by the expert and linked to its
original source resulted in the decisive linkage of the criminal with the crime scene and the
victim. This law forms the basis of scientific crime investigation.

This principle is validated in all cases where there is a contact such as fingerprints, tyre marks,
bullet residues, foot marks, hair sample, skin, muscles, bodily fluids, blood, pieces of clothing
etc. DNA analysis is a straight application of this principle, where any such items are under
analysis which was believed to be held by the perpetrator.

Basic requirement of this law is the correct location of the physical evidence -

i) What are the areas and things with which the perpetrator or tool actually came in contact
during the crime?

ii) Investigating officer should establish the correct points of contact, its lead the investigation
in correct direction.

4) Principle of Comparison – For laboratory Investigation this law is very important. The law
state that “Only the likes can be compared”. It highlights the requirement of providing like
samples and specimens for evaluation with the questioned items’.

For example, if the murder is done by a firearm weapon then it is useless to send a knife for
comparison.

So, the important condition of this principle is to supply specimen/samples of like nature for
proper assessment with the questioned sample discovered from the crime scene.

5) Principle of Analysis

This principle states that, “The quality of any analysis would be better by collection of correct
sample and its correct preservation in the prescribed manner”. This leads to better result and
avoid tampering, contamination and destruction of a sample.

If you collect a hard disk in a paper bag, it can be damaged when it falls within the range of a
strong electromagnetic field resulted in poor results. Hence, always appropriate and effective
collection and packaging techniques must be used.

6) Law of Probability

This law states that, “All identifications (definite or indefinite), made consciously or
unconsciously on the basis of probability.”

The perpetrator blood group is also the blood group of various people is high, but the
probability of the same occurring in the case is low.

A woman with a tattoo bear on its right hand and an old injury mark on head is reported
missing, an unknown woman is found murdered with these characteristics then the probability
for cops that the unknown corpse is of that missing woman is high. The probability that the
dead body is of another woman will be 1 in millions.

7) Law of Circumstantial facts

According to this law, “Facts cannot be wrong, they cannot lie not wholly absent but men can
and do.” This law emphasizes the significance of circumstantial facts and supports that a
statement given by a human may or may not be accurate. In an investigation identified and
discovered facts are more accurate and reliable than any eyewitness.

3.0 Forensic Profiling

You may want to ask yourself what is forensic profiling and its relevance?

Forensic profiling refers to the study and the exploitation of traces in order to draw profile that
must be relevant to the context of supporting various security tasks, mostly in the criminal
justice system. The term forensic in this context refers to “information that is used in court as
evidence”. Geralt & Summer (2006), traces originate from criminal or litigious activities
themselves. However traces are information that are not strictly dedicated to the court, but
also that may bring knowledge on broader domains linked to security that deal with
investigation, intelligence, surveillance, or risk analysis.

Forensic profiling is different from offender profiling, which only refers to the identification
of an offender to the psychological profile of a criminal.

In particular forensic profiling should refer to profiling in general, i.e. “the process of
„discovering‟ correlations between data in data bases that can be used to identify and
represent a human or non human subject (individual or group), and/or the application of
profiles (set of correlated data) to individuate and represent a subject or to a group or
category.” Geralt & Summer (2006).

3.3.1 The Profiling Process

The technical process of profiling can be separated in several steps.

 Preliminary Grounding
 The profiling process starts with a specification of the applicable problem domain and the
identification of the goals of analysis.

 Data Collection

The target data set or database for analysis is formed by selecting the relevant data in the light
of existing domain knowledge and data understanding.

 Data Preparation

The data is pre-processed for removing noise and reducing complexity by eliminating attributes.

 Data Mining

The mined patterns are evaluated on their relevance and validity by specialists and/or professionals in the
application domain (e.g. excluding spurious correlations).

 Application

The constructed profiles are applied, e.g. to categories of persons to test and fine – tune the algorithms.

 Institutional Decision

The institution decides what actions or policies to apply to groups or individuals whose data match a relevant
profile.

Data collection, preparation and mining all belong to the phase in which the profile is under construction.
However, profiling also refers to the application of profiles, meaning the usage of profiles of groups or
individual persons as can be seen in step 6 (application) the process is circular. There is a feedback loop
between the construction and the application of profiles. The interpretation of profiles can lead to the reentrant
– possibly real time – fine tuning of specific previous steps in the profiling process. The application of
profiles to people whose data were not used to construct the profile is based on data–matching, which provides
new data that allows for further adjustments. The process of profiling is both dynamic and adaptive.

3.3.2 Profiling Techniques

Forensic profiling is generally conducted using data mining technology, as a mean by which relevant
patterns are discovered and profiles are generated from large quantities of data.

The data available to law enforcement agencies are divided into two categories.

 Nominal data directly designates persons or objects (intelligence files and suspect files,
stolen vehicles or objects, etc.) and their relations. Nominal data may also be obtained
in the framework of
 specific investigations, for instance a list of calls made with a mobile phone (card
and/or phone) that cover a certain period of time, a list of people corresponding to a
certain profile, or data obtained through surveillances.

 Crime data: Consist of traces that result from criminal activities: physical traces, other
information collected at the scene, electronic traces, as well as reconstructed
descriptions of cases. (Modus operandi, time intervals, duration and place) and their
relations (links between cases, series).

3.3.3 Types of Forensic Profiling

 DNA profiling: Used for the identification of individuals on the basis of their
respective DNA profiles.

 Digital Image Forensic: This covers image source identification (which is based on
specific characteristics of the image acquisition device or technology) and malicious
post-processing or tampering (which aim is for instance to verify the integrity of
particular features).

 Illicit Drug Profiling: Which refers to the systematic extraction and storage of
chemical attributes of drugs seized in order to obtain indications on the manufacture
and distribution processes, the size and the evolution of the market).

 Forensic Information Technology (forensic IT) which refers to the analysis of the
digital traces that people leave when using information technology.

 Offender Profiling: That is psychological profiling of the criminal.

DNA Profiling

DNA profiling (also called DNA testing, DNA typing, or genetic fingerprinting) is a
technique employed by forensic scientists to assist in the identification of individuals on the
basis of their respective DNA profiles. DNA profiles are encrypted sets of numbers that
reflect a person‟s DNA make up, which can also be used as the person‟s identifier.
DNA profiling should not be confused with full genome sequencing. It is used in, for example
parental testing and rape investigation.
Although 99.9% of human DNA sequences are the same in every person, enough of the DNA is
different to distinguish one individual from another. DNA profiling uses repetitive (“repeat”) sequences
that are highly variable, called variable number tandem repeats (VNTR). VNTRs loci are very similar between
closely related human, but also variable that unrelated individuals are extremely unlikely to have the same
VNTRs.

The DNA Profiling technique was first reported in 1984 by Sir Alec Jeffreys at the University of Leicester
in England, and is now the basis of several national DNA databases.

DNA Profiling Process

The process begins with a sample of an individual‟s DNA (typically called a reference sample”). The most
desirable method of collecting a reference sample is the use of a buccal swap, as this reduces the
possibility of contamination. When this is not available (e.g., because a court order may be needed and not
obtainable) other methods may need to be used to collect a sample of blood, saliva, semen or other
appropriate fluid or tissue from personal items (e.g. toothbrush, razor, etc.) or from stored samples (e.g.
banked sperm or biopsy tissue). Samples obtained from blood relatives (biological relative) can provide
an indication of an individual‟s profile as could human remains which had been previously profiled.

A reference sample is then analysed to create the individual‟s DNA profile using one of a number of
techniques. The DNA profile is then compared against another sample to determine whether there is a genetic
match.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 4

Discuss the role of forensic profiling in forensic science.

3.4 Forensic Identification

Forensic Identification is the application of forensic science and technology to identify specific objects from
the trace evidence left, at a crime scene. Forensic means “for the courts”.

Human Identification

Droplets of human blood: In addition to analyzing for DNA, the droplets round also show the impact at a
relatively slow velocity, in the case of a height of two feet.
People can be identified by their fingerprints. This assertion is supported by this philosophy
of friction ridge identification, which states that “friction ridge identification is established
through the agreement of friction ridge formations, in sequence, having sufficient uniqueness
to individualise.

Friction ridge identification is also governed by four premises or statements of fact:

1. Friction ridges develop on the foetus in their definitive form prior to birth.
2. Friction ridges are persistent throughout life except for permanent scarring, disease
or decomposition, after death
3. Friction ridge paths and the details in small areas of friction ridges are unique
and never repeated.
4. Overall, friction ridge patterns vary within limits which allow for classification.

People can also be identified from traces of their DNA by DNA fingerprinting; from their
teeth or bite by forensic odontology; from a photograph or a video recording by facial
recognition systems; from the video recording of their walk by gait analysis; from an
audio recording by voice analysis; from the content of their writing style (e.g. typical phrases,
factual bias, and/or misspelling of words); or from other traces using other biometric
techniques.

Body identification is a subfield of forensics concerned with identifying someone from their
remains.

Product Identification

 Colour copier and maybe some colour computer printers embed their identification
number to some printouts as a counter measure of currency forgeries.
 Copiers and computer printers can be potentially identified by the minor variants of
the way they feed the paper through the printing mechanism leaving banding
artefacts. Analysis of the toners is also used.
 Documents are characterised by the composition of their paper and ink.
 Firearms can be identified by the striations on the bullets they fired and imprints
on the cartridge casings.
 Paper shredders can be potentially identified in a similar way, by spacing and wear
of their blades.
  Photo identification is used to detect and identify forged digital photos.
 Typewriters can be identified by minor variations of positioning and wear of their letters.

Networks

 Cars can be automatically found on CCTV records by automatic number plate recognition.
 Computers connected to the internet can often be identified by their IP address or MAC address.
 Radio transceivers can be potentially identified by minute variations of their output signal.
 Social networks can be discovered by network analysis of banking, telecommunications and
postal records.

Applications

Sometimes, manufacturers and film distributors may intentionally leave subtle forensic
markings on their products to identify them in case of piracy or involvement in a crime.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 5

4.0 SUMMARY

In this unit, we have dealt with the meaning and scope of forensic science, by looking at the following
areas, definition and meaning of forensic science subdivision of forensic science, history of forensic science,
forensic profiling and identification.
6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

1. What is forensic science?

2. Describe the steps involved in forensic profiling.
3. Discuss DNA profiling.