This document provides an introduction to forensic science, summarizing several key areas of forensic science including criminalistics, pathology, anthropology, odontology, engineering, and entomology. It explains that forensic science involves the application of science to matters of law and justice. Forensic scientists analyze evidence and testify in court, with specialties including determining cause and manner of death, identifying human remains, analyzing bite marks, accident reconstruction, and estimating time of death using insect evidence.

1. Introduction to Forensic Science

2. FORENSICS
• Today we use the term
forensic science for the
matters that involves the
justice system.
• What do you mean by forensic
science?
– Any science can be a
forensic science if it has
some application to justice
– Criminalistics, Pathology,
Anthropology, Odontology,
Engineering, Entomology

3. CRIMINALISTICS
• The term can be used to describe the
comparative forensic sciences such as
fingerprints, questioned documents,
firearms and tool marks.
• Most commonly, however,
criminalistics refers to the myriad of
types of physical evidence generated by
crime scenes
– Illicit drugs, blood and DNA, fire
and explosive residues, hairs and
fibers, glass and soil particles, paints
and plastics, fingerprints, bullets, and
much more

4. PATHOLOGY
• Forensic pathologists determine the cause
and manner of death in cases where
someone dies under suspicious
circumstances
• Cause of death - Stroke, drug overdose, auto
crash, poisoning, etc.
• Manner of death – the type of death (four
only)
– Homicide, natural, accidental, and suicide
• Autopsy (or postmortem examination) is
used to make these determinations
• Pathologists work for medical examiners or
coroners (varies by state)

5. ANTHROPOLOGY
• Forensic anthropologists work with skeletal remains
• If human, they determine from what part of the body the bone originated
• If they have the correct bones:
– Gender, age, racial characteristics, and even socioeconomic status can
be determined
• If there is an injury to a skeleton or major bones, the cause of the injury or
death can be determined
• It is also possible to build a face onto a skull using clay and pegs of
various sizes
• Facial reconstruction helps find missing persons

7. ODONTOLOGY
• Odontology is a fancy name for dentistry
• Bite marks on a victim or other object can
be matched to a suspect
• Forensic odonatologists can also help
identify remains from disasters such as
plane crashes
– Postmortem dental records are taken
and matched to x-rays taken before
death
• It is also possible to distinguish causes of
facial injuries
– Falling down the stairs vs. being struck
by an object

8. ENGINEERING
• Forensic engineers can be valuable in cases
where something has gone wrong with a
mechanical or structural entity or in cases of
automobile crashes
• Failure analysis is one of the major
contributions that forensic engineers make to
the justice system
• The majority of the work of forensic
engineers is in the investigation of traffic
crashes
– Accident reconstruction is used to
determine speeds, directions of impact,
and who was driving the vehicle at the
time of impact

9. ENTOMOLOGY
• Flies (usually blowflies) are usually the first to arrive at a crime scene
• Flies and other insects lay their eggs in decaying flesh
– Different insects do this at different times
– Other insects such as beetles and wasps will attack and feed off the
insects and eggs
• This parade of visitors takes place at surprisingly consistent time intervals
• Forensic entomologists can estimate the postmortem interval (how long
ago death occurred)
• If a person has been poisoned or has overdosed, flies and other insects
will ingest this as well

11. Who Are Forensic Scientists?
• Two types:
– Enlisted (sworn police officers)
– Civilian
• As forensic science became more technical,
civilians were hired because it became
difficult to recruit scientists to be police
officers
• Forensic scientists have very little function in
evidence collection and rarely attend crime
scenes
• Forensic scientists have two main duties:
– To analyze evidence
– To testify in court

12. Testifying In Court
• Lay witnesses testify as to what they
have perceived with their five senses
– They are not to give their opinions!
• Expert witnesses have knowledge or
skills from education or experience that
qualify them to give opinions and draw
conclusions
• The judge decides if expert testimony is
needed and who is qualified to offer it