Monday, June 25, 2007
The start of a new week brought
new topics focusing on court room processes and crime scene analysis.
Our morning began with a panel of incredible court room experience
ranging from defense and prosecution attorneys to expert witnesses.
Specifically, we discussed the importance of expert witnesses in a case
and the effects their every move can have. For example, it is important
for an expert witness to be completely aware of word choice, overstating
facts, body language, sincerity, voice intonation, and eye contact with
the jury. Further, these individuals must be ready to be challenged on
any past published work or activity placed on public record. As one can
gather, an expert witness must be ready for anything and everything on
the stand!
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Preparing to enter the crime scene. |
We also discussed the concept
pertaining to the chain of custody. This idea is in reference to the
handling of evidence at a crime scene and its path to the closure of a
case. Ultimately, it is one of the most important aspects of processing
a crime scene because it has the potential to effect evidence and
potential outcomes of a case. Therefore, in maintaining the chain of
custody, it is imperative to document, label, package, and ensure
certification of lab protocols and reports. Following these steps will
ensure ones own credibility and the validity of the case in terms of
analyzing a crime scene.
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Student powdering for fingerprints
on window in crime scene. |
One might be wondering in all of
our experiences so far if CSI has made our lives and those who do these
jobs for a living better or completely abominable? Thus far in our
field school, we have heard resounding answers for both. As brought to
our attention by the panel this morning, it has added a new light and
respect to many of the jobs related to the field of forensics. The
general public has started to realize the amount of scientific
background many forensic positions actually require in addition to the
long laborious hours put into a crime scene for analysis. In
opposition, some have stated that CSI has glamorized the field to a
point where individuals expect certain tests and processes to take less
than an hour or even exist in the first place! In courtroom situations,
this can be detrimental to expert witnesses, for example, because jurors
may have an expectation of a process they have seen on television that
could inevitably be irrelevant in certain cases. For all of us involved
in the field school, we absolutely experienced the laborious process of
crime scene investigation today. Our crime scene was a concoction of
evidence tags, evidence bags, fingerprint powder/brushes, casting
material, sketches, measuring tape, labels, cameras, and endless piles
of paperwork and documentation. Regardless of the relentless
documentation required for processing the scene, it was a great feeling
to actually put together the skills we had learned this past week into
action!
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Dusting for fingerprints. |
Collecting and labeling evidence. |
The 2007 OSU/PAST Foundation Forensic
Archaeology Field School is sponsored by:
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