Forensic Science Lesson 02: Criminal Justice and The Law

Criminal Justice and the Law

Multiple Choice

The use of techniques related to the collection, examination, and analysis of evidence at a crime scene

• chromatography

• forensic science

• biology

• earth science

Multiple Choice

Which type of forensic science would look at evidence to determine the time and cause of victim?

• Forensic Psychology

• Forensic Pathology

• Forensic Geology

• Forensic Entomology

Drag and Drop

One of the many crimes the FBI investigates is ​

Placeholder

, which is the sale of stolen property.

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

fencing

burglary

embezzlement

murder

Lesson Objectives

• Describe the Criminal Justice System in the United States

• Explain Federal rules of evidence

• Differentiate between different types of law in the criminal justice system

Open Ended

Why do we have Laws?

Criminal Justice and the Law

• Laws are established to regulate relationships between individuals, organizations, and agencies

• Laws can vary from region to region

• In the United States, the Constitution is the final authority on laws about individual rights and the limits of the government

  • Is not a list of all laws

  • Needs to be interpreted in deciding whether new or existing laws are acceptable

• There are different types of law that relate to different situations

Statutory Law

• Statutory Law: Legislative acts declaring, commanding, or prohibiting something

• "The Law on the Books" as written and enacted by the government

  • In the US, is written by Congress

• Based on the Constitution

Common Law

• Common Law: the body of law made up of judicial opinions and precedents

  • Also called Case Law

  • Written directly by Judges

    • In the US: The Supreme Court carries the greatest influence

• Uses decisions made in previous cases or superior courts as a basis to justify later decisions made in similar cases

  • Stare Decisis: To stand by the decision

  • Precedents: decisions made in previous cases or superior courts

• Allows for predictability and consistency in how the law is applied

Civil Law

• Civil Law: Law that deals with noncriminal suits brought to protect or preserve a civil or private right or matter

  • Also called Private Law

• Deals with relationships between individuals involving such matters as property or contracts

  • Marriages/Divorces, Wills/Property Transfer, Negligence & Faulty Products

• More concerned with assigning blame than establishing intent

• Needs a Preponderance of evidence to convict

• Violations are generally punishable by fines or transfers of property

Criminal Law

• Criminal Law: regulation and enforcement of rights, setting the acceptable limits of conduct in society

  • Also called Public Law

• Concerned with offences against an individual that are deemed offensive to society

  • The state is the plaintiff

• The prosecution is called to prove guilt "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt"

Key Individual Rights Guaranteed by the Bill of Rights

• The Right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty

• The right not to be searched unreasonably

• The Right not to be arrested without Probable Cause

  • Includes unreasonable seizure of personal property

• The Right against self-incrimination

• The Right to an attorney and Trial by Jury

• The Right to know any charges against oneself

• The Right to due process

How does Forensic Science Deal With Law?

• Forensic Scientists may examine evidence that deals with any and all types of law, not just criminal

• All collectors of evidence of are required to be aware of and follow the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and Bill of Rights

Multiple Choice

Which type of law is written by judges as court decisions

• Common Law

• Civil Law

• Criminal Law

• Statutory Law

Multiple Choice

Two neighbors are in court arguing over a fence that is crossing over the two properties. What type of law is this?

• Criminal Law

• Civil Law

• Common Law

• Statutory Laf

Multiple Select

Which of the following Rights are guaranteed by the Bill of Rights?

• The right of Presumption of innocent until proven guilty

• The right to know what charges are against you

• The right to an attorney

• The right to not be discussed until after a trial

• The right to see all aspects of an investigation against yourself

Multiple Choice

What is the final authority of laws and individual rights in The United States?

• The Supreme Court

• The Constitution

• Congress

• The President

Multiple Select

Which types of law may involve forensic science

• Civil Law

• Criminal Law

• Statutory Law

• Common Law

Types of Crimes

• Violation: A breach of a right, duty, or law

  • Occurs anytime a law has been broken

• Classified in three ways

  • Infraction: A violation of a rule that is not punishable by prison

  • Misdemeanor: A minor crime that is usually punished with a fine or confinement other than prison

    • Punishment can range up to one year in jail

  • Felony: A serious crime such as murder, punishable by more than one year of imprisonment up to execution

Steps in Pursuing Justice

• Steps in pursuing justice can be confusing due to different jurisdictions, procedures, and state rules, but there are some standard steps involved

• After the crime is committed and discovered, a suspect needs to be identified through evidence

  • Elements: Specific factors or parts of a crime

    • did the crime occur?

    • did the accused intend for the crime to happen?

Steps in Pursuing Justice-Post Arrest

• When a suspect is arrested, they are taken to a police department

• Booking: a police procedure following arrest that records basic information about the suspect

  • photos, fingerprints, a lineup

• If questioning is going to follow, a suspect is read their Miranda Rights

  • Constitutional rights guaranteed to all arrestees

  • Note: This does not happen during the moment of arrest

Steps in Pursuing Justice -Arraignment

• Within 72 hours, the suspect must be brought before the courts for arraignment

  • The first act in a criminal proceeding where the defendant is brought before the court to hear charges and enter a plea

• The court may assign a public defender if they do not have one

• If appropriate, Bail may be set

  • Bail: An amount of money put up to guarantee that the defendant will appear in court.

Steps in Pursuing Justice -Pleas

• A suspect may offer one of many different pleas

  • Guilty

  • Not Guilty

  • Not Guilty because of insanity

  • Double Jeopardy: The defendant claims they have already been tried for the same crime in the same court

  • Nolo contendre: A defendant neither admits guilt nor pleads not guilty, but accepts the punishment as though guilty

    • "No Contest"

• Once a plea is entered, future court dates are set

Steps in Pursuing Justice -Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity

• Has a very specific legal meaning

• Defendant must prove that at the time of the offense they were unable to appreciate the nature and quality or wrongfulness of his acts

  • Require Clear and Convincing Evidence

• When a plea of insanity is entered, intent not required to be shown

Steps in Pursuing Justice -Post Arraignemt

• After arraignment, the suspect is brought before. judge

  • If a felony, a preliminary hearing is held to determine if a person charged should be held for trial

    • No jury, just the judge deciding how to proceed

• If there is enough evidence, many states will use a Grand Jury instead of a Preliminary Hearing

  • A group of people who inquire into a crime to determine if a person should be Indicted

• Indict: To Formally Accuse a person of a crime

Steps in Pursuing Justice -Trials

• During a trial, a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty

  • The burden of proof rests on the prosecution

• Trials are done before a jury of peers who hear the evidence and decide if it is sufficient to prove guilt

  • Only about 50% of arrests are convicted

• Plea Bargain: agreement in which a defendant pleads guilty to a lesser charge and the prosecutor drops more serious charges

  • Avoids the cost of a trial

  • Can occur at any point before the end of a trial

  • 90% of cases end with some form of Plea Bargain

Multiple Choice

The specific factors or parts of a crime are called

• evidience

• forensics

• elements

• criminalistics

Multiple Choice

True or false: Most criminal cases end in conviction

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

When a suspect is questioned, what must be done by the police?

• They must have a bail amount set

• They must be in the presence of a judge

• They must have their Miranda Rights read to them

• Nothing, the police can just question people whenever they want

Multiple Choice

What is the least severe type of crime?

• Felony

• Misdemeanor

• Infraction

• All crimes are equal in severity

Multiple Choice

When does a suspect enter a plea?

• During their Arrest

• During Booking

• During arraignment

• When Paying Bail

Federal Rules of Evidence

• There are rules for what types of evidence are allowed to be entered in trial

• Evidence must be Probative

  • Have a purpose to prove something

• Evidence must be Material

  • address the issue of the particular crime

• Evidence Must be Reliable

Hearsay

• Hearsay: Testimony that relates what a witness saw or heard from someone else

  • They did not directly see or hear what happened, but someone else told them

• It is generally inadmissable in criminal suits because it is not taken under oath or able to be cross-examined

  • Can be Admissible in Civil Suits

Expert testimony

• Expert Witness: a person who is a specialist in a subject that is often technical, and testifies without actually witnessing the event

  • Explains why evidence may be interpreted the way it is

  • Is an exception to the rules against giving opinions as evidence

• Two legal cases serve as the influence on how expert testimony can be used in court

  • Frye v. The United States, 1923

  • Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 1993

Expert testimony-The Frye Standard

• 1923- James Frye convicted of second-degree murder

• The case was appealed with the defense arguing that an expert witness about a form of lie detection was not allowed to testify

• The Supreme Court decided to let the conviction stand

• The Frye Standard says that expert testimony can only be allowed if the science in question has gained "general acceptance" in the field

  • Can be vague and hard to reach

  • Can hinder testimonies based on new fields and technologies

Expert testimony-The Daubert Ruling

• 1993: Two families sued Dow, claiming that their children's birth defects were caused by medicine marketed by Dow

• Initially the court decided the evidence from the families did not meet "general acceptance" standards, and the case went to the Supreme Court

• The Supreme Court stated that due to rapid changes in some technologies, the Frye Standard was not an appropriate standard for admissibility

• Helps to keep junk science out of the courtroom

Expert testimony-The Daubert Ruling Guidelines

• The scientific theory must be testable

• The theory/technique must be subject to peer review and publication

• The rate of error must be given in the testimony

• The theory/technique must follow set standards

• The court must consider whether the theory or technique has attracted widespread acceptance within a relevant scientific community

Multiple Choice

When may Hearsay be allowed in trials?

• During all trials

• During criminal trials only

• During Civil trials

• Never

Multiple Select

Select all the requirements for evidence in a trial.

• Probative

• Material

• Reliable

• Definitive

What are the roles of the Forensic Scientist?

• Analyze evidence and prepare reports on the analyses.

  • Sometimes will work a crime scene

• Testify in court as an expert witness

Poll

Do you think Forensic Science has an effect on Fiction and Pop Culture?

• Yes

• No

Word Cloud

Name the first piece of fiction that involves forensic science that you can think of.

Poll

Do you think Pop Culture has an effect on Forensic Science?

• Yes

• No

How have people viewed Forensic Science over time

• Mystery stories have been popular for some time

• 1841: Murders in the Rue Morgue Published

  • First murder mystery

• 1887: The first Sherlock Holmes Story Written

  • Brought the idea of using science to solve crimes to the mainstream attention

  • Described and proposed theories of solving crimes not yet considered, like creating chemicals to find bloodstains

    • Some of these ideas were tested and quickly accepted

What is the CSI Effect?

• Television Crime Dramas have brought attention to forensic science to a new height

  • Most people now know about DNA/Blood Analysis, fingerprinting, and bone analysis, even if they don't understand the science behind it

• There is a growing concern that jurors who watch crime shows may bring bias against investigators that don't match what they see on TV

  • Evidence is usually not 100% conclusive

  • You don't always find DNA or fingerprints

  • Some cases involve discounting Eyewitness testimony due to a lack of DNA

• Despite the idea being controversial, several states allow for the dismissal of jurors due to them being fans of crime dramas

Misconceptions from the CSI Effect

• All Crime labs are well equipped with the latest technology

  • Most Machines are far too expensive to have more than one

• Crime Scene Investigators process the Crime Scene

  • This is done by trained police officers

• Crime Scene Investigators know all fields of science

  • Most are a specialist in one field

• Technology makes solving crimes solvable within a couple of days

  • Many tests can take a day to complete, but there are backlogs and multiple runs need to be done

• Forensic Science Tests are never wrong

  • Human error can influence a test

Open Ended

Do you feel that watching crime shows should disqualify a person from a jury? Explain why or why not.

Open Ended

Assuming the CSI Effect is a real thing that can affect a jury's decision to convict, what would you propose as a means to overcome it? Name at least three things.