Evidence Collection
small but measurable amounts of physical or biological material found at a crime scene
What is trace evidence?
a kind of evidence that identifies a particular person or thing
What is individual evidence?
a cell structure that contains genetic information along strands of DNA
What is a chromosome?
proteins secreted by white blood cells that attach to antigens
What are antibodies?
a person who scientifically analyzes handwriting
What is a document expert?
the immediate reason for a person’s death (such as heart attack, kidney failure)
What is cause of death?
a hypothesis of the sequence of events from before the crime was committed through its commission
What is crime-scene reconstruction?
the actively growing root or base of a hair containing DNA and living cells
What is a hair follicle?
pattern of DNA fragments obtained by examining a person’s unique sequence of DNA base pairs (also called DNA profiling)
What is a DNA fingerprint?
secondary drop formed when some blood breaks free from the main contact drop of blood
the making, adapting, or falsifying of documents or other objects with the intention of deceiving someone
What is forgery?
the process of rotting and breaking down
What is decomposition?
material that connects an individual or thing to a certain group
What is class evidence?
the central core of a hair fiber
What is the medulla?
an impression left on any surface that consists of patterns made by the ridges on a finger
What is a fingerprint?
a three-dimensional view formed using lines of convergence and angles of impact of at least two different drops of blood to identify the source and location of blood splatter
What is point of origin?
the production of an imitation of currency, works of art, documents, and namebrand look-alikes for the purpose of deception
What is counterfeiting?
one of four means by which someone dies (i.e., natural, accidental, suicidal, or homicidal)
What is manner of death?
evidence that (if true) proves an alleged fact, such as an eyewitness account of a crime
What is direct evidence?
a fiber made from a man-made substance such as plastic
What is synthetic fiber?
a hidden fingerprint made visible through the use of powders or other techniques
What is a latent fingerprint
the degree to which a substance is poisonous or can cause injury
What is toxicity?
a cross section of horizontal layers, or horizons, in the soil that have distinct compositions and properties
What is a soil profile?
the stiffening of the skeletal muscles after death
What is rigor mortis?
(indirect evidence) evidence used to imply a fact but not prove it directly
What is circumstantial evidence?
the passing of evidence, such as a fiber, from victim to suspect or vice versa
What is direct transfer?
the recognizable pattern of the ridges found in the end joints of fingers that form lines on the surfaces of objects in a fingerprint. They fall into three categories: arches, loops, and whorls
What is a ridge pattern?
a drug or other chemical compound whose manufacture, distribution, possession, and use is regulated by the legal system
What is a controlled substance?
the study of soil and rocks
What is geology?
the specific body failure that leads to death
What is mechanism of death?