History/Law/Crime Scenes
What is the difference between strip/line search and grid search patterns?
Strip/line: searchers walking parallel lines across an area
Grid: area is searched twice, first in one direction and then perpendicularly
List the stages of the blowfly life cycle in order.
egg, larva, pupa, adult
Which fingerprint pattern is the most common among the population?
loop
What is metadata?
Data that is attached to your online content (time/date file was created)
What is the role of a forensic toxicologist?
identify and quantify drugs and chemicals
Biological: saliva, hair follicle DNA, blood
Physical: toolmarks, fingerprints
What is the difference between male and female skull?
Male: Square eye sockets, square chin
Female: Round eye sockets, pointed chin
What is a 'delta' in fingerprint patterns?
triangle shaped pattern on fingerprint
What part of the hair helps to distinguish between human and animal hair?
medulla
90 degrees
Why should you separate witnesses at the crime scene?
Prevent witnesses from influencing the testimony of others.
What does the term rigor mortis refer to?
Stiffness of death
What are the shortcomings of handwriting analysis? (Name three.)
mood, age, fatigue
What does ballistics tell an investigator? (List two things.)
bullet trajectory and the shooter's location
What does LD50 mean?
lethal dose that would kill 50% or more of the population
Define cause, mechanism, and manner of death?
Cause: injury/disease (e.g., gunshot wound)
Mechanism: body's physiological failure (e.g., blood loss)
Manner: legal classification (Natural, Accident, Suicide, Homicide, Undetermined)
natural openings/wounds
How does the rifling inside a gun barrel affect a bullet?
It causes the bullet to spin
What type of fibers tend to have a rough external surface and often look like hair?
natural fibers
What factors affect BAC, other than the number of drinks consumed?
weight, gender, type of alcohol, food consumed, amount of time drinking
What distinguishes direct evidence from circumstantial evidence?
Direct evidence requires no inference to connect it to the crime, while circumstantial evidence requires the jury to make an inference.
Term used to describe the rate the body cools after death.
algor mortis
What are striations?
Scratch marks left of the bullet from rifling
What is the first step in fiber analysis?
Identifying the fiber and its characteristics
What makes AB+ the universal donor? (Answer needs to include information about antibodies.)
No antibodies against A, B, +