NATS 1575 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Forensic Science, Automated Fingerprint Identification, The Chances
9 Feb 2018
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Document Summary
It would be impossible to list all the objects that could conceivably be of importance to a crime. Although you cannot rely on a list of categories, it is useful to discuss some of the most common types of physical evidence. The purpose of recognizing physical evidence is so that it can be collected and analyzed. It is difficult to ascertain the weight a given piece of evidence will have in a case as ultimately the weight will be decided by a jury. The examination of physical evidence by a forensic scientist is usually undertaken for identification or comparison purposes. Identification has, as its purpose, the determination of the physical or chemical identity of a substance with as near absolute certainty as existing analytical techniques will permit. A comparison analysis subjects a suspect specimen and a standard/reference specimen to the same tests and examinations for the ultimate purpose of determining whether or not they have a common origin.
