The reliability of urinalysis testing has sometimes been questioned, because there is a possibility of someone altering the test results. Insurance companies frequently will request a urine sample from a prospective client. As a bodily fluid, the urine is used to detect drug use and health conditions such as diabetes. A person using drugs or who has sugar in their urine may be assessed a […]

1. Form a hypothesis as to which suspect could have been present at a crime scene. 2. Justify whether or not a suspect’s hair sample matches the hair sample left at a crime scene. 3. Describe how to measure the diameter of a hair that is viewed under a compound microscope.

When all students in a class compared their results, they found all but one group had identical results. Determine three possible sources of error in technique that might have produced the difference in results.

Listen to the two videos by Michael Baden and Syd Mandelbaum. a. If Anna Anderson was cremated, then how did they obtain a sample of her cells? b. Based on Michael Baden’s and Syd Mandelbaum’s findings, were Anna Anderson and Anastasia, the daughter of the royal family, the same person? Explain your answer.

1. A hammer matched the impressions made at a crime scene. Why is this insufficient evidence for conviction? 2. How could you improve the reliability of your results? 3. What characteristics of the hammer impression were used to match a specific hammer to the crime-scene impression?

1. Some examples of trace evidence are listed. For each item, suggest a possible location where the trace might have originated. For example, broken glass fragments—headlight from a hit-and-run accident. 2. Explain the correct procedure for securing and examining a crime scene.

At noon, a female corpse was found partially submerged on the shore of a lake. The air temperature was 26.7°C (81°F), and the water temperature was about 15.6°C (61°F). Rigor mortis was not evident, and the body’s temperature was 15.6°C. Livor mortis showed a noticeable reddening on the victim’s back that did not disappear when pressed. Bacterial activity was not significantly increased, and the lungs […]

A body is found with rigor mortis present in the face, neck, and upper torso. The young crime-scene investigator claims that the time of death must be at least 15 hours previous to the discovery of the body. The first-responding officer still at the crime scene asks what led her to that conclusion. The crime-scene investigator states that rigor mortis peaks at 12 hours and […]

When an egg is fertilized by a sperm, half of the DNA is from the mother and the other half is from the father. To verify paternity, DNA fingerprints of the child, the mother, and the alleged father are compared. Paternity is established if half of the child’s DNA bands match those of the alleged father.

1. Describe how you could distinguish the teeth of an adult from the teeth of a teenager or child. 2. Dispose of unused Plaster of Paris in a garbage container; do not dump it down the sink drain!

1. Why was Carl Maucher’s  m DNA being examined? Double click on the Hair sample video. 2. What is believed to have happened to the bodies of the two youngest children, Anastasia and Alexei?

You have been called to court to appear as an expert witness in textiles. You are to report your findings to the jury. Assume the jurors know nothing about textiles. Therefore, you need to define any terms that are not part of normal, everyday conversation. In your discussion, be sure to include the following information. a. Description of fibers b. Thread count c. Weave pattern […]

1. Suggest other liquids to test for refractive index that you think might give you a higher refractive index than any of the liquids selected in this experiment. 2. As the thickness of the liquid increases, what effect might that have on the bending of light? Will the bending become more pronounced or less pronounced? Explain.

1. Which suspect’s DNA profile matches the crime-scene DNA evidence? 2. Justify your answer, referring to the DNA fingerprint. 3. Explain what other testing could be done using DNA gel electrophoresis to increase the probability that a person’s DNA either matches or does not match the evidence DNA.

A suspect’s shoes and clothing are confiscated and examined for trace evidence. What kind of trace evidence might be found on the clothes or shoes? List at least five examples of trace evidence from the shoes or clothing that might be useful in linking a suspect to a crime scene.

Brakes were applied but applied too late and the vehicles crashed. In a panic, the young driver of the black car quickly backed up, made a U-turn, and abruptly left the scene of the accident. When the police arrived, the black car was gone.

Test yourself on Mitochondrial DNA: a. From whom did the Romanov children inherit their m DNA? b. Where did that person get his or her m DNA? c. Does Nicholas II have the same m DNA as his children? Explain your answer.

1. How is it possible that a family with the same genotypes as the Romanovs have no children with hemophilia? 2. How can skeletons be identified? 3. How is mitochondrial DNA different in shape from nuclear DNA ?

1. Compare textiles based on their physical characteristics. 2. Identify the weave patterns of textile samples. 3. Apply comparative data to solve a forensic science problem scenario.

1. Your unknown sample appears closest to which sand sample? Is it an absolute match? Why or why not? Justify your answer from the data collected from your soil examination. 2. Would matching sand evidence from a crime scene to a suspect be enough evidence to convict a suspect of a crime? Explain your answer.

1. Does the crime-scene DNA match the DNA from any of the suspects? If so, which one(s)? 2. Is there more than one DNA match? Explain. 3. Is this DNA profile sufficient to convict a suspect? Explain.

1. Name three ways you can improve your observation skills. 2. Describe two ways that your brain may alter sensory information. 3. Describe a situation where two different people might perceive a crime scene in different ways.

Unique letter combinations is another characteristic that could be added to this list of the 12 exemplars used for handwriting analysis. For example, many people may have very distinctive ways of writing double Ls, such as in the word galloping. Other people may have a unique way of writing the letters “th,” such as in the words the, them, or their.

1. Does racial background affect someone’s ability to recognize someone of a different race? 2. Does the color of someone’s clothing make the person more noticeable? 3. Are bald men more difficult to recognize than men who have hair?

Suppose two people both wear size 10, Michael Jordan sneakers. Describe characteristics that could be found in the impressions of these two sneakers that could be used to distinguish which of the two people left his or her shoe print.

1. What are the advantages of STR fingerprinting over VNTR fingerprinting? 2. What causes the difference between different STR alleles? 3. Explain the difference between using DNA profiles to determine paternity and to match a tissue sample with a suspect.

In this activity you will use dyes to perform a simulated DNA fingerprint. The purpose of this activity is to determine the paternity of a child. A couple had been trying to conceive a child for three years. No cause for their infertility was identified after they underwent many tests.

Eight months later, when the baby was born, the baby bore a strong resemblance to the husband. The couple wanted to know if the husband and not the sperm donor could be the biological father. They contacted the fertility clinic, and were told that a lab technician had not kept good records. Semen from two sperm donors had been used on the day of the […]

DNA samples from the two suspects were compared to the DNA obtained from scrapings collected from the victim’s fingernails. Your task is to determine if the DNA collected from the victim matches the DNA from either of the suspects. Will DNA evidence identify either of the two suspects?

With the tire marks and measurements, the crime-scene investigator will be able to help reconstruct the accident. Information about the hit-and-run car can be obtained from the tire mark measurements. Just like fingerprints at the scene of a robbery can incriminate a suspect, tire marks at an accident can also incriminate a driver.