Forensic Science Advances and Their Application in the Judiciary System

288 Pages·2011·6.944 MB·English

by  Danielle Sapse

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FORENSICS & CRIMINAL JUSTICE S
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Forensic Science Advances and sk
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Their Application in the Judiciary System
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Over the past decade, many achievements have been made in forensic science and there have been great
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advances in the technology available to crime scene personnel and laboratory analysts. Many of the newer c

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methods employed by criminalists are based on sound scientific research and have extraordinary sensitivity
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and specificity. Forensic Science Advances and Their Application in the Judiciary System describes such e
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methods and provides insight into their impact on forensic science and criminal justice. c
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Topics discussed in this forward-thinking volume include d
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• Scientific evidence in criminal cases where the outcome has been largely decided based on a
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forensic evidence analysis c
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• Legal and chemical aspects in the detection and analysis of methamphetamines s
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• New methods used for the analysis of DNA obtained from botanical evidence and insects
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• New applications of chemical methods to forensic science, including quantum chemistry calculations as T
applied to systems of forensic interest h
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• Legal aspects of the utilization of DNA in the analysis of biological evidence, including cases where DNA r

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analysis has been used to convict a criminal or exonerate an innocent person
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• NMR methods and their application to physical evidence analysis in forensic science
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• Pharmacogenetics and its role in forensic science a
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• Virtual autopsy methods, with special emphasis on cross-sectional imaging o
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• DNA studies of ancient remains such as Egyptian mummies i
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• Postmortem chemical changes that take place upon death t
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• Forensic and legal issues related to animal cruelty and its correlation to the abuse of e

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women and children u
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Forensic investigations are fraught with challenges and controversies as new technology becomes available i
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and greater expectations for accuracy abound. The issues raised and the methods described in this volume r
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will encourage new avenues of research and contribute to strengthening the field of forensic science. S
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K11455
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Forensic Science
Advances and
Their Application in the
Judiciary System

Forensic Science
Advances and
Their Application in the
Judiciary System
Edited by
Danielle Sapse and Lawrence Kobilinsky
Boca Raton London New York
CRC Press is an imprint of the
Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
CRC Press
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Version Date: 20110804
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I would like to thank my family, Estelle, Hayley, and Ben,
for allowing me to pursue this book and to especially thank
Danielle Sapse, who worked diligently to make this significant project
a success. It has been a great pleasure for me to work with her.
Lawrence Kobilinsky, PhD
I dedicate this book to my beloved father, Marcel Sapse,
who passed away in 2004.
Danielle Sapse, JD

Table of Contents
Foreword ix
Contributor List xi
1 Scientific Evidence 1
DANIELLE SAPSE
2 Trends in Legal Aspects of Methamphetamine 17
KIMORA
3 New Frontiers in Molecular Forensics: Identification of
Botanical, Entomological, and Microbial Material 33
MARGARET WALLACE
4 Quantum Chemical Calculations Applied
to Systems of Forensic Interest 51
ANNE-MARIE SAPSE
5 DNA: Applications to Several Legal Cases and
Quantum Chemical Calculations on Its Interaction
with Methyllithium 93
DANIELLE SAPSE, ANNE-MARIE SAPSE,
JACQUES MADDALUNO, AND CATHERINE FRESSIGNÉ
6 Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy: A Powerful Tool for
the Identification and Quantitation of Drugs and Drugs of
Abuse in Biofluids 113
ELISE CHAMPEIL
7 Role of Pharmacogenetics in Forensic Toxicology 133
DELPHINE ALLORGE AND GILLES TOURNEL
8 Virtual Autopsy: Modern Cross-Sectional Imaging 155
FABRICE DEDOUIT, MARIE FARUCH, NORBERT TELMON,
PHILIPPE OTAL, HERVÉ ROUSSEAU, FRANCIS JOFFRE,
AND DANIEL ROUGÉ
vii
viii Table of Contents
9 Forensic Anthropology and Human Identification
in Criminal Matters 217
ANGELIQUE CORTHALS
10 Postmortem Chemistry 235
VICTOR W. WEEDN, CHARLES F. SIEBERT, JR., AND
JOSEPH A. PRAHLOW
11 The Recent Evolution of Animal Cruelty Law and
Veterinary Forensic Medicine 255
ROBERT W. REISMAN
Foreword
Forensic science is an umbrella discipline incorporating many fields such as document
examination, toxicology, pharmacology, serology, ballistics and explosives analysis, arson
investigation, trace evidence (e.g., hair/fibers, glass, soil, paint), pathology, anthropology,
and odontology. Chemistry is a component of each of these disciplines. The tools of the
practitioner range from the common light microscope to the most sophisticated analytical
instruments. Regardless of the specific instruments that criminalists use to solve crimes,
the one clear need is that the scientific method be used to try to exclude or associate a
suspect with a crime scene or victim. This will insure the reliability and admissibility
of scientific evidence in the courtroom. The analysis of physical evidence identified at a
crime scene can be critical to solving any crime. Observation of items of importance and
their documentation, collection, and packaging, followed by experimental analysis in the
laboratory, can often either prove or disprove a hypothesis. Test results can contribute to
an understanding of what occurred at the crime scene, prior to and during the commis-
sion of the incident. Crime scene investigation must be done properly and thoroughly for
laboratory personnel to acquire the most accurate information about the evidence and
crime scene.
Over the past decade many achievements have been made in forensic science and there
have been exciting advancements in the technology available to crime scene personnel
and laboratory analysts. Many of the newer methods employed by criminalists are based
on sound scientific research and have extraordinary sensitivity and specificity. Wherever
possible, analysis of evidence should provide quantitative data, which can subsequently be
analyzed statistically. The analysts’ unbiased conclusions are then made based on sound
scientific principles utilizing the scientific method.
This book describes such methods and provides insight into their impact on forensic
science and criminal justice. For example, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and quan-
tum chemistry are now applied to certain problems related to forensic science such as the
analysis of licit and illicit drugs. For the results of analyses to be useful to jurors in criminal
cases, this scientific evidence must be deemed reliable and admissible by judges who serve
as gatekeepers of novel scientific evidence. The results must add to the understanding of
the jurors and assist them in finding a defendant guilty or not guilty. To explore in depth
the role of forensic science in the judiciary process, the first chapter of the book discusses
scientific evidence, describing several criminal cases whose outcome has been largely
decided based on forensic evidence analysis.
Forensic science has played a very important role in the litigation of cases involving
illicit drugs. Chapters 2 and 4 present the legal and chemical aspects in the detection and
analysis of a major class of abused drugs, the methamphetamines. Some of the methods
used to clarify the circumstances in which a crime has been committed are related to DNA.
Chapter 3 describes new methods used for the analysis of DNA obtained from botanical
evidence as well as from insects. Such evidence can sometimes be used to determine the
identity of the victim or suspect after a crime has been committed.
ix