Emerging Technologies for the Analysis of Forensic Traces

287 Pages·2019·9.778 MB·English

by  Simona Francese

Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security Applications
Simona Francese    Editor
Emerging
Technologies
for the Analysis
of Forensic
Traces
Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security
Applications
Series Editor
Anthony J. Masys, Associate Professor, Director of Global Disaster Management,
Humanitarian Assistance and Homeland Security, University of South Florida,
Tampa, USA
Advisory Editors
Gisela Bichler, California State University, San Bernardino, CA, USA
Thirimachos Bourlai, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA
Chris Johnson, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
Panagiotis Karampelas, Hellenic Air Force Academy, Attica, Greece
Christian Leuprecht, Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, ON, Canada
Edward C. Morse, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
David Skillicorn, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada
YoshikiYamagata,NationalInstituteforEnvironmentalStudies,Tsukuba,Ibaraki,
Japan
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Simona Francese
Editor
Emerging Technologies
for the Analysis of Forensic
Traces
123
Editor
Simona Francese
Centrefor Mass Spectrometry Imaging,
Biomolecular Sciences Research Centre
Sheffield Hallam University
Sheffield,SouthYorkshire, UK
ISSN 1613-5113 ISSN 2363-9466 (electronic)
AdvancedSciences andTechnologiesfor Security Applications
ISBN978-3-030-20541-6 ISBN978-3-030-20542-3 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20542-3
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To my father, for being the rock and the
lighthouse of my life.
To my mother, for being an inexhaustible
source of love and support.
To my sister, for being a constant inspiration
and the only example I know of true strength,
courage, sacrifice and altruism.
To my husband, for never trying to contain
my passion for research and for silently
supportingmethroughillnessandinallthose
mad work sleepless nights and frequent
travels.
To my daughter Grace, for teaching me how
to still see the world with enchanted eyes and
for making me special—a mother
Preface
The work of detectives in gathering intelligence through conventional investiga-
tions is paramount to criminal apprehension and to inform judicial debates.
However,throughtheyears,ithasbecomeclearthattheroleofforensicsciencefor
theanalysisoftrace evidencecanoften becrucialtosteerinvestigationsandmake
court cases more robust.
The opportunity for forensic science to contribute to narrow down the pool of
suspects and provide scientific evidence to prove/disprove the defendant’s state-
mentcanhaveatremendousimpactonsavingstothepublicpurseandonspeeding
up investigations by minimising human resources. Most importantly, more and
betterinformedjudicialdebateswouldcontributetoavoidorminimisemiscarriage
of justice.
It is perhaps for these reasons that in the last ten years, forensic science has
progressed enormously; a tremendous amount of technological developments in
chemistry and analytical chemistry has been channelled into contributing to addi-
tional, more robust and informative intelligence recovered from trace evidence.
Advancesinnanotechnology,molecularandspectroscopicanalysishaveshown
tohavearemarkableimpactonthequalityandquantityoftheintelligencethatcan
be recovered from a range of trace evidence. The vast majority of these methods
were successfully applied in laboratory settings, demonstrating high potential for
operational casework. Whilst some technologies show a great promise to be
translatedtothefield,someothershavealsostartedtobeoccasionallyemployedin
an operational context, an example of which is the use of MALDI Mass
Spectrometry Imaging to reconstruct fingerprint molecular images as well as pro-
vidingprofilinginformationaroundtheownerofthemark.Soilanalysis(Chap.17)
stands out as it is fully operational and used in both investigations and courtroom
settings. With regard to soil analysis, in line with the many novel methods which
arebeingdevelopedinmainstreamforensictraceevidence,asshowninalltheother
chapters,asimilarrangeofanalyticalmethodscouldbeapplied,includingphysical,
ix
x Preface
chemical and biological methods. However, because soils are so diverse and
complex and geoforensics is an infrequently used trace evidence type, this chapter
hascoveredthelegalaspectsofsoilanalysis,mostofwhichcanrelate totheother
evidence types described elsewhere in the book.
This book intends to offer a survey of the state of the art of emerging tech-
nologiesappliedtoarangeofforensictraceevidenceincludingfingermarks,bodily
fluids, hair, gunshot residues, explosives, ink and questioned documents.
Importantly,whilstnotlosingsightofthedescriptionofthetechnicalaspectsof
each methodology, huge efforts have gone into the adoption of a controlled
vocabulary enabling access to a wider range of readers.
Aseventuallythesetechnologiesandassociatedmethodologieswillhavetopass
thescrutinyoflawenforcementagencies,attheendofeachchapter,endusershave
providedacommentarydiscussingthepotentialforoperationaldeploymentofthese
emerging processes. This novel feature mitigates potential “academic hypes” as
wellasaddinganotherdimension:whatisrequiredtotakeanemergingtechnology
from the laboratory to the courtroom from a practitioner’s perspective. This col-
laboration and the adoption of a controlled vocabulary pose the bases to build a
dissemination and communication bridge between academia and end
users/practitioners, thus facilitating the transition from laboratory technologies to
fieldwork. Given the peculiarity of Chap. 17, two end users have been invited to
separatelyprovideacommentaryastheyoffertwodifferentperspectives,onefrom
a law enforcement viewpoint (Scottish Police Authority) and one from a “forensic
provider” perspective (Netherlands Forensic Institute).
Anymeanstofacilitatetranslationalresearchistimely,andthisisespeciallytrue
in the field of forensic science where progress is often hindered by lack of ap-
propriate dissemination of scientific advancements as well as of fundamental
communication between academia and end users.
Lastly, the issue of lack of a framework serving evidence-based interpretation
has been brought up in many chapters of this book. In different ways and through
different examples, the danger offalling into the trap of overlooking activity-level
informationbyheavilyplacingfocusonsource-levelinformationhasbeenreported.
Moreandmoredocumentedmiscarriagesofjusticehavebeendocumentedbecause
of this.
I believe that new emerging technologies need to develop within the above
understanding with funding and projects dedicated to expand capabilities from
source-to-activity-level information provision.
It is my expectation that this book will be of interest to forensic scientists,
chemists,biologistsandanalyticalchemistswithaninterestinforensicscience;the
book intends to deepen knowledge and understanding in both the science being
covered and with respect to the expectations on the law requirements to fulfil,
enabling the technique being developed to become operational.
Preface xi
The book intendsto be also useful to practitioners, policy-makers and scientific
officersmanagingforensicandanalyticalportfolioswithinUKresearchcouncilsas
wellasworldwidefundingbodiesthroughupdatingtheirknowledgeofcurrentand
state-of-the-art scientific developments.
Sheffield, UK Simona Francese
September 2019