The Importance of Forensic Evidence

One of the most powerful parts of a case against a criminal can be the forensic evidence that is collected and presented. Dramatic breakthroughs in both the scientific and technological fields have greatly impacted the criminal justice system.

A recent crime wave has swept your city. Imagine you came home last night to find your home had been burglarized. Understandably, the police and crime lab are overworked and in need of help. Physical evidence (meaning any materials at the scene of the crime that could be valuable to a criminal case) was collected by crime scene technicians at your residence and from a possible getaway car and is listed below. You will need to complete the template provided below after considering the following information:

1. Choose three pieces of evidence collected from the link below to examine in detail.
2. Define the physical properties of the evidence collected. Also include any biological, chemical, or other characteristics of the data that would be important to the investigation.
3. Explain what information can be extrapolated from this evidence
4. Hypothesize how the evidence could be used in the investigation.

Review the evidence that was collected from the crime scene .

Note that although this is largely a hypothetical investigation, the description of a material and how it is tested will be factual and you will need to conduct research using the Library to identify reliable sources. The final results and importance of the evidence in an investigation will be up to your interpretation and will be largely hypothetical.

Review the link below for additional information.

• National Forensic Science Technology Center. (2013). A simplified guide to forensic analysis. Retrieved from http://www.forensicsciencesimplified.org/index.htm
• National Institute of Justice. (n.d.) Forensic Science. Retrieved from http://www.nij.gov/topics/forensics/pages/welcome.aspx.

Assignment: Choose three pieces of evidence from the list presented above and complete the questions in the Assignment template.