Forensic Evidence Example

Forensic Evidence Example Forensic Evidence â€" Essay Example > Forensic EvidenceAnalysis of the reasons why such a high proportion of evidence is of no value in volume and major crimeIntroductionEvidence can be divided into two broad types. Testimonial evidence is given in the form of statements made under oath, typically in response to questioning. On the other hand, physical evidence is any form of evidence with an objective existence, which is anything with size, shape, and dimension. Physical evidence can take any form. It can be as huge as a house or as small as a fibre. It can be as short-lived as an odour or as noticeable as the scene of an explosion. In fact, the assortment of physical evidence that may be encountered in an investigation is unlimited. In a UK study, physical evidence forms a third major source for pinpointing a suspect or substantiating his or her presence at the scene. Considering the fact the physical evidence in an investigation is infinite, only some of these are of real use or value and majority of materials from the crime scenes is disposed. The reason why such a high proportion of evidence is of no value in volume and major crime is the subject of our analysis. Physical Evidence GatheringThe aim of crime scene investigator should be not to ignore anything providing significant information, which may contribute to solving the crime under investigation. There are many variety of physical evidence that do not lend themselves to statistical evaluation as it is not the volume of data presented that would support an estimate of the frequency in which a particular type of physical evidence might be encountered. A successful crime scene investigation is judged by the outcome obtained. A crime scene investigator must recognize, gather, and make use of every piece of physical evidence that may be present while recognizing that helpful evidence could be hiding somewhere among a multitude of worthless materials (Newburn et. al. 2007, p. 244). Nature and Value of Physical EvidenceThe nature and valu e of physical evidence can be classified into two. These are evidence with class characteristics only and evidence with individual identifying characteristics. The first one are those evidence, no matter how thoroughly examined, can only be place into a class. A definite identification can never be made since there is a possibility of more than one source for the material found. For instance, single-layered paint, such as from a safe or car, soil, glass fragments too small to match broken edges, hairs and fibres, etc. The other one is evidence that can definitely be identified with a person or source if sufficient microscopic or accidental markings are present such as fingerprints, handwriting, bullets, tool marks, shoe prints, pieces of glass where broken edges can be matched, and wood where broken/cut surfaces can be matched (Hunter and Cox 2005, p. 170). The Need to Gather Sufficient Evidence from the Crime SceneIn forensic investigation, adequate materials should be gathered. Considering the amount of sample to collect is basically an issue of familiarity. As a universal rule, however, as much material as is practically possible to collect should be taken. Usually, it is unfeasible and sometimes impracticable to return to a crime scene later to collect more material if more evidence is required. Thus, generally, more is better than less (Fisher 2003, p. 11). Forensic evidence starts at the scene. If evidence is overlooked or inappropriately taken cared of at the scene, no amount of laboratory analysis or processing will be able to correct the problem and the scene typically cannot be revisited to have another attempt at acquiring further evidence (White 2004, p. 21).