scholarly journals Ten years of molecular ballistics—a review and a field guide

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Euteneuer ◽  
Cornelius Courts
Keyword(s):  
Model Building ◽  
Crime Scene ◽  
Forensic Evidence ◽  
Biological Targets ◽  
Contrast Method ◽  
History Of ◽  
Scene Investigation ◽  
Blood Pattern Analysis ◽  
Wound Ballistic ◽  
Objective Investigation

AbstractMolecular ballistics combines molecular biological, forensic ballistic, and wound ballistic insights and approaches in the description, collection, objective investigation, and contextualization of the complex patterns of biological evidence that are generated by gunshots at biological targets. Setting out in 2010 with two seminal publications proving the principle that DNA from backspatter collected from inside surfaces of firearms can be retreived and successfully be analyzed, molecular ballistics covered a lot of ground until today. In this review, 10 years later, we begin with a comprehensive description and brief history of the field and lay out its intersections with other forensic disciplines like wound ballistics, forensic molecular biology, blood pattern analysis, and crime scene investigation. In an application guide section, we aim to raise consciousness to backspatter traces and the inside surfaces of firearms as sources of forensic evidence. Covering crime scene practical as well as forensic genetic aspects, we introduce operational requirements and lay out possible procedures, including forensic RNA analysis, when searching for, collecting, analyzing, and contextualizing such trace material. We discuss the intricacies and rationales of ballistic model building, employing different tissue, skin, and bone simulants and the advantages of the “triple-contrast” method in molecular ballistics and give advice on how to stage experimental shootings in molecular ballistic research. Finally, we take a look at future applications and prospects of molecular ballistics.

CSI4FS®

2019 ◽  
pp. 238-257
Author(s):  
Ian Levstein ◽  
Lenora Jean Justice
Keyword(s):  
Augmented Reality ◽  
Crime Scene ◽  
Smartphone Application ◽  
Training Methods ◽  
Training Environment ◽  
Crime Scene Investigation ◽  
Traditional Training ◽  
Augmented Reality Application ◽  
History Of ◽  
Scene Investigation

This chapter describes the development of a game-based markerless augmented reality smartphone application (CSI4FS®) that complements traditional crime scene investigation training. The intent is to make a strong case for the use of augmented reality in a forensic science training environment. It includes a brief outline of the issue followed by a history of augmented reality in education and training, simulation use in high-risk professions generally and in education specifically, and augmented reality use in crime scene investigation. Both marker-based and markerless technologies are discussed, followed by a description of the augmented reality application and some of the challenges involved in the creation of that application. Overall, the purpose of this chapter is to introduce a potential solution that will help college students learn crime scene investigation techniques more effectively than with the more traditional training methods.

Televisual waiting: Images of time and waiting in CSI

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 275-294
Author(s):  
Anita Lam
Keyword(s):  
Crime Scene ◽  
Moral Authority ◽  
Forensic Evidence ◽  
Network Television ◽  
Crime Scene Investigation ◽  
Crime Drama ◽  
Scene Investigation ◽  
Forensic Scientists ◽  
And Performance

As a massively popular crime drama, Crime Scene Investigation has circulated influential images and narratives that suggest that the processing and analysis of forensic evidence can be done in a swift and timely manner. The claim of such a CSI effect is based on the relative absence of waiting scenes within the series. This article examines the series’ multiple representations of time and waiting, linking the absence of waiting to the construction of forensic scientists as powerful figures of moral authority. In the episode Grave Danger, however, waiting is notably imagined as something that must be experienced and endured as a result of conviction. It is made analogous to death, and embodied through horizontality as well as by feminized waiters. Because the feminization of waiters also characterizes the representation of television viewers, I end by examining how the role of waiting in Crime Scene Investigation is intertwined with the viewer’s experience of watching the planned flow of network television. Ultimately, this article argues that the study of televisual waiting requires a recognition that images and narratives on network television emerge out of and depend on waiting as representation, experience, and performance.

scholarly journals Case Investigation and Forensic Evidence for a New Plant Disease: The Case of Lettuce Corky Root

Plant Disease ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 99 (3) ◽  
pp. 300-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariena H. C. van Bruggen ◽  
Isolde M. Francis
Keyword(s):  
Plant Disease ◽  
Crime Scene ◽  
Disease Diagnosis ◽  
Forensic Evidence ◽  
Reconstruction Process ◽  
Physical Evidence ◽  
Crime Scene Reconstruction ◽  
Corky Root ◽  
Scene Investigation

The process of disease diagnosis reminds of the process of solving a crime. This starts with a so-called ‘crime scene investigation’ (CSI) carried out in a highly systematic manner. The CSI is followed by ‘forensic investigation’ in specialized laboratories. The final step in solving a crime is the ‘crime scene reconstruction’ process, which involves systematic elimination of unlikely scenarios and comparison of results from the analysis of physical evidence with eye witness accounts. If more evidence becomes available, an ‘old case may be reactivated’. In this review, the same sequence of activities is followed to solve a plant disease problem using a case study of a disease that was difficult to diagnose, namely the ‘case’ of corky root of lettuce.

The “ CSI Effect”

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberlianne Podlas
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Crime Scene ◽  
Juror Decision Making ◽  
Television Programs ◽  
Forensic Evidence ◽  
Television Shows ◽  
Scene Investigation

Prosecutors and members of law enforcement have complained that television shows such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation have cultivated in jurors’ unreasonable expectations about forensic evidence, specifically that jurors require definitive forensic proof of guilt, or else they will wrongly acquit. This is popularly known as “CSI Effect.” Despite the popularity of this belief, there is little empirical evidence substantiating it. In fact, the majority of studies exploring CSI Effects have found evidence supporting a variety of impacts that advantage, rather than disadvantage, the prosecution. For instance, these programs frame forensics as objective and virtually infallible, bolster forensic technicians and the value of evidence associated with them, and promote schema that endorse prosecution narratives. Indeed, it appears that among CSI’s most salient impacts on the legal system comes not from these television programs distorting juror decision-making, but because lawyers and judges mistakenly believe such an effect exists, and, therefore, alter their behavior in response. It thus appears that the realities of the CSI Effect are quite different than the persistent mythology of it.

The CSI Effect

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason M. Chin ◽  
Larysa Workewych
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Crime Scene ◽  
Juror Decision Making ◽  
Scholarly Work ◽  
Proper Treatment ◽  
Television Programs ◽  
Forensic Evidence ◽  
Csi Effect ◽  
Real Phenomenon ◽  
Scene Investigation

The CSI effect posits that exposure to television programs that portray forensic science (e.g.,CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) can change the way jurors evaluate forensic evidence. We review (1) the theory behind the CSI effect; (2) the perception of the effect among legal actors; (3) the academic treatment of the effect; and, (4) how courts have dealt with the effect. We demonstrate that while legal actors do see the CSI effect as a serious issue, there is virtually no empirical evidence suggesting it is a real phenomenon. Moreover, many of the remedies employed by courts may do no more than introduce bias into juror decision-making or even trigger the CSI effect when it would not normally occur. We end with suggestions for the proper treatment of the CSI effect in courts and directions for future scholarly work.

scholarly journals PaleoTV, NeoTV and MetaTV in US Drama Series

Comunicar ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 17 (33) ◽  
pp. 175-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Tous-Rovirosa
Keyword(s):  
Las Vegas ◽  
Crime Scene ◽  
Short History ◽  
The West ◽  
Crime Scene Investigation ◽  
History Of ◽  
Scene Investigation ◽  
Serial Fiction

This paper analyses the paleoTV, neoTV and metaTV features in three US drama series belonging to drama series genres and adventure subgenres: adventures («Lost»), crime («CSI: Crime Scene Investigation») and politics («The West Wing»). The aim of the research is to study these TV series in relation to the three eras which divide the short history of TV up to today, to determine the features that define this media in serial fiction and its relation to its own diachronic moment. The methodology of this work is based on the concepts of several scholars and makes references to other US fiction series. It emphasizes the autoreferenciality and intertextuality as some of metaTV’s most important features. Este artículo analiza las características paleotelevisivas, neotelevisivas y metatelevisivas de las series de ficción estadounidenses contemporáneas pertenecientes al género dramático y a los subgéneros de aventuras («Perdidos»), policíaco («CSI: Las Vegas») y político («El ala oeste de la Casa Blanca»). El objeto de la investigación consiste en estudiar dichas series televisivas estadounidenses dramáticas en relación a las tres eras que dividen la breve historia de la televisión hasta la actualidad, con la finalidad de detectar las características definitorias del medio en la serialidad de ficción y su relación con su propia diacronía. La metodología parte de los conceptos teóricos trabajados por varios estudiosos. Se destacan la autorreferencialidad y la intertextualidad como algunas de las características metatelevisivas predominantes, y se analiza la transmisión ideológica en dichas series.

scholarly journals Suicidal Cut-throat Fatalities: A Case Report from the Kingdom of Bahrain

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 190-196
Author(s):  
Mohammed Fouda ◽  
Aqeela Abuidrees
Keyword(s):  
Case Report ◽  
Stab Wound ◽  
Crime Scene ◽  
Final Report ◽  
Death Scene ◽  
Death Scene Investigation ◽  
Laboratory Results ◽  
History Of ◽  
Scene Investigation ◽  
Science Evidence

Using a sharp tool by an individual to cause a severe cut-throat injury is considered an unusual method for suicide. Investigating such suicidal cases is challenging, as no witness is available only the crime scene findings, the autopsy finding and the history of the victim. In this case report, we demonstrate a rare suicidal case received by the directorate of forensic science evidence in the Kingdom of Bahrain. A 39-year-old male was found with a neck laceration in his house, a small knife was found near his body, autopsy showed a cut-throat injury almost completely encircling the neck. Multiple superficial wounds were found in the proximity and parallel to the large incised wound in the front and back of the neck suggesting that they were hesitation marks. A stab wound was found directly medial to the left nipple. The final report was based on death scene investigation, autopsy findings and forensic laboratory results concluding that the death was suicidal in nature.

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