CJ385-01 Unit 4 essay Forensic Scientists and Physical Evidence

CJ385-01 Unit 4 essay Forensic Scientists and Physical Evidence

Forensic Scientists and Physical Evidence Forensic scientists, also known as criminalists, have special training and education in chemistry and biology that they apply in the processes of recognition, identification, collection,in more serious criminal investigations such as homicides, assaults, bombings, and arson, and many have special areas of interest, such as: latent fingerprints, trace evidence, biological evidence, and crime scene reconstruction (Fisher & Fisher, 2012). These professionals also conduct laboratory tests on the evidence, prepare reports, and testify as expert witnesses in A forensic scientist has three major functions. First, the criminalist must be skillful in applying the ideologies and methods of the physical and natural sciences to analyze the many types of physical evidence that may be recovered during a criminal investigation (Saferstein,2011). The second is being called on as an expert witness, because their analysis may be a factor in determining a person’s guilt or innocence (Saferstein, 2011). The forensic scientist as an expert witness must be deemed competent, is called on to evaluate evidence, express an opinion as to the significance of the findings, and are accepted only as representing the expert’s opinion and may later be accepted or ignored in jury deliberations (Saferstein, 2011). The last major function deals with the training in the proper recognition, collection, and preservation of physical evidence that a criminalist must have, and sometimes have to provide for technicians to aid investigators in criminal investigators (Saferstein, 2011).

Without this, competency comes into question and any analysis of such evidence can and most likely will b………………………….

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