UNIT 1:

Introduction, Overview and

Background

Introduction and definition

The Oxford English Dictionary lists one of the first
uses of the phrase forensic science to describe a
mixed science. The early days of forensic science
could certainly be called mixed, when science served
justice by its application to questions before the court.
Forensic science has grown as a profession from the
early 1880s and into a science in its own right in the
early twenty-first century.
Given the publics interest in using science to solve
crimes, it looks as if forensic science has an active,
even hectic, future.

 The application of science and technology

to criminal and civil laws that are enforced
by police agencies in a criminal justice
system is called forensic science.
or
Forensic science describes the science of
associating people, places, and things
involved in criminal activities; these
scientific disciplines assist in investigating
and adjudicating criminal and civil cases.
The discipline has two parts to it divides
neatly, like the term that describes it.

Science is the collection of systematic methodologies used to

increasingly understand the physical world. The word forensic is
derived from the Latin forum meaning public.
In ancient Rome, the Senate met in the Forum, a public place
where the political and policy issues of the day were discussed
and debated; even today, high school or university teams that
compete in debates or public speaking are called forensics.
More technically, forensic means as applied to public or legal
concerns. Together, forensic science is an appropriate term for
the profession which answers scientific questions for the courts.

Scope of forensic science:

1-Offers the knowledge and technology of
science for the definition and enforcement of
laws.
2-It cannot offer final and authoritative solutions,
however, Forensic Science does play an
important and unique roll in the criminal justice
system.
3-It uses the scientist's ability to supply accurate
and objective information that reflects the events
of a crime.

Major Sciences Involved in Forensics:

Biology:
Examines

the biological properties of substances

found at the crime scene.

Chemistry:
Examines

the chemical makeup of substances

found at the crime scene.

Geology:
Examines

the earths components when important

to the crime scene investigation

Physics:
Examines

the movement or impact of materials at

the crime scene.

Important Moments in the History of the

Forensic Sciences
The origins of forensic science can be traced back to the 6th
century with legal medicine being practiced by the Chinese.
1810 Euge`ne Francois Vidocq, a noted wily criminal, convinces
the Paris police to exchange a jail sentence to become an
informant in Paristoughest prison. Vidocq would eventually
establish the first detective force, the Su rete of Paris.
1828 William Nichol invents the polarizing light microscope,
revolutionizing the study of microscopic materials.
1835 Adolphe Quetelet, he work on the criminology of Caesare
Lombroso, postulates that no two human bodies are exactly
alike.
1835 Henry Goddard performs the first forensic bullet
comparison. Goddards work implicates a butler who faked a
burglary to commit murder based on similar flaws in a
questioned bullet and the mold that made it .

 1838 William Stewart of Baltimore murders his father and

is convicted based on bullet evidence, making it the first
case solved by forensic firearms examination in the
United States.
1856 Sir William Herschel, a British officer working for the
Indian Civil service, uses fingerprints on documents to
verify document signatures, a practice recognized in India
but not forensically.
1863 The German scientist Christian Schonbein
discovers the oxidation of hydrogen peroxide when
exposed to hemoglobin. The foaming reaction is the first
presumptive test for blood.
1880 Henry Faulds, a Scottish physician working in Tokyo,
publishes a paper in the journal Nature suggesting that
fingerprints could identify an individual involved in a crime.

 1883 Alphonse Bertillon identifies his first

recidivist based on his system of Anthropometry
(The measurement of the human individual for
the purposes of understanding human physical
variation)

 1887 Arthur Conan Doyle publishes the first Sherlock

Holmes story.
1891 Hans Gross publishes Handbook for Examining
Magistrates, the first comprehensive text that promotes
the use of science and microscopy to solve crimes.
1892 Francis Galton publishes Fingerprints, the first text
on the nature of fingerprints and their use as a forensic
method.
1894 Alfred Dreyfus of France is convicted of treason
based on a faulty handwriting identification by Bertillon.
1896 Sir Edward Henry develops a classification system
for fingerprints that becomes the standard taxonomy in
Europe and North America.
1900 Karl Landsteiner first discovers human blood groups
(the ABO system); he is awarded the Nobel prize for this
in 1930. Landsteiners work on blood forms the basis of
nearly all subsequent forensic blood work.

 1901 Henry DeForrest pioneers the first systematic use of

fingerprints in the United States in the New York Civil
Service Commission.
1903 The New York State Prison system begins the systematic
use of fingerprints for United States criminal identification.
1910 Victor Balthazard, professor of forensic medicine at the
Sorbonne, with Marcelle Lambert, publishes the first
comprehensive hair study, Le poil de lhomme et des
animaux. In one of the first cases involving hairs, Rosella
Rousseau was convinced to confess to murder of Germaine
Bichon.
1910 Edmund Locard, successor as professor of forensic
medicine at the University of Lyons, France, establishes the
first police crime laboratory. He attributed an important
basic principle of forensic science, this in essence being that
every contact leaves a trace.
trace

 1913 Victor Balthazard, professor of

forensic medicine at the Sorbonne,
publishes the first article on
individualizing bullet markings.
1915 International Association for
Criminal Identification (later to
become
The
International
Association of Identification [IAI]) is
organized in Oakland, California.
1923 Frye v. United States, polygraph
test results were ruled in admissible.
The federal ruling introduces the
concept of general acceptance and
states that polygraph testing does
not
meet
that
criterion
(An
instrument that measures and
records
several
physiological
responses such as blood pressure,
pulse,
respiration,
breathing
rhythms, body temperature and skin
conductivity).

1932 The FBI establishes its own forensic laboratory.

1950 August Vollmer, chief of police of Berkeley,
California, establishes the School of Criminology at the
University of California at Berkeley. Paul Kirk presides over
the major of Criminalistics within the school.
1950 The American Academy of Forensic Science is
formed in Chicago, Illinois. The group also begins
publication of the Journal of Forensic Science.
1953 Kirk publishes Crime Investigation.
1971 Brian Culliford publishes The Examination and
Typing of Bloodstains in the Crime Laboratory, establishing
protocols and standard methods for typing of protein and
enzyme markers.
1977 The use of infrared spectrophotometer (FTIR) is
adapted for use in the forensic laboratory. The FBI
introduces the Automated Fingerprint Identification System
(AFIS) with the first digitized scans of fingerprints.

 1984 Sir Alec Jeffreys develops the first DNA profiling test.
He publishes his findings in Nature in 1985.
1986 In the first use of DNA to solve a crime, Jeffreys uses
DNA profiling to identify Colin Pitchfork as the murderer of
two young girls in England.
1983 The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is first
conceived by Kerry Mullis. The first paper on the technique
is not published for two years.
1987 DNA profiling is introduced for the first time in a U.S.
criminal court.
1987 New York v. Castro is the first case challenging the
admissibility of DNA. 1991 Walsh Automation Inc. (now
Forensic Technology, Inc.) launches the Integrated
Ballistics Identification System, or IBIS, for the automated
comparison of fired bullets and cartridge cases. This
system is subsequently developed for the United States in
collaboration with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and
Firearms (ATF).

 1992 The FBI sponsors development of Drug fire,

an automated imaging system to compare marks
left on fired cartridge cases.
1993 In Daubert et al. v. Merrell Dow, a U.S.
federal court refines the standard for admission of
scientific evidence.
1996 In Tennessee v. Ware, mitochondrial DNA
typing is first admitted in a U.S. court.
1998 The National DNA Index System (NDIS),
enabling interstate sharing of DNA information to
solve crimes, is initiated by the FBI.
1999 IBIS and Drugfire are integrated by the FBI
and ATF, creating the National Integrated
Ballistics Identification Network (NIBIN).

Major Crime Laboratories:

1.FBI - Federal Bureau of Investigation (Department of
Justice)
Largest crime lab in the world
Capable of investigating a broad range of crimes
provides analyses of physical evidence ranging from blood and
other biological materials to explosives, drugs, and firearms.
More than one million examinations are conducted by the FBI
laboratory every year.

2.DEA - Drug Enforcement Administration

Primary focus: analysis, production, sale, & transportation

of illegal drugs

3.ATF - Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms

Primary focus: analysis of alcoholic beverages, tax law
documents, weapons, explosive devices and enforces

Gun Control Act of 1968

Organized Crime Control Act of 1970

4. USPS - U.S. Postal Service:

The U.S. Postal Service is not strictly a federal agency, it is
considered to be a quasi-federal agency. (Washington, DC)

Supports the Services efforts to combat postal fraud. It does

this through the analysis of questioned document, fingerprints,
and trace evidence (hairs, fibers, particles, etc.).

5. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS):

The USFWS Laboratory performs animal-oriented forensic

analyses and its mission is to support the efforts of the
Services investigators who patrol the National Parks.

The Laboratory supports the FWS Agents in their

investigations of poachers and people who kill or injure
endangered species.

The Laboratory examines evidence involving animals and has

specialized expertise in the identification of hooves, hairs,

Georgia Law
Requires that an ME (Medical Examiners) investigate
cause of any death which appears to result from
Violence, suicide or casualty
When unattended by a physician
When an inmate of a state hospital or state, county or city
penal institution
When ordered by a court having criminal jurisdiction
After birth but before 7 years of age if the death is
unexpected or unexplained
In any suspicious or unusual manner, with particular
attention to those persons 16 years of age and under
As a result of an execution carried our pursuant to
imposition of the death penalty

 Principal Questions:
What is the cause of death?
Due to, or as a consequence of, blunt force head
trauma,

Due to, or as a consequence of, a fall from a

height

What is the manner of death?

Natural
Homicide
Suicide
Accident
Undetermined

The Organization of a
Crime Laboratory

Crime Labs:
Range
Can

in size and number of staff members

be classified under several jurisdictions

Federal
State
County
Municipal

Can

be under the direction of

The

Police Department
The Prosecutors or District Attorneys Office
The Coroner or Medical Examiners Office
Universities as independent testing facilities

Growth of the Crime Lab or Factors determining lab

numbers increasing:
There

are approximately 320 public crime labs

operating in various jurisdictions
These

crime labs range being able to perform a

diversity of tasks to very specialized scientific testing
Some

Reasons:

Courts

placing greater emphasis on scientific evidence

Emphasis on thorough and complete police investigations
Increase in modern technology and types of testing that can
be completed

 Major
The

Reasons:
increased number of drug-related arrests

All

seizures must be sent to the lab for confirmation of chemical

composition of the substance
More drug arrests = Larger case loads of drug-related specimens

Also the advent of DNA profiling has caused the increase in labs

& is the dominant factor in explaining how general public

perceives the crime lab.

Services of the Crime Laboratory:

There

are many different services available in

different crime labs
Reasons:
Variations

in local laws
Services of the Crime Laboratory
Different capabilities and functions of the
organization in which the lab is attached
Budgetary and staffing limitations
Often the sole purpose for crime lab creation has
been to process drug specimens.

Basic services provided by full- service crime labs:

Physical science unit: applies principles and techniques

of chemistry, physics & geology to evidence evaluation;

examinations of soil, drugs, glass, paint, explosives etc are
examined

Staffed with biologists and

biochemists that apply their knowledge and
techniques to the identification of biological aspects
of a crime scene.
Examples:
Biology

unit:

Identification

and DNA profiling of dried blood stains

and other bodily fluids
Hair and fiber comparison
Identification of plant material

 Document
Studies

Examination Unit:

the typewriting and handwriting on questioned

documents to determine authenticity and/or source
Examples:
Handwriting identification
Analysis of ink or paper
Indentations
Erasure marks
Document charred or burned

Firearms Unit:
Responsible for the examination of firearms, discharged bullets,
cartridge cases, shotgun shells, and ammunition of all types
Examples:
Examination of ammunition casings
Firearm or gunpowder residue
Target length
Tool marks
Photography Unit:
Used to examine and record physical evidence.
Examples:
Digital imaging
Infrared imaging
Ultraviolet imaging
X-ray photography techniques make invisible

information visible

Optional services provided by full- service crime labs:

Toxicology unit: body fluids & organs examined determine presence or

absence of drugs & poisons often this is shared with the medical examiners or
coroners office.
Latent fingerprint unit: examination of latent fingerprints submitted with

other lab examinations.

Polygraph unit: polygraph or lie detector used primarily as a tool of the

criminal investigator.
Voiceprint analysis unit: cases involving telephone threats, tape-recorded

messages may use unit to identify persons

Sound patterns are suppose to be unique to the person & and are
captured on a voiceprint.
Evidence-collector unit: special trained personnel collect & preserve

physical evidence collected at the crime scene

Other forensic science services:

1.Forensic pathology:
Field

that involves the investigation of sudden, unnatural, unexplained, or

violent deaths
Involve

the Medical Examiner or Coroner and generally perform autopsies on

victims
Autopsy: the medical dissection and examination of a body in order to
determine the cause of death.
Must answer the questions
Who is the victim?
What injuries are present?
When did the injuries occur?
Why and how were the injuries produced?
Must determine the manner of death of the victim
Manners of death
Natural
Homicide
Suicide
Accident
Undetermined

2. Forensic Anthropology:
Concerned with the identification and examination of human skeletal

remains
Examination of skeletal remains reveal their origin, sex, approximate age,
race, skeletal injury
Used to identify victims of mass disasters.
3. Forensic

Entomology:

The study of insects and their relation to a criminal investigation.

As decomposition occurs, insects arrive on the carcass in a regular time

interval. (Blow
flies first arrive when body starts to decompose; eggs are
(

laid, and maggots or fly larvae. This larvae consume tissue & organs.)
Used to estimate the time of death when it circumstances surrounding
crime unknown.
Results may be effected by geographical location, climate, and weather
conditions.
conditions

4. Forensic Odontology:
Forensic dentistry or forensic odontology is the proper handling,
examination and evaluation of dental evidence, which will be then
presented in the interest of justice. The evidence that may be
derived from teeth is the age (in children) and identification of the
person to whom the teeth belong.
Provide

information about the identification of victims when the body is left in

an unrecognizable state.
Use dental records such as x-rays, dental casts or photograph of persons
mouth comparison made between dental remains & suspect victim.
Forensic dentists are responsible for six main areas of practice:

Identification of found human remains

Identification in mass fatalities
Assessment of bite mark injuries
Assessment of cases of abuse (such as child, spousal or elder abuse)
Age estimation

5. Forensic psychiatry
Area in which the relationship between human behavior and

legal proceedings examined;

Civil cases determine people competent to make decisions
about wills, settling property or refusing medical treatment
Criminal cases- evaluate behavioral disorders and determine if
people are competent to stand trial; also behavioral patterns of
criminals determine profile
6. Forensic Engineering:
Concerned

with failure analysis, accident reconstruction, and causes and

origins of fires or explosions
Focus
Also

mainly on the logical sequence and main cause of an accident or crime

attempts to determine who or what is responsible for the cause of an

accident or crime

Function of any forensic science laboratory:

Receiving, managing, and returning evidence is a central function of any
forensic science laboratory.

Function of any forensic science laboratory:

Receiving :- This process starts with, police officer or an investigator submitting
the Evidence to the evidence unit and filling out paperwork describing the
evidence and the type of examinations requested.
Managing :- After receiving the evidence, the laboratory will assign a unique
laboratory number to the case in modern laboratories, this is done through a
computerized Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS). Each item
of evidence is labeled with the unique laboratory number, along with other
identifying information, such as the item number.
When evidence is transferred from one scientist to another, the first scientist
lists the items to be transferred, prints his or her name, writes the date and time
of the transfer, and signs the form.
The person receiving the evidence prints their name and also signs the
form; the chain of custody form permanently accompanies the laboratory
case file. LIMS uses computerized systems that help laboratories keep track of
evidence and information about analyses.

Function of any forensic science laboratory:

Returning :- Once the analysis of the evidence is completed and all of the
examinations requested by the chief investigator are fulfilled, the evidence is
returned to the custody of court of law along with the detailed analysis report
which is automatically generated by LIMS.
Functions of the Forensic Scientist:
Must be skilled in applying the principles and techniques of the physical and
natural sciences to the analysis of many types of evidence that may be
recovered at a crime scene.
Must have a firm, scientific foundation and follow specific procedures in order
for evidence to be admissible in court.
To gather evidence, analyze evidence, collaboration and describing their
findings.

NATURE OF EVIDENCE
Evidence:
Evidence can be defined as information, whether oral testimony,
documents, or material objects, in a legal investigation, that makes
a fact or proposition more or less likely.
In an investigation, evidence can provide leads, clear suspects, or
provide sufficient cause for arrest.
Evidence is central to an investigation and subsequent trial.
It lays the foundation for the arguments the lawyers plan to offer.
It is viewed as the impartial, objective, and sometimes stubborn
information that helps a judge or jury make their conclusions.

Example:
Someone is seen leaving the scene of a
homicide with a baseball bat and it is later
shown by scientific examination that blood
removed from the bat came from the victim.
This could be considered evidence that the
accused person killed the victim. Having the
association of the blood to the bat makes the
proposition that the accused is the murderer
more probable than it would be if the evidence
did not exist. As will be evident later, context is
crucial to a correct interpretation.

If the blood was found on a shirt instead of a baseball bat, in the

absence of other information, the interpretation would not change.
If investigators were told, however, that the accused shirt owner
had performed first aid on the bloodied victim, the significance of
the evidence would need to be reconsidered.

Kinds of Evidence:
1. Circumstantial evidence:- it is a evidence based on inference
and not on personal knowledge or observation. Most evidence
(blood, hairs, bullets, fibers, fingerprints, etc.) is circumstantial.
2. Exculpatory evidence:- Evidence, such as a statement, tending
to excuse, justify, or absolve the alleged fault or guilt of a
defendant.

Basis of Evidence:
A) Transfer and Persistence:- When two things come into contact,
information is exchanged. These exchanges of information
occur even if the evidence is too small to be found or
identified. The results of such a transfer are proxy data.
Forensic science reveals associations between people, places,
and things through the analysis of proxy data.
The conditions that effect transfer amounts include the
following:
o the pressure of the contact
o the number of contacts
o how easily the item transfers material (mud transfers more
readily than does soil)
o the form of the evidence (solid, liquid, or gas)
o the amount involved in the contact

Evidence that is transferred from a source to a location with no

intermediaries is said have undergone direct transfer.
Indirect transfer involves one or more intermediate objects. It can
become complicated and can pose potential limits on interpretation.
The second part of the transfer process is persistence. Once the
evidence transfers, it will remain, or persist, in that location until it further
transfers(and, potentially, is lost), degrades until it is unusable or
unrecognizable, or is collected as evidence.
Evidence persistence depends on the following:
what the evidence is (such as hairs, blood, tool marks, gasoline)
the location of the evidence
the environment around the evidence
time from transfer to collection
activity of or around the evidence location (a living person vs. a dead
body)

B) Identity, Class, and Individualization

Identification:- It is the examination of the chemical and physical
properties of an object and using them to categorize the object as a
member of a group. What is the object made of? What is its color, mass,
and/or volume? The following are examples of identification:
Examining a white powder, performing one or two analyses, and
concluding it is cocaine is identification
Determining that a small colored chip is automotive paint is
identification
Looking at debris from a crime scene and deciding it contains hairs
from a black Labrador retriever is identification (of those hairs)
Class:- Class is a scalable definitionClassification of the evidence
based on which group it belongs to. The same items can be classified
differently, depending on what questions are being asked. Classes are
defined by the number and kind of characteristics used describe them.

Individualization of Evidence:- To individualize evidence means to be

able to put it into a class with one member.

If a forensic scientist can discover properties (normally physical) of
two pieces of evidence that are unique, that is, they are not
possessed by any other members of the class of similar materials,
then the evidence is said to have been individualized.
An example would be a broken ceramic lamp: If the broken pieces
of the lamp found at the crime scene can be fit with the a piece of
ceramic in the burglars tool kit, for example, then it is reasonable
to conclude that those pieces of ceramic were previously one
continuous piece. This conclusion implies that there is no other
piece of lamp in the entire world that those broken pieces could
have come from.
Individualization occurs when at least one unique characteristic is
found to exist in both the known and the questioned samples.
Individualization cannot be accomplished by identification alone.

C) Relationships and Context

Relationship:- The relationships between the people, places, and

things involved in crimes are central to deciding what to examine

and how to interpret the results.
Context:- It sets the stage for what evidence is significant, what
methods may be most effective for collection or analysis, and
what may be safely ignored.
Using context for direction prevents the indiscriminate collection of
items that clog the workflow of the forensic science laboratory.

D) Comparison of Evidence
The questioned evidence is compared with objects whose source is
known. The goal is to determine whether or not sufficient common
physical and/or chemical characteristics between the samples are
present. If they do, it can be concluded that an association exists

between the questioned and known items.

The strength of this association depends upon a number of factors,

including the following:
kind of evidence
intra- and inter sample variation

amount of evidence
location of evidence
transfer and cross-transfer
number of different kinds of evidence associated to one or more
sources

Legal procedures and use of court

Or
Legal procedures in medico-legal cases

Offences:
Definition: an act punishable by law or a breach of a law or rule
The offenses may be:
1. Cognizable
2. Non-cognizable
Cognizable offense refers to an offense in which a police officer can
arrest a person without warrant from the Magistrate. Examples are
rape, murder, dowry death, ragging etc.
non-cognizable offense are those criminal infractions, which are
relatively less serious. For arrest of a person, a warrant from the
Magistrate is necessary without which a police officer cannot arrest a
person. Examples of non-cognizable offences include Public Nuisance,
Causing Simple Hurt, Assault, Mischief etc.

Different Types of Cases:

The cases may be:
1. Criminal cases: Criminal cases: are related with commission of
crimes and are tried in criminal courts. The cases may be of following
types:
Cognizable cases: related with cognizable offenses
Non-cognizable cases: related with non-cognizable offenses
Warrant cases: the offenses punishable with death, imprisonment for
life or for a term exceeding two years are treated as warrant case.
Summons cases: these are the cases where the punishment for
offense does not exceed more than two years.
Complaint case: it is case not instituted by police or on police report
but initiated by an individual or individuals in a court.

2. Civil cases: These are the cases related with disputes between two

individuals or parties and tried in civil courts. These cases are not related to
offense or crimes.
The individual who lodges the complaint is called as complainant and the
other individual (the opposite party) is known as respondent.
In this type of case there is no provision of punishment, as no offence has
been committed. The dispute is settled in the court justly. When one party has
suffered loss, compensation or damages is allowed, if the loss can be so
compensated.

Witness:
Witness is a person who gives sworn testimony or evidence in the
court of law in relation to matters of fact under inquiry.
Types of witness:
There are two types of witnesses and they are:
1.Common witness: Common witness is one who testifies or gives
evidence to the facts observed or heard or perceived by him. The
common witness cannot draw inferences or form opinions.
2. Expert witness: An expert witness is a person who, by virtue of his
professional training, is capable of forming opinions or draws
conclusions from the facts observed by him or noticed by others.
Examples are doctor, handwriting expert, fingers print expert, ballistic
expert, and chemical analyzer.
The Indian Medical Council Act 1956 in section 15 (2)(C).

Hostile Witness: A hostile witness is one who purposely makes

statements contrary to facts or does not give his evidence fairly and with
a desire to tell the truth to the court.
Or
A witness who willfully or with some motive tells lie. Suppresses facts
partly or fully in a court as a witness may be declared as hostile witness.
3.

Note:
Perjury:
Perjury means willful utterance of falsehood by a witness under oath.
It is false evidence tendered by witness and he fails to tell\ what he
knows or believes to be true (Section 191 of IPC).
A witness is liable to be prosecuted for perjury under section 193 of
IPC.

Medical Evidence:
These are the evidences such as medical reports or certificates a
doctor prepares and issues.
Medical evidence is of following types:
1. Documentary evidence
2. Oral evidence
1. Documentary evidence: It comprises of documents produced before
the court and includes:
a)Medical certificate
b)Medico-legal report
c)Dying declaration
d)Dying deposition

a) Medical certificate:
These are the certificates issued by the doctor regarding ill-health
(sickness certificate), unsoundness of mind, death certificate, birth
certificate, fitness certificate etc.
These certificates are the simplest forms of documentary evidence.
Only certificates given by registered medical practitioners (RMP)
registered with state medical council are accepted in the court of law
as evidence.
Doctors should exercise due care while issuing such certificates.
Issuing a false certificate is an offense.

b) Medicolegal reports:
Medicolegal reports are the documents prepared and issued by doctors on
the request of the investigating officer (Police or Magistrate), usually in criminal
cases such as assault, rape, murder etc.
Examples of such reports are: Injury certificate, age report, postmortem
reports, reports regarding examination of exhibits such as weapons, clothes
etc.
Generally these reports are made of three parts viz.:
1. Part I Introduction (Preamble): Comprising of preliminary data such as
name of person, age, sex, address, identification marks, date and time of
examination etc.
2. Part II Examination (Observation): Consisting of the findings observed and
recorded by doctor and entered in the report.
3. Part III Opinion (Inference): Consisting of opinion or inference drawn by the
doctor from the medical examination.

 The report should be written with great care and should bear the signature
and name of the examining doctor.
Any exhibits, e.g. clothes or weapons etc. sent for medical examination
should be described in detail with appropriate diagram/sketches whenever
applicable then these articles should be properly sealed, labeled and
returned to the investigating officer.

C) Dying Declaration: A dying declaration is a statement, verbal or

written, made by a person as to the cause of his death, or as to any of the
circumstances of the transaction which resulted in his death.
Whenever such patients are admitted and who are going to die, the doctor
should call the Magistrate to record dying declaration.
Before recording the statement, doctor should certify that the person is
conscious and have sound mind (compos mentis). If the dying person is
serious and there is no time to call the Magistrate, then doctor should record
the dying declaration.

d) Dying Deposition:
It is a statement or deposition made by a dying person on oath. The
Magistrate in the presence of accused or his lawyer records it.
The procedure of dying deposition is not followed in India.
Dying deposition has more value then dying declaration in the court as it is
recorded by the Magistrate in presence of accused.

2. Oral evidence: All statements which the court permits or

requires to be made before it by a witness (i.e., doctor) in relation
to matters of fact under inquiry.
Note:
Corpus Delicti: A dead body findings on which or appearance of
which suggests that illegal act has occurred .

Summons or Subpoena:
A summons is a writ compelling the attendance of the witness in a court of
law, at a specified place and time, and for a specified purpose under penalty
(Subpoena, sub = under, poena = penalty).
These are of two types and are:
1. Subpoena adtestificandum: it is a type of summons where a person is
directed to appear personally before court to give evidence.
2. Subpoena duces tecum: it is a type of summons served to witness only to
submit a document.
it is issued in duplicate. When served to the witness, he should send one
copy back to the issuing court retaining the other copy with him. The returned
copy should bear his signature authenticating the receipt of the other copy.
It is served to witness through the police or through somebody from the
court.

Duties and responsibilities of each forensic laboratory unit:

a)Physical Science unit- The duties of Physical science unit is to
identify and compare the crime-scene evidence by applying the
principles and techniques of physics and chemistry. It is staffed by
criminalists who have the expertise to use chemical tests and
modern analytical instrumentation to examine items as diverse as
drugs, glass, paint, explosives, and soil. Analysts in this unit are
responsible to:
Conduct chemical analyses.
Perform physical examinations and comparisons.
Provide expert testimony in court.
Process crime scenes.
Interact with other forensic science professionals.

Biological Unit- The biology unit is staffed with biologists and biochemists
whose duty is to identify and perform;
Examination of blood and bloodstains
Examination of other body fluids and their stains
Hair and fiber examination
Diatom examination (Drowning case)
Skeleton examination
Histological examination of tissues
Identification of woods
Analysis of paper
Poisonous plant
Psychotropic plants and their derivatives
Identification of foodstuffs and their stains
Parentage testing
DNA testing
Anthropology and odontology examinations
Wildlife evidences examination

Some of the responsibilities are:

To analyze body fluids and/or other human tissues;
Provide assistance to forensic examiners in handling and analysis of physical
evidence;
Provide expert testimony in court.
Process crime scenes.
Interact with other forensic science professionals.

C) Firearm unit- The duties of firearms unit is to carry out examinations related to
firearms and ammunitions of all types.
Garments and other objects are also examined to detect firearms discharge residues
and to approximate the distance from a target at which a weapon was fired.
The basic principles of firearms examination are also applied here to the comparison
of marks made by tools.
The scientists examine effectiveness of a firearm, whether a particular firearm was
used for firing or not.
In this unit test fire cartridges and bullets are compared to establish that the cartridge
and bullet were fired from the suspected firearm or not.
The unit also undertakes examination of the Gun Shot Residue collected from the
hands and apparels of the firer.
Exhibits are also sent to this unit to determine distance and direction. of firearm used.

Firearm unit has following responsibilities;

To examine firearms and ammunition both branded and improvised
To examine gunshot holes, gunshot wounds, gunshot residues, gunshot powders,
targets of different types, gunshot velocity analysis, tool marks analysis, mode of firing
and range analysis; Explosives and residues analysis.
Provide expert testimony in court.
Process crime scenes.
Interact with other forensic science professionals.

Documentation Examination unit- The document examination unit studies the

handwriting and typewriting on questioned documents to ascertain authenticity and/or
source. Related responsibilities include;
Analyzing paper and ink and examining indented writings (the term usually applied to
the partially visible depressions appearing on a sheet of paper underneath the one on
which the visible writing appears), obliterations, erasures, and burned or charred
documents.
Examination and comparison of handwritings with standards to fix authorship,
signatures or detection of forgeries, type writings/typescripts, printed matters, rubber
stamp impressions and seal impressions
Examination of, erasures (physical or mechanical & chemical), obliterations, addition,
alteration, substitution, interpolation of writings writing materials paper, pen, ink,
pencil, type writing ribbons, invisible and secret writings, anonymous letters and indented
writings

 Examination of genuine currency notes, counterfeit currency notes, lottery tickets,

passport/visa, build-up documents, reused stamps, torn-documents, serrated edges
and their matching.
Determination of the age of documents paper, writings and type writings
Examination and stabilization of charred/burnt-documents and semi-burnt documents
Provide expert testimony in court.
Process crime scenes.
Interact with other forensic science professionals.

Crime laboratory organization structure