Recently in Forensic Science Category

http://footprintsattheriversedge.blogspot.com/2010/02/012210-jon-lacina-21-ames-ia.html

As some of you may have heard in the past months, a student at ISU named Jon Lacina has been missing since January 22, 2010 in Ames, Iowa. He was last seen at about 9:30 that night and no traces of him were found. The police did many different investigations to try and find him, but nothing helped. There were also helicopter and local waterway searches, but still nothing was ever found.

On April 14th, Jon's body was found by an ISU police officer in the Dairy Pavilion, owned by ISU, about a mile from Central Campus. They forensics department is still looking to figure out how he died and they won't know for weeks.

This tragic circumstance is something that police and other officials should not dismiss. Lacina's family and friends knew him to be a smart, loving person with a love for music and art and he was not a person who takes risks. All of these aspects of his life make you wonder what really happened, since he seemed to be a well-rounded young man. It also makes me wonder why the police didn't check the dairy barns more extensively, since it is in a more remote location but still in range of campus. Another thing that bothers me is what if he was killed? How would we ever find the killer? Is that person still in Ames walking around campus? It is a frightening feeling and now that the police found the body, the investigators should be doing lots more research to find out what really happened.

After taking this class and learning about different areas of study related to psychology and law, I think it would be beneficial for people to know the wide variety of jobs that incorporate both psychology and law. I was looking around the web, and one of the best sites I found was actually put out by the American Psychology Association. This first website gives an overview of what psychology and law is. Next, it talks about the different educational requirements and training needed to specialize in various jobs. Some of the jobs it talks about range from developmental psychology to forensic psychology. Finally, this website gives an insight to actual people who are perusing jobs in psych and law related work areas.

http://www.ap-ls.org/students/Careers.php#

Another website I found that I thought was very informative and interesting was particularly about forensic psychology.  I really liked this website because it was very easy to navigate to and gave information that is relevant to someone who is actually looking into going into this job career, as well as someone who is just looking to get some basic background information. This website is put online by West Chester University.  

http://www.wcupa.edu/_academics/sch_cas.psy/career_paths/forensic/career08.htm

Finally, I thought that the job of Forensic Serology/DNA criminalists was also very interesting. This website gives basic information on what exactly forensic science is. Also, it gives a good description of the basic requirements needed to perform at this job successfully.

http://www.forensiccareers.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28&Itemid=31

There are many jobs out there that people with either psychology or law degrees can get involved with. Psychology has expanded in today's world, and just because you get psychology degree doesn't mean you will be counseling people the rest of your life. There are so many job opportunities available out there. People need to realize what interests them, and surely they will find a job that relates to psychology!

http://www.forensiccareers.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28&Itemid=31

Wow...try to do a search on "blood splatter analysis training" and you will get just about nothing that your looking for.  After we discussed crime scene investigation last week (and watching a season of Dexter), I started to wonder where individuals could go for training on blood spatter analysis.  I did however find 2 sources that gave a decent amount of information.  The only thing that I really found out was that you need a strong background in biology, chemistry, physics, math, and it wouldn't hurt to have a background in criminology.  The link below is to the wikipedia page that I found on Blood Spatter Analysis:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodstain_pattern_analysis 

This link below is to the home page of the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts:

http://iabpa.org/

Enjoy!

Perhaps on of the best know and worst school shootings in history, the Columbine school massacre has for years made people think bullying lead to all of the destruction.  With this news piece written a year ago is talks about another angle that after years of investigation has lead to show that the two responsible were actually not just two regular boys but two that would be diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder.  Basically saying they were psychopaths and there is more to the story then once told.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-04-13-columbine-myths_N.htm 

Recently, I just started watching the show "Dexter" on TV.  It made me think of all the "greatest" serial killers of the world.  Did you notice that they were all people that just lived next door that you would have never imagined in that role?  Well watching the show has really made me interested in the topic.  Below is the "Dexter" website.  You should really check out the show if you haven't already.

http://www.sho.com/site/dexter/about.do 

These case studies show us how important forensic science really is. This web page will give you quick details on famous murder cases throughout the years and how forensic science helped. You may also go through the different tabs and find out the evidence involved, suspects, autopsies and more!

http://library.thinkquest.org/04oct/00206/text_casestudies.htm 

In 2003, there was a woman who killed her husband and kept his body locked in her bedroom for a year. This happened in Defiance, Iowa which is near my hometown in western Iowa. I found an article about it that really explains what happened and how her trial went.

http://news.findlaw.com/court_tv/s/20040421/21apr2004101845.html

It is really interesting because she was trying to defend herself because her husband was always beating her. Everyone in the town, which is about 350 people, knew that he was beating her and no one really tried to stop him. The wife shot her husband in the back of the head with his gun and put his body in their bedroom and locked the door. If that isn't gross enough, she and her children continued to live in the house the whole time. When the police found his body a year later, it was very decomposed, but the autopsy stated that he was shot in the back of the head, which lead prosecuters to believe that she didn't kill him in the form of defense, since he was not coming at her at the time she shot him. As far as I know she was guilty of second-degree murder with a 50-year sentence with 35 years before she could be on parole.

We all know who Lil' Wayne is...famous rapper with the long dred locks.  And, most of us know about the crime he commited...being charged with gun possession.  DNA found on the gun linked Lil' Wayne to the crime, but his lawyer insists that the gun was not his, and the DNA process is not accurate enough to link him to the crime.

I put a link to the article below, and it explains Lil' Wayne's case, along with other DNA problems the system runs in to.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2009-10-21-lil-wayne-dna_N.htm

Image from: http://lil-wayne.us/2009/10/lil-wayne-pleads-guilty-to-gun-charges-8-month-to-one-year-jail-sentence-expected/

http://truthinjustice.org/Omaha-CSI.htm

This case has a little something for everyone.  The commander of the Douglas County (Southeast Nebraska) CSI unit has been charged with planting false DNA evidence in a vehicle the police thought belonged to the perpetrator of a double murder.  He is also charged with falsifying documents in a federal investigation, and mail fraud for sending some of these false documents.

Two primary suspects (a father and son) were held for several months before eventually being cleared.  These suspects have since filed charges due to having been harassed into providing a false confession.  The father, who is mildly retarded, was interviewed for 11 hours before confessing to the crime and implicating his son.

Numerous other cases have now been called into question following this investigation including several murder cases in which the defendant is now serving a life-sentence. 

This highlights the need for strict internal control of forensic evidence.  If the system places to much emphasis on achieving convictions, and 'putting bad guys away' field-workers, and law enforcement personnel may be motivated to falsify documents in order to get ahead or keep their jobs. 

'Beyond a Reasonable Doubt' starring Jessie Metcalfe, Amber Tamblyn, and Michael Douglas is a recent movie dealing with this issue.  Metcalfe plays a news reporter who is convinced that Douglas, a powerful D.A. interested in running for mayor, has been searching for cases with only circumstantial evidence available then planting evidence to win convictions.  Metcalfe frames himself for a murder in order to expose Douglas.  Watch the trailer here.  Great movie, horrible ending. 

http://www.hulu.com/watch/73536/movie-trailers-beyond-a-reasonable-doubt

This is an article about a man that was falsely identified in a lineup and spent 22 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. I couldnt imagine the amount of frustration and agony that he experienced during the 22 years that he served! DNA finally exonerated him of the crime but only after he served his sentence. The article shows how not only a witness can falsely identify the perpetrators but also how the victim themselves can also be mislead or mistaken of the actual criminal. I thought this article was very interesting because of the amount of time it took to exonerate the accused and also that the victim was in a way unknowingly persuaded to pick the wrong person in the lineup. Its pretty scary to think that this actually occurs and the amount of actually innocent people in prison is higher them we probably assume.

http://www.psychology.iastate.edu/faculty/gwells/The_Misidentification_of_John_White.pdf

Here are some websites that offer products suitable for classroom demonstrations and mock crime projects.

http://www.crimescene.com/store/index.php

http://www.chiefsupply.com/Law_Enforcement

http://sciencekit.com/general-forensics/c/1722/start/27/

See how juries are being affected by television shows like CSI. Are shows like CSI really informing people about crime scene investigations? Or is it giving people false perceptions of how things really work?

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-08-05-csi-effect_x.htm

 (Image by:http://seat42f.com/index.php/tv/tv-shows-mainmenu-241/cbs-mainmenu-43/csi-mainmenu-115/5476-csi-season-10-episode-5-bloodsport-promo-photos-.html )

As I researched more into the CSI effect people there is actually some what of a debate whether or not it is helping or hurting out jury systems. Some argue that it is bad because it shows overly fast procedures, lots of evidence, and gives the audience a view on how evidence and cases should be handled. On the plus side, some argue that if anything it is making juries more aware about what is happening during investigations. Some believe it has raised positive awareness on things like evidence.

Below are links or both sides of the argument.

The CSI effect is real!

http://forensicscience.suite101.com/article.cfm/investigating_the_csi_effect

 The CSI effect is more legend than fact!

http://criminaljustice.change.org/blog/view/the_csi_effect_fact_or_fiction

Skin color may be genetically controlled, and police may be able to use this information.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5055391

But police officers are likely to be interested, too. Already, some officials are testing DNA left at crime scenes to get clues about what the culprit might look like. Tony Frudakis runs DNAPrint Genomics, a Florida-based company that uses gene markers associated with geographic ancestry to give police a general sense of whether someone might look more black or white. In one case, he says, such "DNAWitness" testing helped recently track down a serial killer in Louisiana.

http://www.crimeandclues.com/

We have articles and news items primarily targeted towards Police Officers, Detectives, Crime Scene Investigators and Forensic Scientists.

A step by step demonstration of an autopsy procedure.

http://www.deathonline.net/movies/mm/autopsy.cfm

view information from cases and make decisions about cause of death

http://www.le.ac.uk/pa/teach/va/welcome.html

article about software enabling a virtual autopsy including gallery images of virtual autopsies

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16637-virtual-autopsy-inside-the-skull-of-a-suicide-victim.html

video of a real autopsy

http://www.psychologicalscience.com/psylaw/2010/02/online-autopsy--not-virtual.html

Go inside a real life murder investigation. Examine crime scene photos, collect and analyze evidence and watch fascinating interviews with forensics experts who convicted Delaware's first serial murderer.

http://www.hbo.com/autopsy/swf/casebook1/cb1.html

Trace the history of forensic science and criminal detection through our exclusive Forensic Timeline. Learn about ballistics, fingerprinting, DNA profiling, Scotland Yard and more!

http://www.hbo.com/autopsy/swf/timeline/timeline.html/