Forensic Science Final Exam

Read the article: "Forget CSI: Disaster Is Happening In America's Crime Labs" published by Business Insiderby Jordan Michael Smith on April 30, 2014. Here's the URL (link): http://www.businessinsider.com/forensic-csi-crime-labs-disaster-2014-4

1. Summarize the article "Forget CSI: Disaster Is Happening In America's Crime Labs"

2. What can be done to protect the integrity of forensic science labs?

3. What did the article mean in the section entitled, "Bad Science, Wrongful Convictions?" (FYI it is the same original article posted earlier).

4. How would you combat "Bad Science? (please fully answer this question completely).

5. What is the correlation between CODIS and the Sexual Assault Examination Collection Kit(s)?

6. What is the chain of custody (also known sometimes as chain of control) and its importance with the Sexual Assault Collection Kit?

7. What about the chain of custody regarding other physical evidence?

8. Explain the issues with the OJ Simpson case, regarding chain of custody issues.

9. Does a police officer have to be in the hospital room where the physical examination is being done on the victim? Why or why not?

10. There is a "skeleton" holding a sign outside of the CT Forensic Lab in Meriden, CT. The sign reads:

"If the law has made you a witness

Remain a person of science

You have no victim to avenge

No guilty or innocent person

To convict or save

You must hear testimony

Within the limits of science

Let the evidence speak for itself"

So here is your essay question #10: What does all this mean? Keep in mind that this sign/placard is outside the CT Forensic Lab in Meriden, CT. For full credit, go into great detail about each line.

11. Social Media can be a wealth of information in a criminal investigation. Give an example and explain how social media can assist in a police investigation. Don't shortchange yourself.

12. How is blood important in reconstruction and individualization?

13. What does Bloodstain Pattern Analysis help to answer?

14. What does the surface texture have to do with bloodstain evidence?

15. Explain why investigators are always told, "document, document, document..."

16. What do you do if a crime scene does not contain any biological evidence?

17. Can a police officer/investigator/detective solve a case from behind his/her desk at police headquarters? Explain.

18. Is Forensic Science the answer to solving criminal cases? Explain.

19. Why is marijuana on schedule I of the Controlled Substance Act? Do you think it should be removed? Why or why not? Cite your sources: No Wikipedia.

20. Referring to case of State of Connecticut vs. Martyn Bruno: if you were the police investigator on that scene, what could you have done better job with?