"Misleading DNA Evidence: A Guide for Scientists, Judges, and Lawyers" presents the reasons miscarriages of justice can occur when dealing with DNA, what the role of the forensic scientist is throughout the process, and how judges and lawyers can educate themselves about all of the possibilities to consider when dealing with cases that involve DNA evidence.

DNA has become the gold standard by which a person can be placed at the scene of a crime, and the past decade has seen great advances in this powerful crime solving tool. But the statistics that analysts can attach to DNA evidence often vary, and in some cases the statistical weight assigned to that match, can vary enormously. The numbers provided to juries often overstate the evidence, and can result in a wrongful conviction. In addition to statistics, the way the evidence is collected, stored and analyzed can also result in a wrongful conviction due to contamination.

This book reviews high-profile and somewhat contentious cases to illustrate these points, including the death of Meredith Kercher. It examines crucial topics such as characterization of errors and determination of error rates, reporting DNA profiles and the source and sub-source levels, and the essentials of statement writing. It is a concise, readable resource that will help not only scientists, but legal professionals with limited scientific backgrounds, to understand the intricacies of DNA use in the justice system.
Ideal reference for scientists and for those without extensive scientific backgroundsWritten by one of the pioneers in forensic DNA typing and interpretation of DNA profiling resultsIdeal format for travel, court environments, or wherever easy access to reference material is vital

This is the first digital forensics book that covers the complete lifecycle of digital evidence and the chain of custody. This comprehensive handbook includes international procedures, best practices, compliance, and a companion web site with downloadable forms. Written by world-renowned digital forensics experts, this book is a must for any digital forensics lab. It provides anyone who handles digital evidence with a guide to proper procedure throughout the chain of custody--from incident response through analysis in the lab.
A step-by-step guide to designing, building and using a digital forensics labA comprehensive guide for all roles in a digital forensics laboratoryBased on international standards and certifications

"Cybercrime Investigation Case Studies "is a "first look" excerpt from Brett Shavers' new Syngress book, "Placing the Suspect Behind the Keyboard. "Case studies are an effective method of learning the methods and processes that were both successful and unsuccessful in real cases. Using a variety of case types, including civil and criminal cases, with different cybercrimes, a broad base of knowledge can be gained by comparing the cases against each other. The primary goal of reviewing successful cases involving suspects using technology to facilitate crimes is to be able to find and use the same methods in future cases. This "first look" teaches you how to place the suspect behind the keyboard using case studies.

"Investigative Case Management "is a "first look" excerpted from Brett Shavers' new Syngress book, "Placing the Suspect Behind the Keyboard. "Investigative case management is more than just organizing your case files. It includes the analysis of all evidence collected through digital examinations, interviews, surveillance, and other data sources. In order to place a suspect behind any keyboard, supporting evidence needs to be collected and attributed to a person. This first look provides you with traditional and innovative methods of data analysis to identify and eliminate suspects through a combination of supporting methods of analysis.

Now essential to modern life, computers have also become increasingly important to criminals, who steal information, commit fraud, and stalk victims online. Even if a crime was not committed online, law enforcement may discover critical evidence from an offenders' digital media. For this evidence to be admissible however, police must demonstrate proper collection and handling. In the courtroom, prosecutors must overcome the twin barriers of scepticism and lack of technical understanding. To assist prosecutorial offices and associated law enforcement agencies, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) has developed a series of guides dealing with digital evidence to address the complete investigation process. This book informs crime scene investigators and other handlers about legal requirements for the handling of digital evidence and also provides guidelines for successful prosecution. This book also provides information into the application of using digital evidence to convict in child pornography cases.

The popular media is rife with examples of scientists delivering the telling evidence in a police investigation or court case. Often the computer will show a "positive match" or the investigator states that the "physical evidence does not lie," usually with the suspect immediately confessing the wrong doing. The reality, however, is that science is replete with errors, mistakes and misinterpretations. Courts must deal with these limitations while trying to deliver justice to all involved. Jurors, expecting to have one person who can stroll in and tell them exactly what happened, generally have to deal with multiple experts testifying to the horrible mistakes made by the other side. This book presents seven examples to illustrate the legal and court procedures in which one of the authors, a chemist, acted as an expert witness. The examples of the cases chosen include drunk driving, house fires, poison products, floods, and slip and fall. The cases are presented in a both legal and "scientific" manner intended to provide professionals (lawyers and judges), as well as the general public, insight into the practical application of science in real court cases. Included are the original scientific reports and, where possible, the judgements of the courts interpreting the data. Examples of both Canadian and American cases are used. The introductory chapter of the book and the final two chapters deal with the role of the expert witness and the laws that determine their evidence and its consideration by the court.

Publisher's Note: Products purchased from Third Party sellers are not guaranteed by the publisher for quality, authenticity, or access to any online entitlements included with the product. The Most Complete and Up-to-Date Resource on Forensic Structural EngineeringThoroughly revised and featuring contributions from leading experts, this definitive handbook offers comprehensive treatment of forensic structural engineering and expert witness delivery. From exploring the possible origins of errors, through investigating and analyzing failures, to working with the legal profession for assigning responsibilities, Forensic Structural Engineering Handbook, Second Edition covers every important topic in the field. The design and construction process Design and construction safety codes, standards, and regulations Standard of care and duty to perform First steps and legal concerns after a failure Engineering investigation of failures Origins and causes of failures Loads and hazards Design errors, construction defects, and project miscommunication Defects, deterioration, and durability Mechanisms and analyses of failures in steel, concrete, masonry, timber, and temporary structures; building envelope; and structural foundations Litigation and dispute resolution The expert consultant and witness

In recent years forensic DNA evidence has been used by agencies and actors in the criminal justice system more and more frequently to both convict the guilty and exonerate the innocent. Cases that previously may have been unsolveable have been transformed into solvable cases where viable suspects can be identified and arrested or removed from suspect lists. This book presents examinations of how DNA, and some other forensic methods, are being used by our justice system and the issues that surround these uses.

"Bloodsworth: The True Story of the First Death Row Inmate Exonerated by DNA" raises provocative questions about the US legal system and the death penalty. It also portrays the plight of Kirk Bloodsworth, who, because of his valiant effort to help make DNA testing available to all prisoners, is now described as a modern-day hero. Since his release in 1993, twelve other inmates on death row have been exonerated by DNA. Bloodsworth was wrongfully convicted in 1984 for the gruesome rape and murder of Dawn Hamilton, a nine-year-old girl in Baltimore County, Maryland. When the Judge sentenced him to death, the courtroom erupted into applause, believing justice had been served. Nine years later, after serving time in one of the harshest prisons in the country, Bloodsworth was set free based on a new procedure called DNA fingerprinting - a procedure he came across while reading a true crime book borrowed from the prison library. For ten years after Bloodsworth's release, Baltimore County refused to run DNA tests on key crime-scene evidence. When they finally did, a match was immediately found. The Identity of the DNA match adds even more irony and a surprising twist to Bloodsworth's amazing story. DC attorney and novelist Tim Junkin masterfully depicts Bloodsworth's traumatic, ultimately inspiring twenty-year journey.

THE FORENSIC ENTOMOLOGIST turns a dispassionate, analytic eye on scenes from which most people would recoil -- human corpses in various stages of decay, usually the remains of people who have met a premature end through accident or mayhem. To M. Lee Goff and his fellow forensic entomologists, each body recovered at a crime scene is an ecosystem, a unique microenvironment colonized in succession by a diverse array of flies, beetles, mites, spiders, and other arthropods: some using the body to provision their young, some feeding directly on the tissues and by-products of decay, and still others preying on the scavengers. Using actual cases on which he has consulted, Goff shows how knowledge of these insects and their habits allows forensic entomologists to furnish investigators with crucial evidence about crimes. Even when a body has been reduced to a skeleton, insect evidence can often provide the only available estimate of the post-mortem interval, or time elapsed since death, as well as clues to whether the body has been moved from the original crime scene, and whether drugs have contributed to the death. An experienced forensic investigator who regularly advises law enforcement agencies in the United States and abroad, Goff is uniquely qualified to tell the fascinating if unsettling story of the development and practice of forensic entomology.

The third edition of this award-winning textbook has been revised and thoroughly updated. Building on the success of the previous editions, it continues to address the history and practice of forensic psychiatry, legal regulation of the practice of psychiatry, forensic evaluation and treatment, psychiatry in relation to civil law, criminal law and family law, as well as correctional forensic psychiatry. New chapters address changes in the assessment and treatment of aggression and violence as well as psychological and neuroimaging assessments.

When it's all said and done, penetration testing remains the most effective way to identify security vulnerabilities in computer networks. Conducting Network Penetration and Espionage in a Global Environment provides detailed guidance on how to perform effective penetration testing of computer networks-using free, open source, and commercially available tools, including Backtrack, Metasploit, Wireshark, Nmap, Netcat, and Nessus. It also considers exploits and other programs using Python, PERL, BASH, PHP, Ruby, and Windows PowerShell. The book taps into Bruce Middleton's decades of experience with computer security, including penetration testing of military networks, the White House, utilities, manufacturing facilities, CIA headquarters, the Defense Information Systems Agency, and NASA. Mr. Middleton begins with a chapter on defensive measures/privacy issues and then moves on to describe a cyber-attack on one of his labs and how he responded to the attack. Next, the book explains how to research a target without directly "touching" that target. Once you've learned all you can, the text describes how to gather even more information using a more direct approach. From there, it covers mathematical analysis, considers target exploitation, and discusses Chinese and Syrian cyber-attacks. Providing authoritative guidance on cyberforensics, reverse engineering, and penetration testing, the book categorizes testing tools according to their use within the standard penetration testing framework. For each of the above-mentioned categories, you will find basic and advanced tools and procedures to help you identify security vulnerabilities in today's networks. After reading this book, you will understand how to perform an organized and efficient penetration test. You will also learn techniques used to bypass anti-virus software and capture keystrokes of remote systems. Explaining how to put together your own penetration testing lab, the text concludes by describing how to utilize various iPhone apps to perform reconnaissance activities on wireless networks.

Bridging the gap between practical crime scene investigation and scientific theory, Crime Scene Forensics: A Scientific Method Approach maintains that crime scene investigations are intensely intellectual exercises that marry scientific and investigative processes. Success in this field requires experience, creative thinking, logic, and the correct application of the science and the scientific method.

Emphasizing the necessary thought processes for applying science to the investigation, this text covers:

• The general scene investigation process, including definitions and philosophy as well as hands-on considerations
• Archiving the crime scene through photography, sketching, and video
• Managing the crime scene investigation the glue that holds the investigation together
• Searching the crime scene the logical byproduct of archiving and management
• Impression/pattern evidence, including fingerprints, bloodstains, footwear impressions, and tire track impressions
• The biological crime scene and recognizing, collecting, and preserving biological evidence, including forensic entomology and evidence found at bioweapon scenes
• The fundamental principles of evidence as expressed by the Principle of Divisible Matter and the Locard Exchange Principle: every touch leaves a trace
• Trace evidence, including glass, paint, and soil
• Shooting incident scenes, with discussion of bullet paths and gunshot residue

The final section examines fire scenes, quality assurance issues, and methods for collecting and preserving various evidence types not covered in other chapters.

The delicate balance among logic, science, and investigative activity must be understood in order to successfully work a crime scene. Enhanced by more than 200 color images, this volume provides investigators and students with the tools to grasp these critical concepts, paving an expeditious path to the truth.

"

This is the ideal book for GIS users in law enforcement who want to learn more about the technology or who wish to get started using GIS in their agency. Crime analysts, teachers, and students of criminal justice will also gain valuable insights into a suite of powerful technological tools ideally suited for crime mapping and analysis from this comprehensive volume.
This book features chapters on implementation, data sharing, web-based GIS and database design written by experts and practitioners from law enforcement agencies and universities. Also included is a series of chapters detailing exactly how specific law enforcement agencies are using GIS and related technologies such as GPS and remote sensing to solve crimes, deploy resources, and gauge the effectiveness of crime prevention and community oriented policing initiatives.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203217950

AS SEEN ON ITV'S THIS MORNING

Death has a unique smell. I've been in the presence of people who have killed; I've been in rooms where people have been killed. I've seen the unspeakable things human beings are capable of. None of that puts me off my aim; I want to see those people caught, convicted and sent to jail.

Mark Williams-Thomas is a former police detective and multi-award-winning investigative journalist. He has been at the centre of some of the most high-profile investigations of recent years involving killers and paedophiles.

In this gripping and unflinching book, Mark reveals how he has pieced together these complex cases. Through tireless research and perseverance, Mark takes us on a journey of discovery gathering and pursuing new evidence, earning the trust of silent witnesses and sharing the personal toll this extraordinary job takes on him.

Mark's story is a relentless and inspiring one; it is the story of a life dedicated to justice.

Remote Sensing Technology in Forensic Investigations provides a basic understanding of concepts involved in the use of basic geophysical surveying, metal detectors, magnetics, electromagnetics and ground penetrating radar in police and forensic investigations. Such technology can be vital in locating clandestine, buried evidence which is often concealed in the subsurface underground. Crime scene investigation and evidence collection entails locating, identifying, collecting, and cataloging. Such physical evidence searches are time consuming and can often lead to searches that require excavations, which in itself that can destroy evidence. The noninvasive, nondestructive methods outlined in this book can both reduce the time spent on searches and excavations, thereby increasing the probability of locating vital physical evidence. As such, the application of remote sensing methods has gained increased acceptance, and seen increased usage, by investigators. Remote sensing methods are based on making indirect measurements of the surface of and within the earth. The resulting measurement information can be presented in either an imaging format- such as in aerial photography-or a non-imaging format, such as in a profile or contour map. These measurements can be interpreted to identify and characterize contrasts due to differences in physical and natural properties of the materials being studied. This can include physical evidence, remains, and clandestine graves. This book will serve as a handy introductory primer to the technology, techniques, and application of such techniques. Throughout, numerous references and additional resources are provided for those investigators, forensic anthropology, and police professionals who want further information on the technology's usage for investigative purposes.

Part autobiography, part thought piece, part references, the book takes an insightful look at the experience and cases of renowned paediatrician and forensic expert witness Dr. Charles Ferguson. The book presents the interaction of science and law as it applies, specifically, the Canadian courts, but the justice process as a whole. Dr. Ferguson's experience-from a scientist and medical professional's perspective-in dealing with lawyers, judges, and the process of testifying in numerous court-offers a unique glimpse into how the two worlds of science and law don't always mesh. In some cases the evidence is compelling and definitive. In others, far from it. Ultimately, the book presents the important role of the forensic expert and expert witness as a vital and deciding factor as the courtroom proceedings play out. The cases presented in the book-cases Dr. Ferguson was personally involved with-are interesting, the conclusions and results arrived at by Dr. Ferguson are well thought out and backed by his scientific expertise. The results and conclusions arrived at by the courts is often expected, sometimes surprising-in specific cases even controversial. Throughout all, Dr. Ferguson casts an independent, and sometimes critical, eye on the process presenting a compelling argument and heartfelt recommendation for science, objectivity, and justice to be served based on truth-truth insofar as the "facts" of the cases presented through evidence and the testimony provided within the judicial process. A fascinating read for university students, experts and witnesses, lawyers and judges, and anyone involved in the forensic process in the trying of criminal and civil cases.

Forensic Biomechanics and Human Injury: Criminal and Civil Applications - An Engineering Approach provides a concise, comprehensive overview of human anatomy and the biomechanical factors involved in human injury. It describes the methodologies used to compute the various forces, stresses, and energies required to injure the human body. The book covers the theoretical mathematics behind understanding how injuries occur, classifying certain types of injuries, age and biomechanical factors, impact loading, injury investigation, and the importance of expert witnesses and testimony in civil and criminal cases. It contains a significant number of sizes of all the pertinent materials in the human body, classified by age, sex, and in some instances by race, as well as stress-strain curves and tables of the strengths of these materials. Forensic Biomechanics and Human Injury provides a valuable source of information with tools to help the professional determine the nature of injuries, understand the implications of accidents, and the calculations that go into determining such things for both civil and criminal investigations.

Primary Tooth Development in Infancy: A Text and Atlas describes the initial phase of human dentition. It includes more than 1,500 photographs of fetal and infant teeth up to the age of one year. The book presents each step in the developmental phases in photographs accompanied by concise explanatory text. The teeth are photographed from six different aspects: labial, lingual, mesial, distal, incisal, and from the root direction and includes CT images in some cases. Topics covered include morphology and development of primary dentition, discrimination criteria for human dentitions, forensic importance of direct and indirect measuring techniques, dental identification and age estimation from teeth, achieving dental evidence from oral autopsy, and age estimation formulae. The book also discusses the neonatal line concept of intrauterine life accompanied by corresponding scanning electron microscope photographs. A supplementary software program for age estimation from dental measurements can also be used in conjunction with the material in this text. Meticulously prepared by a team of experts, this atlas is a valuable tool for odontologists, pediatricians, pedodontists, forensic scientists, and dental anthropologists.

An accessible guide for students across a variety of disciplines who are studying forensic evidence throughout the criminal justice system. Containing up to date and classic case studies, photos and examples, it assumes no prior scientific knowledge to ensure the discussion is clear but comprehensive.

The development of forensic pathology in Britain is told here through the lives of five outstanding medical pioneers. Spanning seventy years, their careers and achievements marked major milestones in the development of legal medicine, their work and innovation laying the foundations for modern crime scene investigation (CSI). Bernard Spilsbury, Sydney Smith and Professors Glaister, Camps and Simpson were the original expert witnesses. Between them, they performed over 200,000 postmortems during their professional careers, establishing crucial elements of murder investigation such as time, place and cause of death. This forensic quintet featured in many of the notable murder trials of their time, making ground-breaking discoveries in the process. They were treated as celebrities by the media, and news that they were 'on the case' featured in numerous headlines. In the best traditions of scholarship, they also worked as teachers, passing on their knowledge and experience to future pathologists.

Winner of the Gold Dagger Award
A fascinating true crime story that details the rise of modern forensics and the development of modern criminal investigation.
At the end of the nineteenth century, serial murderer Joseph Vacher terrorized the French countryside, eluding authorities for years, and murdering twice as many victims as Jack The Ripper. Here, Douglas Starr revisits Vacher's infamous crime wave, interweaving the story of the two men who eventually stopped him--prosecutor Emile Fourquet and Dr. Alexandre Lacassagne, the era's most renowned criminologist. In dramatic detail, Starr shows how Lacassagne and his colleagues were developing forensic science as we know it. Building to a gripping courtroom denouement, "The Killer of Little Shepherds "is a riveting contribution to the history of criminal justice.