Intro to Forensic Science

Science applied to legal problems

Having to do with law

Art of argumentative discourse; debate

Facts necessary to prove a particular crime

People charged with critically evaluating facts as presented; judge or jury

DNA profile database, fingerprint database, and ballistics database, respectively

Reference to forensc or legal medicine; in the past, it encompassed "criminalistics"

Recognition of a lab's work as highly professional; meets standards

Working groups made up of highly experienced individuals with technical or scientific expertise

Individual meets high level of skill in their area of expertise

Manner to approach problems

Unproven attempt to explain an observation

Designed to test one variable

Plausible explanation; gained general acceptance

Generally accepted explanation; proven true

Deals with disease and bodily changes according to disease

Elected official; looks into suspicious/unattended deaths

Determines cause and manner of suspicious/unattended deaths

Occuring after death

Branch of zoology dealing with insects

Study of pathology and anatomy of teeth

Study of evolution, as revealed by skeleton or patterns in DNA

Occuring before death

Study of chemistry, effects and treatment of poisonous substances; drug action and detection

Diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental illness

Study of the mind and behavior of humans

Habits of a criminal

Recognition, classification (identification), individualization, and reconstruction

To know because of experience

Group according to characteristics

Prove piece was once part of a whole; prove object is unique against members in the same class

Putting evidence together to understand the nature and sequence of events that created it