The ForensicWeek.com Webcast Show airing Episode #31 – “Forensic Accounting – Following the Money.”
The ForensicWeek.com Webcast Show is airing Episode #31 – “Forensic Accounting – Following the Money,” Thursday evening, July 18, 2013 at 7:00 PM (EST). Join Host, Tom Mauriello and his special guests, forensic accountants, Bryan Copas and Darrell Dorell. Learn how forensic accountants investigate non-violent white-collar crimes such as fraud, embezzlement, and money laundering. Watch the show LIVE or view it at your convenience. Just GO TO www.forensicweek.com
The ForensicWeek.com Show – “Death Investigation Comes Alive” – Tonight, Thursday, July 11, 2013
The ForensicWeek.com Webcast Show is airing Episode #30 – “Death Investigation Comes Alive,” Thursday evening, July 11, 2013 at 7:00 PM (EST). Join us as we examine the death investigation responsibilities of the homicide, crime scene, and forensic investigators and medical examiner. So join host, Tom Mauriello and his special guests, retired NYPD investigators Joe Giacalone and John Paolucci, and Dr. Priya Banerjee, Asst. Medical Examiner for the State of Rhode Island. Watch the show LIVE or view it at your convenience. Just GO TO www.forensicweek.com
The ForensicWeek.com Webcast Show airing Episode #29 – “Cold Cases Revisited”
The ForensicWeek.com Webcast Show is airing Episode #29 – “Cold Cases Revisited,” Thursday evening, June 27, 2013 at 7:00 PM (EST). Join us as we examine what determines that an old unsolved case should be revisited and declared a “Cold Case” for additional investigation. What types of cases are considered for reinvestigation? What are the odds that a “cold case” will be solved when revisited; and who investigates these unsolved cases. So join host, Tom Mauriello and his special guest, Joe Giacalone, retired NYPD Detective Sargent and former Commanding Officer of the Bronx Cold Case Homicide Squad. Watch the show LIVE or view it at your convenience. Just GO TO www.forensicweek.com
Free webinars by Bode Technology
Bode Technology provides online webinars which include overviews and demonstrations designed to help all individuals in the justice system better understand the technology of identification using DNA testing. All offered webinars are FREE and each is followed by a Q & A session. The webinars cover a variety of topics ranging from cold case investigations to expert witness testimony to advanced DNA techniques for attorneys.
For more information and how to register click here.
Source: forensicmag.com and Bode Technology
Forensic Magazine’s June/July 2013 Issue
Forensic Magazine’s newest issue just arrived, bringing an array of information in their featured articles. With articles reporting on topics from “Collecting Terrorist Attack Evidence” to “The Value of Bloodstain Pattern Recognition at Crime Scenes,” Forensic Magazine has it covered. You can even subscribe to the digital edition of the magazine and have it delivered straight to your email inbox.
Check out the latest issue here.
To subscribe to the magazine click here.
Source: Forensicmag.com
Rape Kit Dye that Works on All Skin Colors
After a rape, forensic nurses fully document sexual assault victims’ injuries by using a dye that causes lacerations and tears on the skin to “light up.” But the dye — a dark blue — doesn’t show on people of color, and that often means the perpetrators go free. However, University of Virginia researcher and associate professor in the School of Nursing, Kathryn Laughon, has posited the use of a fluorescent dye as the answer to help illuminate tissue lacerations and abrasions for all skin types and colors. Laughon, who is also an active forensic nurse examiner, explains that when women are examined after a suspected sexual assault, the nurse typically applies the dye, wipes the extra off, and the areas of injury “light up.” Nurses like Laughon see two to three times as many injuries with the dye as without, so it’s a critical step in assessing and documenting what had occurred during the assault.
Source: Forensicmag.com
Citation:
Kueter, C. Forensic Magazine. Rape Kit Dye that Works on All Skin Colors. Retrieved June 26, 2013, from http://www.forensicmag.com/news/2013/06/rape-kit-dye-works-all-skin-colors?et_cid=3324453&et_rid=515363537&location=top#.Ucs9qPnCaSo
Bite marks derided as poor forensic science
Previously long accepted as criminal evidence, bite marks are now facing more doubts regarding reliability. Later this month, a New York judge’s ruling could end the practice indefinitely. Since 2000, at least two dozen men convicted or charged with murder or rape based on bite marks on a victim’s flesh have been exonerated thanks to DNA testing. According to the director of strategic litigation at the New York-based Innocence Project,Chris Fabricant argues that bite-mark evidence is “the poster child of unreliable forensic science.” However, supporters of the method argue that the problems have arisen not because of a flawed method, but because of the flawed qualifications of those testifying.
Another story can be found here.
Source: Arizona Daily Star and Forensicmagazine.com
Citations:
Behrman, A. StarNet – Arizona Daily Star . Bite marks derided as poor forensic science. Retrieved June 17, 2013, from http://azstarnet.com/news/national/bite-marks-derided-as-poor-forensic-science/article_dc64cfc8-2231-5f24-949d-e76dbed2a629.html
Myers, A. Forensic Magazine . Bites Derided as Unreliable in Court. Retrieved June 17, 2013, from http://www.forensicmag.com/news/2013/06/bites-derided-unreliable-court?et_cid=3317377&et_rid=515363537&location=top#.Ub8_-fnCaSo
Biometrics Firm Merges Fingerprinting and Smartphones
Facial recognition technology moving toward identifying almost anyone
In a real-time experiment, conducted by Carnegie Mellon University’s CyLab Biometrics Center, scientists used digital mapping to turn and enhance the face of “Suspect 2” from the Boston Bombings in order to match it with faces from a database. The researchers did not know how well they had done until authorities identified the suspect as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the younger, surviving brother and a student at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, and they were able to compare the enhanced facial image with Dzhokhar’s face. The technology is still in it’s early stages of development, but cyber experts believe it is only a matter of years — and research dollars — until computers are able to identify almost anyone instantly. Computers could then use electronic data to immediately construct a complete dossier about the person, pulling much of the compiled information from online profiles that many people publish themselves.
Check out the full article here.
Source: forensicmag.com
Citation:
Conte, A. Tribune-Review. Facial recognition technology moving toward identifying almost anyone. Retrieved May 28, 2013, from http://www.triblive.com/news/allegheny/3904286-74/technology-face-center#axzz2TpeVbN9R
Using Vegetation to Date Clandestine Graves
Mushrooms, aging roots, damaged wood, and other plants: all of these can be used to determine the critical component of postmortem interval (PMI) in clandestine grave investigations. If investigators are able to find the grave within 24 hours of death, pathologists can estimate the time of death. When dealing with shallow graves, forensic entomologists may be able to use insect succession and development to estimate PMI. For graves discovered beyond 24 hours of death, forensic anthropologists are called in to assist with estimating the PMI based on rate of decay and condition of the remains. Investigators must also be familiar with using biological matter, such as pollen, as a tool to estimate the season when a clandestine grave was created.
Source: forensicmag.com
Citation:
Ward, J.S. Forensic Magazine. Using Vegetation to Date Clandestine Graves. Retrieved May 29, 2013, from http://www.forensicmag.com/article/using-vegetation-date-clandestine-graves?et_cid=3281901&et_rid=515363537&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.forensicmag.com%2farticle%2fusing-vegetation-date-clandestine-graves&location=top
Free Crime Scene Webinar: Death Scene Checklist
For most death investigations, you start with a plain notebook and start writing. Wouldn’t it be easier to just fill in the blanks beginning with time assigned to the release of the crime scene? The Death Scene Checklist is designed to help investigators of crime scenes where a death has occurred. It covers bodies found in structures, water, vehicles and open areas, and it will put your investigation into a format where the information can be easily found. This information will also work as a reminder of what needs to be done, to get you thinking and to be more observant, and aid in the prosecution of the case. Class participants will be given a code to access the Death Scene Check List free of charge.
Join Forensicmagazine.com in their free webinar on Death Scene Checklists on Thursday, July 11th at 1 PM ET.
Source: Forensicmag.com
The Science and Art of the Facial Reconstruction Process
Science and Art of Facial Reconstruction video
Museum Specialist Gay Malin provides a step-by-step description of how artists go about rebuilding the features of a long-dead person, based only on the shape of their skull. This video focuses on the reconstruction of facial features from a skull of a woman who died 300 years ago in Albany. Her remains were excavated from the cemetery associated with the Albany Almshouse (1826-1926). The video also provides interesting details on how the artist decides to mold unknowable features like ear shape and body fat measures.
Source: forensicmag.com
Supreme Court Decides on Police Collection of DNA Upon Arrest
This past Monday, June 3, 2013, the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision upheld a state law that allows investigators to take genetic information from arrestees, a practice followed by the federal government and 28 states. Police generally compare suspects’ DNA to records from other cases in hopes of developing leads
Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority, said “DNA collection was a legitimate booking procedure akin to fingerprinting and photographing for the purpose of “identifying” suspects.”
But in a dissent that aligned some of the court’s liberal members with conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, the minority said the court’s decision overextends police powers. Scalia quoted Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler describing DNA collection as a crime-fighting tool.
“Make no mistake about it: As an entirely predictable consequence of today’s decision, your DNA can be taken and entered into a national DNA database if you are ever arrested, rightly or wrongly, and for whatever reason,” Scalia wrote. He took the rare step of reading the statement from the bench. “In fact you could argue the taking of DNA is less intrusive than fingerprints — at least you don’t have ink on your fingers,” he said.
Law enforcement is already authorized to handcuff suspects, pat them down, draw blood, and strip-search someone before taking them to a jail cell, he said. “Clearly, they can touch the inside of your cheek and take a DNA swab,” Gansler said.
Stephen B. Mercer, chief attorney within the Maryland Public Defender’s Forensics Division, said he believes the decision could set the stage for a universal DNA database made up of all citizens.
“DNA testing has little to do with identification and everything to do with solving unresolved crimes,” said Steven R. Shapiro, the ACLU’s national legal director. “While no one disputes the importance of that interest, the Fourth Amendment has long been understood to mean that the police cannot search for evidence of a crime … without individualized suspicion. Today’s decision eliminates that crucial safeguard.”
This is an important decision that will make a positive difference in solving cases that otherwise would never be solved.
The ForensicWeek.com Webcast Show – featuring “Forensic Nursing – A Medical/Legal Profession”
The ForensicWeek.com Webcast Show is airing Episode 25 – featuring “Forensic Nursing – A Medical/Legal Profession,” tomorrow – Thursday, May 30, 2013, at 7:00 P.M. Distinguished members of the International Association of Nurses will be guests on the show broadcasting LIVE from their locations all over the world. So join host, Tom Mauriello, and the rest of the ForensicWeek.com team as they discuss this important forensic science profession and learn about how the forensic nurse strengthens the investigative process. Watch the show LIVE or view it at your convenience. Just GO to www.forensicweek.com
“Deleted” SnapChat Photos Saved in Phone Data, Can Be Examined as Evidence
Snapchat is a new and very popular smartphone app with millions of downloads. The photos people take with the app are being used to assist law enforcement, lawyers, and parents. The app advertises that once the sender sends a photo, the receiver has approximately ten seconds to view the photo before it is deleted and will never be seen again. Decipher Forensics, a firm based out of Orem, Utah, has been extracting photos from the app, stating that the photos are never fully deleted. Decipher Forensics has stated that they have perfected the steps for extracting these photos from Android devices and are currently working on iPhone smartphones. Digital forensics examiner, Richard Hickman, reveals that the app actually saves the photos to the phone and then can be extracted using digital forensics and issued to law enforcement or necessary recipients.
Source: KSL.com Utah News
Read the full article and view the news clip here.
Citation: Adams, A. (2013, May 8). KSL.com Utah. ‘Deleted’ snapchat photos saved in phone data, can be examined as evidence. Retrieved May 9, 2013, from http://www.ksl.com/?sid=25106057&nid=148
[Abstract by ForensIQ intern, Andrea Williams]
