Speaker: Detective Garside
"The Devil is in the Details"
1. Recap of last year's forensics week:
the details of a matter, are the most crucial/essential/significant aspect
forensics evidence put simply is any item considered to be of evidentiary value that can be examined by a person of specialized training to give an opinion about it
2. Detective Garside shared some examples of forensics evidence, and how it can lead to the offender in any situation. Forensic evidence will be found on the sight of the crime scene during the death investigation. DNA, blood, saliva, and bodily fluids, all fall under the umbrella of forensic evidence. The key and basic equation to finding a starting suspect go; "WHY+HOW=WHO?". Inserting these factors will lead you to the essential answer. However, this doesn't always apply in some cases. For instance, a completely accidental situation like a car hitting a person. This situation can have a "HOW" but no real motive, leaving the "WHY" N/A. Forensic evidence can help you determine the one, or all, of the three components.
3. Forensic evidence is helpful to find suspects, however, forensic evidence will not always be found at crime scenes. For example, fingerprints can have various reasons for not showing up (born with fingerprints, burned off, etc.). Another reason is that DNA can be so easily transferred and wiped off. Although cases without forensic evidence are limited, there are a few out there.
How to have a successful forensic investigation:
1. to have a successful forensic investigation, you must think of four people at one time:
Detective
Suspect
Prosecutor
Attorney
2. Common myths within forensic evidence are miscommunicated often. Some of the false myths that tend to float around consist of, there are always fingerprints on site of the scene. As stated above in absence of forensic evidence in some cases, fingerprints won't always be found and recorded. This goes along with the myths of there always being a suicide note or DNA found. Some other misconceptions are that you always need forensic evidence to prove a case. This isn't true. Another is the time of death. The biggest manipulating factor in this is the weather. If it's cold, the body might be preserved longer. If it's extremely hot, the body might decay faster. Therefore, there is no way to determine the definite time of decease.
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