Forensic Science Review最新文献

Questioned document examination is one of the most challenging tasks in the field of forensic science. Examining the document without destroying its integrity is difficult in such cases. Microscopic examination is a noble and mostly non-destructive approach in document examination. It enables the examiner to visualize the evidence in the document, which would have been otherwise difficult with unaided eyes. The purpose of the study was to establish the importance of microscopic examination in document examination. A critical review of 60 years, from 1963 to 2023, of various research papers from different journals has been conducted. Applications of various microscopes including stereo microscopes, digital microscopes, scanning electron microscopes (SEM), and atomic force microscopes (AFM) were reviewed. Compared to the basic examinations performed before the year 2000, there was a remarkable evolution involving complex examinations with more precise results after the year 2000. Microscopy helped solve almost all kinds of problems involved in document examination. Among all microscopes, the stereo microscope was found to be a prominent tool in document laboratories. Certain limitations were also listed for microscopic examination over spectroscopic methods. However, microscopes have been the tool of choice for forensic document examiners.

Fingerprints are well-known and reliable means of identification in forensic sciences and security technology. Literature that covers the history of fingerprints often refers to ancient Chinese knowledge on this topic. The earliest use of fingerprints, indeed, can be traced back to the Zhou dynasty (, 1046-256 BCE), and the first documented use of crime scene fingermarks dates back to the Qin dynasty (, 221-206 BCE). During the Tang dynasty (, 619-907 CE) and Song dynasty (, 906-1279 CE), fingerprints were widely used on contracts, divorce papers, and other legal documents. However, many of the literature references are inaccurate or obsolete, so this paper reviews some of the original sources from the Tang and Song periods that are now publicly available, thus attempting to investigate the Chinese use of fingerprints.

This article traces the development and present status of legislation pertaining to driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) and other drugs (DUID) in the United Kingdom (UK). The Road Safety Act of 1967 represented a paradigm shift in the way that traffic offenders were prosecuted for driving after consumption of alcohol. This new legislation defined punishable concentrations of alcohol (ethanol) in samples of the driver's blood (80 mg%) or urine (107 mg%). The creation of these statutory concentration limits meant that it was no longer necessary to prove that a suspect was under the influence or impaired by alcohol at the time of driving. Also in 1967, a police officer in uniform was permitted to administer a roadside breath alcohol screening test to help make a decision whether a suspect should be arrested for further investigation. In 1983, the British government introduced a statutory breath alcohol concentration limit of 35 μg/100 mL and evidential quality breath analyzers were approved for use by the police as an alternative to sampling blood or urine for analysis. Evidence of driving under the influence of drugs other than alcohol depended on the results of a clinical examination and questionnaire done by a police surgeon. This was supported by evidence presented by the arresting police officers or other witnesses. In 2015, a radical change occurred in the legislation pertaining to drug-impaired driving where instead of relying on clinical evidence of impairment, concentration limits in blood for 17 psychoactive substances were defined by statute. These consisted of eight commonly encountered recreational drugs of abuse and nine prescription medications (opiates and benzodiazepines), all classified as controlled substances.

The evolution of digital media has increased the number of crimes committed using digital equipment. This has led to the evolution of the computer forensics area to digital forensics (DF). Such an area aims to analyze information through its main phases of identification, collection, organization, and presentation (reporting). As this area has evolved, many techniques have been developed, mainly focusing on the formalization of terminologies and concepts for providing a common vocabulary comprehension. This has demanded efforts on several initiatives, such as the definition of ontologies, which are a means to identify the main concepts of a given area. Hence, the existing literature provides several ontologies developed for supporting the DF area. Therefore, to identify and analyze the existing ontologies for DF, this paper presents a systematic literature review (SLR) in which primary studies in the literature are studied. This SLR resulted in the identification of ontology building methodologies, ontology types, feasibility points, evaluation/assessment methods, and DF phases and subareas ontologies have supported. These results were based on the analysis of 29 ontologies that aided in answering six research questions. Another contribution of this paper is a set of recommendations on further ontology-based support of DF investigation, which can guide researchers and practitioners in covering existing research gaps.

With the global whisky market reaching $65.6 billion in 2024 and projected to reach $89.48 billion by the end of 2029, the incentives for fraud in relation to (and adulteration of) this alcoholic beverage are self-evident. Law enforcement agencies worldwide have taken actions against crimes of this nature, with forensic scientists playing crucial roles (mainly through expert testimonies on sample authenticities) during legal proceedings. Important issues associated with Scotch whisky authentication include: (a) understanding the typical manufacturing process; (b) acquisition of reference samples; and (c) effective utilization of instrumentations to characterize features derived from the manufacturing process and strategic approaches for the interpretation of analytical findings. Following a brief review of the definition/classification, manufacturing, and adulteration/counterfeiting of Scotch whiskies, this review focuses on the characterization of manufacturing-derived features and interpretation of analytical findings as grouped into: (a) quantitative analysis of single compounds; (b) qualitative analysis and intensity ratio of multiple compounds; (c) chemometric analysis of selected multi-compounds; and (d) quantitative analysis of selected elements. Finally, a flowchart for conducting the authentication process, from various significantly different perspectives, is proposed.

Advocates and researchers have made many recommendations for forensic science improvement in the United States. These proposals are often motivated by wrongful convictions related to false or misleading forensic evidence. In many cases, the connection between the proposals and the actual experience of wrongful convictions has not been well defined. Further, recommendations may not have been realizable given the structure of the criminal justice system in the United States and the practical realities of forensic science laboratories. Finally, limited attempts have been made to assess recommendations over time to determine the progress of forensic science improvement and elucidate continuing gaps. Reports from the Department of Justice, the National Academy of Sciences, and the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology are assessed to determine the extent to which their recommendations have been implemented, whether the recommendations align with the actual experience of wrongful convictions, and how the American forensic science community has implemented forensic science improvement. The most successful proposals reflect a broad movement toward quality assurance, improved standards, and organizational improvement in the forensic sciences. Less successful proposals are associated with calls for large federal investments, difficulties in community-wide implementation, or uncertain linkage to foundations in science and practice. Significant progress has been made in the standardization of reporting and testimony, assessment of the foundational reliability of the disciplines, and DNA mixture interpretation. Significant gaps remain to improve medicolegal death investigation, governance, and the implementation of standards. Improved allocation and use of resources will be required to meet continuing challenges in capacity building, training, and proficiency testing, although past experience indicates that both federal and non-federal funding will be required to address these issues. Continued improvement is needed to address the issues associated with wrongful convictions, although forensic science leaders have demonstrated the ability to prioritize improvement initiatives.

Cheiloscopic examinations have long been conducted, and many scientists have reported the usefulness of cheiloscopy for personal identification with a characteristic and individual pattern of furrows on the vermilion lip. For almost 40 years, research conducted in Poland has determined the patterns of these furrows and the separation and development of their individual features. This was the basis for forming expert opinions and presenting them in court as evidence. In Poland, cheiloscopic expertise is performed and the results of precise procedures that are accredited and assessed serve as evidence. Although the legal system in Poland (continental system) is completely different from the American system, cheiloscopic expertise was also assessed in detail according to the American standards of evidence. This narrative review presents the problem of cheiloscopic expertise as a scientific and practical issue and provides a brief historical overview of this field and the foundations of the Polish cheiloscopic identification method. We conclude that Poland has sufficient historical background and a robust development of cheiloscopy in the field on a scientific and legal basis; however, due to its reports being in the Polish language, its absence from the most relevant specialized literature, or simply a lack of cooperation between countries and experts, the country has unfairly been left out of the discussion. We believe that a new look at the Polish contribution to lip print identification is necessary to reinsert this topic into the current discussion of a new identification paradigm.

Historical events leading to the development of the first handheld instrument for breath alcohol analysis using an electrochemical sensor are reviewed. The first prototype instrument, known as the Alcolmeter Pocket Model, became available in 1972 and weighed only 180 g and was about the size of a cellphone. By the mid-1970s, the Alcolmeter instrument was used by police forces in several countries as a preliminary roadside test of driver sobriety. Positive results in a roadside breath test were considered sufficient evidence to arrest a suspect for further evaluation and testing. This might entail an evidential-quality breath alcohol test or taking a sample of the driver's blood for analysis at a forensic laboratory. The main advantages of breath testing over blood testing are the non-invasive nature of the sampling procedure compared with sticking a needle in a vein to draw blood, and obtaining immediate information whether or not a person is in breach of the drunk driving legislation.

Drug usage data in a community has traditionally been obtained through population surveys, records from law enforcement activities related to drug-related crime, drug treatment centers, prison data, and hospital records. Wastewater-based epidemiology has gained traction in the last 10 years as a formidable complimentary tool to monitor, track, and estimate community consumption of both illicit and therapeutic drugs within a community. In wastewater-based epidemiology, targeted biomarkers (parent drug and/or metabolite) of illicit and therapeutic drugs are quantified in wastewater and back-calculated to community consumption. In conjunction with more traditional methods of obtaining drug usage data, information from wastewater-based epidemiology has been used to detect the types and amounts of drugs being used within a community. One of the main advantages of wastewater-based epidemiology is the near-real-time data obtained from it, which assists with the quick adaptation of both harm reduction and supply mitigation strategies. Wastewater-based epidemiology has also seen an increase in forensic application through the detection of production facilities within a community, determining the synthesis route of certain illicit drugs like methamphetamine, and enantiomeric profiling to distinguish between illicit and therapeutic use of drugs. This review summarizes the main focus areas and applications of wastewater-based epidemiology from a forensic perspective.

Forensic anthropologists are traditionally interested in facial approximations and reconstruction of physiognomies of individuals from past populations and creation of lifelike features onto unknown skulls retrieved from forensic or bioarchaeological contexts. Present review article examines the significance of facial soft-tissue thickness (FSTT) in craniofacial reconstruction by revisiting the studies published in the recent past decade (2010-21). The searches for published articles mentioning the FSTT and related topics over these years were performed using the following search engines: PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and Scopus. A total of 325 research articles were identified using different keywords, out of which 84 studies were found relevant for systematic review presented in this article. The selected studies were further analyzed based on the adopted study design, radiographic modality used for estimating FSTT, and generated databases and their advantages and limitations. Out of 84 relevant articles, 30 articles presented databases for sex, age, and ethnicity-dependent variations in soft tissue thickness measurements. Finally, 17 studies reporting sexual dimorphic variations in FSTT values estimated in supine or upright postured individuals (aged 18-90 years and above) were considered for meta-analysis. This article gives a decisive outlook on research trends in FSTT estimations, its contributions in refining craniofacial reconstruction technology, and identifying where we lack and where we can improve.