INTRODUCTION TO

FORENSIC SCIENCE
SPECIAL CERTIFICATE IN FORENSIC STUDIES
PCCM TRAINING CENTER, PASAY CITY

ROMMEL K MANWONG
Lecturer-Facilitator
 COVERAGE
I. Link and Value of Forensic Science to Criminal Investigation
II. Development of Forensic Science
III. Scientific Methods and Its applicability to Investigation
IV. Forensic Evidence Analysis
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• Nature and role of forensic science
• Value of forensic science to society
• Historical development of forensic science
• Forensic laboratories
• Scientific methods: its role in all aspect of forensic
science & invest
• Specialty areas of forensic science and the scope of
each of them
• Elements of forensic analysis
 TERMS TO PONDER
• Forensic science – science applied to legal problems
• Forensic – having to do with the law
• Forensics – art of argumentative discourse, debate.
• Corpus delicti – facts necessary to prove a particular crime.

Note:
* SCIENCE is a way of studying questions about the natural
world in a systematic way. Thus, FORENSIC SCIENCE is “science
in the service of the law”.
* CRIMINALISTICS – activities of full service forensic science
laboratory.
SCIENCE IN THE SERVICE OF LAW
• Forensic Science is applied to:
1. Criminal Law – e.g. crime of homicide, robbery, rape, etc.
2. Civil Law – e.g disputed paternity resolution
3. Administrative law – e.g disputed document

*In this context, forensic science is more focused, in

application, to criminal proceedings.
 VALUE OF FORENSIC SCIENCE
HOW DOES IT SERVE THE COMMUNITY?
- Forensic laboratories are funded by the government, thus, there is a strong
belief that society significantly benefit from forensic work.

WHAT ARE THE USES OF PHYSICAL EVIDENCE IN THE LEGAL SYSTEM?

- Physical evidence helps clarify its value in investigations and prosecutions

HOW DOES PHYSICAL EVIDENCE HELPS IN INVESTIGATION AND

PROSECUTION OF CASES?
- Establishment of the elements of crime
 ELEMENTS OF CRIME
• In law, CORPUS DELICTI refers to the body or “elements” of crime.
• The elements are the things that the prosecutor is obliged to “prove
beyond reasonable doubt” to gain conviction.
• Analysis done in forensic laboratories are served primarily to establish
Corpus Delicti

Examples:
*white powder – cocaine or “shabu”?
*cigarettes - ordinary cigar or “MJ”?
*dead body - homicide or murder or suicide?
*missing items - theft or robbery?
 Establishing the Elements of Crime
Case scenario
• In September 25, 2014, Hannah Marie San Pedro, a flight attendant
for Cebu Pacific returned to NAIA from a routine domestic flight. She
and other flight attendants, who live in Makati, took a taxi ride for
home. She was dropped off at her residence. From there she was
never seen again. Early October, her friends were trying to contact her
but without much success.
• On a previous occasion of her married life, Hannah Marie hired PO1
Noel Gambala, a police investigator who posed as a private detective,
to investigate the possible extramarital affair of her husband Marco.
The investigator was able to collect unequivocal incriminating
evidence of extramarital activities against her husband and was ready
to give his official report and collect the agreed fees.
• When the Makati police was contacted about the missing Hannah,
they did not show much interest indicating that she was an adult and
that she was not missing for long and she would probably turn up.
Marco became uninterested to find Hannah. But after sometime,
police investigation was formally initiated.
• Marco San Pedro II was a “rent-a-van” driver who drive regularly to
any point of Luzon. The couple had two children, and hired a
kasambahay to look at them whenever they are both on travel.
• Investigation by the police showed that the morning after Hannah
arrived home, Marco had risen early and told the kasambahay to take
the children to their grandparents in Quezon City.
• Further investigation revealed that Marco had purchased a second-
hand old model chainsaw from a friend a week earlier. The friend was
told of its purpose - cutting trees and fixing the old house in Laguna
as a strong typhoon is coming. It was also revealed that Marco had a
wood chipper machine in their old residential house in Laguna.
• The police was suspicious of a foul play and that Marco might be
involved but evidence was poor and sketchy.
• The police took initiative to undertake search on the possibility that
the chainsaw and wood chipper might be involved. An extensive
search of the old house in Laguna was made.
5 W’s + 1H = The Golden Rule
What happened?
Who is/are involved?
Where did the incident happen?
When did it all happen?
Why do you think the incident/circumstance/crime happened?
How was the incident/circumstance/crime committed?
Forensic Analysis: Test of Witness Credibility
CASE SCENARIO
• Pedro and Juan are friends, both mid-40’s and drunkards, both have been
alcoholic for years, they both live by begging or some odd jobs, they used
to hangout and drink at a friend’s house on a nearby estero.
• Obviously, these people are not the so called “model citizens”, but not
really dangerous criminals, either.
• One night, while having fun over their usual drinking session, a gunshot
suddenly rings out of the window, and a bullet buries itself on the wall as it
missed the head of Pedro who was about to consume his initial toss. Both
of them startled and shocked.
• Minutes later, someone smashed the door and came in swiftly, shot Juan in
the head, then escape out the door.
• Pedro was implicated for murdering his friend Juan based on story of
a drunken rage.
• During investigation and even during the trial, Pedro maintained his
innocence and testified in court that someone shot them both and it
was not him who killed his friend Juan.

Questions:
1. Do you believe on his self-serving story?
2. If you were the defense lawyer, would you clean him up, keep him
sober so that he will make a decent appearance?
3. What are the forensic issues that need to be considered?
PHYSICAL EVIDENCE!
- window glass analysis
- bullet projectile analysis
- what’s on the door? doorstep? any shoeprints?

…. forensic analysis of physical evidence can protect a witness of his

credibility…

THIS IS THE KEY ROLE THAT FORENSIC SCIENCE

CAN PLAY IN MAKING THE JUSTICE SYSTEM WORK BETTER.

…. That is why the protection of the CORPUS DELICTI is

important…and the treatment of each crime scene is also important
even when the case seem to be simple and straightforward…
NOTE:
“…the outcome of many investigations relies heavily on things and
people say about the case…”
“… PHYSICAL EVIDENCE can outweigh people’s testimony due to their
own personal perspectives, prejudices (biases), memory flaws and
many other reasons...”
“…the trial process depends on the JUDGE (TRIER OF FACTS - people in
charge of evaluating facts presented in a case) being able to accurately
evaluate what is heard…”
 MODERN WORKS OF FORENSIC SCIENCE
• CODIS – Combined DNA Indexing System – for DNA Profiles
for convicted offenders and unidentified suspects in
unsolved cases
• AFIS – Automated Fingerprint Identification System –
contains known fingerprints and evidentiary fingerprints not
yet identified
• NIBIN or the IBIS – National Integrated Ballistic
Identification Network or the Integrated Ballistic
Identification System.
• Other DATA bases – for Modus Operandi
• Mug Files for purposes of identification (Photography)
Where did we derive these forensic practices
today?
• History! Development of Forensic Science

….Historically, law enforcement was based on witness testimony

and only rarely included the presentation of physical evidence.

....Initially, criminal/civil rights were very basic. As society became more

complex, civil/criminal rights became more complex.

…As society became more complex, the criminal justice system

became more complex.
 FAMOUS CASES INVOLVING FORENSIC SCIENCE
Mapp v Ohio (1961) The court ruled that the evidence
obtained in the search was inadmissible because it was
seized in an illegal search. In ruling this way the court
created the "exclusionary rule" which makes illegally
obtained evidence inadmissible in court. This ruling is
known as the “Fruit of Poisonous Tree Doctrine”.

Gideon v Wainwright (1963) The Court ruled that all

citizens must be provided a lawyer if they cannot
afford one. This is regardless of
the type of crime.

Miranda v Arizona (1966) The Court ruled that citizens

must be informed of their rights prior to questioning.
Any evidence or statement obtained prior to a suspect
being read his/her rights is inadmissible. This has led
to what is commonly referred to as one's "Miranda
Rights" having to be read upon questioning or arrest.
 BRIEF HISTORICAL ACCOUNTS ON FORENSIC SCIENCE
 Around year 700, Chinese used fingerprints to establish
identity of documents and clay sculpture, but without
any formal classification system.
 Year 1000 Quintilian, an Attorney in the Roman Courts,
showed that bloody palm prints were meant to frame a
blind man of his mother’s murder.
 1248 - A Chinese book, Hsi Duan Yu contains a
description of how to distinguish drowning from
strangulation. This was the first recorded application of
medical knowledge to the solution of crime.
 1609 - The first treatise on systematic document
examination was published in France.
 1686 - Marcello Malpighi, noted fingerprint
characteristics. However, he made no mention of their
value as a tool for individual identification.
 1810 - Eugène François Vidocq, established the first
detective force, the Sûreté of Paris.
 1810 - The first recorded use of question document
analysis occurred in Germany.
 1813 - Mathiew Orfila, a Spaniard who became professor
of medicinal/ forensic chemistry at University of Paris,
published Traite des Poisons. Orfila is considered the
father of modern toxicology. He also made significant
contributions to the development of tests for the
presence of blood in a forensic context and is credited as
the first to attempt the use of a microscope in the
assessment of blood and semen stains.
 1823 - John Evangelist Purkinji, a professor of anatomy at
the University of Breslau, Czecheslovakia, published the
first paper on the nature of fingerprints and suggested a
classification system based on nine major types.
 1828 - William Nichol invented the polarizing
light microscope.

 1830s- Adolphe Quetelet, a Belgian statistician,

provided the foundation for Bertillon’s work by
stating his belief that no two human bodies were
exactly alike.

 1835 - Henry Goddard, one of Scotland Yard’s

original Bow Street Runners, first used bullet
comparison to catch a murderer. His comparison
was based on a visible flaw in the bullet which
was traced back to a mold.
 1853 Ludwig Teichmann, in Kracow, Poland, developed the first
microscopic crystal test for hemoglobin using hemin crystals.

 1854 An English physician, Maddox, developed dry plate

photography, eclipsing M. Daguerre’s wet plate on tin method. This
made practical the photographing of inmates for prison records.

 1856 Sir William Herschel, a British officer working for the Indian Civil
service, began to use thumbprints on documents both as a substitute
for written signatures for illiterates and to verify document signatures.
 1879 - Rudolph Virchow, a German pathologist, was one of the first to both study
hair and recognize its limitations.

 1880 - Henry Faulds, a Scottish physician, suggested that fingerprints at the scene
of a crime could identify the offender. In one of the first recorded uses of
fingerprints to solve a crime, Faulds used fingerprints to eliminate an innocent
suspect and indicted a perpetrator in a Tokyo burglary.

 1883 - Alphonse Bertillon, a French police personnel, identified the first recidivist
based on his invention of anthropometry.
 1891 - Hans Gross, published Criminal Investigation, the first comprehensive
description of uses of physical evidence in solving crime. He is also sometimes
credited with coining the word criminalistics.
 1892 - Sir Francis Galton published Fingerprints, the first
comprehensive book on the nature of fingerprints and their use in
solving crime.

 1892 - Juan Vucetich, an Argentinean police researcher, developed

the fingerprint classification system that would come to be used in
Latin America. After Vucetich implicated a mother in the murder of
her own children using her bloody fingerprints, Argentina was the
first country to replace anthropometry with fingerprints.
 1896 - Sir Edward Richard Henry developed the print classification
system that would come to be used in Europe and North America. He
published Classification and Uses of Finger Prints. In 1901, he was
appointed head of Scotland Yard and forced the adoption of
fingerprint identification to replace anthropometry.

 1900 - Karl Landsteiner first discovered human blood groups and was
awarded the Nobel prize for his work in 1930. He continued work on
the detection of blood, its species, and its type formed the basis of
practically all subsequent work.

 1901 - Henry P. DeForrest pioneered the first systematic use of

fingerprints in the United States.
 1902 - Professor R.A. Reiss - a pupil of Bertillon, set up one of the
first academic curricula in forensic science. His forensic photography
department grew into Lausanne Institute of Police Science.

 1903 At Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary, Kansas, Will West, a new

inmate, was initially confused with a resident convict William West
using anthropometry. They were later (1905) found to be easily
differentiated by their fingerprints.

• 1905 – the FBI was established. Its crime laboratory was established
in 1932.
 1910 - Edmund Locard, professor of forensic medicine at the
University of Lyons, France, established the first police crime
laboratory. He was known for the principle “Every contact leaves a
trace.”

 1910 - Albert S. Osborne, an American and arguably the most

influential document examiner, published Questioned Documents.

 1913 - Victor Balthazard, professor of forensic medicine, published

the first article on individualizing bullet markings.
 1920s - Calvin Goddard, with C. Waite, P. Gravelle, and J. Fisher, perfected the
comparison microscope for use in bullet comparison.

 1921 - John Larson and Leonard Keeler designed the portable polygraph.

 1923 - In Frye v. United States, polygraph test results were ruled inadmissible.
The federal ruling introduced the concept of general acceptance and stated that
polygraph testing did not meet that criterion.

 1924 - August Vollmer, as chief of police in Los Angeles, California, implemented

the first U.S. police crime laboratory.

1929 - Calvin Goddard’s work on the St. Valentine’s day massacre led to the
founding of the Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory on the campus of
Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.
 1950 - August Vollmer, chief of police of Berkeley, California,
established the school of criminology at the University of California at
Berkeley. Paul Kirk presided over the major of criminalistics within
the school.
 1975 - Federal Rules of Evidence, originally promulgated by the U.S.
Supreme Court, were enacted as a congressional statute. They are
based on the relevancy standard in which scientific evidence that is
deemed more prejudicial than probative may not be admitted.
 (1977) The FBI introduced the beginnings of its Automated
Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) with the first computerized
scans of fingerprints.
 1984 - Alec Jeffreys developed the first DNA profiling test.
 1986 In People v. Pestinikas, Edward Blake first used DNA testing to
confirm different autopsy samples to be from the same person. The
evidence was accepted by a civil court. This was also the first use of
any kind of DNA testing in the United States.

 1987 DNA profiling was introduced for the first time in a U.S. criminal
court. But the 1987 New York v. Castro was the first case in which
the admissibility of DNA was seriously challenged. This case led to the
call for certification, accreditation, standardization, and quality
control guidelines for both DNA laboratories and the general forensic
community.
 1993 – The Daubert et al. v. Merrell Dow, (Daubert Standard Rule) a U.S. federal
court relaxed the Frye standard for admission of scientific evidence and conferred
on the judge a “gatekeeping” role.

In here, the standard for admissibility of qualified expert rest upon the
judge based on Scientific Knowledge, and Relevancy and Reliability into
the task at hand.

 1996 The FBI introduced computerized searches of the AFIS fingerprint database.
 NATURE OF SCIENCE AND THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
What is Scientific Method?
It is the multistep method by which scientists approach problems,
formulate them for experimental inquiry, and validate their conclusions.
Four Steps in Scientific Method
1. Careful observation – inquiries about a curiosity on events or phenomena.
2. Hypothesis - make logical suppositions to explain the observation - Attempt to
develop an explanation or series of related observation
3. Hypothesis Testing – test one variable of a hypothesis (controlled experiment)
4. Establish a theory- refine the hypothesis; continuous testing and
experimentation until it becomes an established theory and generally accepted
explanation (natural law).
 The Scientific Flowchart
Observation HYPOTHESIS

Experimentally Testable THEORY

Controlled Experiments NATURAL LAW

NOTE:
… the essence of scientific method is
the combination of observation and
feedback from testing predictions
generated by the hypothesis. Careful
testing of a false hypothesis will, sooner
or later, reveal the flaws in the
hypothesis.
 SCIENTIFIC METHOD AND ITS APPLICABILITY
TO FORENSIC SCIENCE AND INVESTIGATION
In three ways:

1. Forensic science is a science, therefore follows the scientific method

in building knowledge

2. Scientific method forms the basis for EVENT RECONSTRUCTION –

Crime Scene Reconstruction and Crime Analysis

3. Scientific method provides a logical and productive basis of

investigation (accurate answers to 5Ws+1H).
FORENSIC SCIENCE REQUIRES LABORATORIES
Professor R. A. Riess
• Established a forensic photography
laboratory at the University
of Lausanne, Switzerland in
1909
Edmond Locard
• Established one of the world’s
first police crime laboratories
in Lyon, France in 1910
• Known for the Locard Exchange
Principle
August Vollmer

• Established a forensic laboratory at

the Los Angeles Police
Department in 1923

Colonel Calvin Goddard

• Established a crime detection

laboratory at Chicago’s
Northwestern University in 1929
• Perfected the comparison
microscope for bullet and cartridge
case examinations
J. Edgar Hoover
• Established the Federal Bureau
of Investigation
(FBI) forensic laboratory in
1932

New York City (NYC)

• The NYC Police
Department Crime
laboratory was
established in 1934
 THE FORENSIC SCIENCE SPECIALTIES
Pathology - is a specialty area of medicine
• Pathology is the study of diseases and the
bodily
changes caused by the diseases
• Forensic pathologists determine the
cause of death (the medical reason
why a person died; e.g. asphyxiation)
• Forensic pathologists determine
the manner of death (the circum-
stances causing death; e.g. homicide)

www.rkmfiles.net
Entomology is a branch of biology
devoted to the study of insects
• Forensic entomologists use insects
as investigative aids
• By examining insects, larvae or
pupae associated with a corpse,
knowing the life cycle of insects,
and by using the existing
environmental factors, forensic
entomologists can estimate the
time of death
Odontology is the study of the physiology,
anatomy, and
pathology of teeth

• Forensic odontologists perform two

types of analysis
involving the human dentition.
• Identify human remains by
comparing pre-mortem and
postmortem dental X-rays
• Bite mark comparisons (crime scene
marks to known
bite marks)
FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY
• Physical Anthropology is the science of the
human skeleton and how it has evolved over
time
• Can determine whether found remains are
of human or animal origin
• Reconstruct the skeleton from found remains
• Provide an estimate of age, stature, and gender
• Can sometimes determine racial origin
• Detect skeletal abnormalities and any trauma
• Can provide information about the cause of
death
FORENSIC TOXICOLOGY is the study of the effects of
extraneous materials such as poisons and drugs in
the body
• Forensic toxicologists must determine both the
presence and the amounts of extraneous materials
in the body
• Assist the medical examiners in determining the
cause of death
• May be involved in the determination of ethanol
levels in blood and breath samples
FORENSIC PSYCHIATRY is a branch of medicine
concerning the diagnosis, treatment, and
prevention of mental illness while
PSYCHOLOGY is the scientific study of the
mind and behavior of humans
• Forensic psychiatrists & psychologists evaluate
offenders for civil and criminal competence and
may be involved in offender treatment programs
• A few specialize in “profiling” of criminal
cases, primarily serial murderers and serial
rapists

www.rkmfiles.net
FORENSIC ENGINEERING
• Involved in the investigation of
transportation related accidents, material
failures, and structural failures
FORENSIC COMPUTER SCIENCE
• Use information located on computers and
other electronic devices as investigative
aids
• Find hidden or deleted information to
determine if internet based crimes have
been committed
Forensic Science
CRIMINALISTICS
Specialties
This specialty involves the
examination, identification,
and interpretation of items of
physical evidence.
 AREAS OF EXAMINATION IN FORENSIC SCIENCE
• BIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE
• FORENSIC CHEMISTRY
• PATTERN EVIDENCE
• Other patterns (scene
reconstruction)
ELEMENTS OF FORENSIC EVIDENCE ANALYSIS
1. EVIDENCE -Recognition means to know something because one has seen,
heard or experienced it before
RECOGNITION
2. CLASSIFICATION -Classification is to place things into groups according to their
basic characteristics
(IDENTIFICATION)
-Individualization is demonstration that an object is unique,
3. INDIVIDUALIZATION even among members of the same class, or that two separate
4. RECONSTRUCTION objects were at one time single object (had a common source
of origin)

-Reconstruction is the process of putting together the evidence

available with the objective of understanding the nature and
sequence of events that created it.
 RECOGNITION

-Recognition means to know something because one has seen,

heard or experienced it before
 CLASSIFICATION (IDENTIFICATION)

-Classification is to place things into groups according to their

basic characteristics
 INDIVIDUALIZATION

-Individualization is demonstration that an object is unique, even

among members of the same class, or that two separate objects
were at one time single object (had a common source of origin)
 RECONSTRUCTION

-Reconstruction is the process of putting together the evidence

available with the objective of understanding the nature and
sequence of events that created it.
 CLASS EXERCISE/ CASE ANALYSIS
**Segment from Who Killed Geronimo?
• In September 25, 2014, Hannah Marie San Pedro, a flight attendant
for Cebu Pacific returned to NAIA from a routine domestic flight. She
and other flight attendants, who live in Makati, took a taxi ride for
home. She was dropped off at her residence. From there she was
never seen again. Early October, her friends were trying to contact her
but without much success.
• On a previous occasion of her married life, Hannah Marie hired PO1
Noel Gambala, a police investigator who posed as a private detective,
to investigate the possible extramarital affair of her husband Marco.
The investigator was able to collect unequivocal incriminating
evidence of extramarital activities against her husband and was ready
to give his official report and collect the agreed fees.
• When the Makati police was contacted about the missing Hannah,
they did not show much interest indicating that she was an adult and
that she was not missing for long and she would probably turn up.
Marco became uninterested to find Hannah. But after sometime,
police investigation was formally initiated.
• Marco San Pedro II was a “rent-a-van” driver who drive regularly to
any point of Luzon. The couple had two children, and hired a
kasambahay to look at them whenever they are both on travel.
• Investigation by the police showed that the morning after Hannah
arrived home, Marco had risen early and told the kasambahay to take
the children to their grandparents in Quezon City.
• Further investigation revealed that Marco had purchased a second-
hand old model chainsaw from a friend a week earlier. The friend was
told of its purpose - cutting trees and fixing the old house in Laguna
as a strong typhoon is coming. It was also revealed that Marco had a
wood chipper machine in their old residential house in Laguna.
• The police was suspicious of a foul play and that Marco might be
involved but evidence was poor and sketchy.
• The police took initiative to undertake search on the possibility that
the chainsaw and wood chipper might be involved. An extensive
search of the old house in Laguna was made.
• When the Makati police was contacted about the missing Hannah,
they did not show much interest indicating that she was an adult and
that she was not missing for long and she would probably turn up.
Rafael became uninterested to find Hannah. But after sometime,
police investigation was formally initiated.
• Rafael De Guzman was a “rent-a-van” driver who drive regularly to
any point of Luzon. The couple had two children, and hired a
kasambahay to look at them whenever they are both on travel.
• Investigation by the police showed that the morning after Hannah
arrived home, Rafael had risen early and told the kasambahay to take
the children to the grandparents in Quezon City.
• Further investigation revealed that Rafael had purchased an old
chainsaw dealer from a friend a week earlier. The friend was told of
its purpose - cutting trees and fixing the old house in Laguna as a
strong typhoon is coming. It was also revealed that Rafael had a wood
chipper machine in their old residential house in Laguna.
• The police was suspicious of a foul play and that Rafael might be
involved but evidence was poor and sketchy.
• The police took initiative to undertake search on the possibility that
the chainsaw and wood chipper might be involved. An extensive
search of the old house in Laguna was made.
With the help of Criminalists…
• … and a forensic odontologist from the crime laboratory, they
searched for skeletal and body remains.
• With typhoon arriving, they searched large quantities of leaves and
debris and other items on the ground.
• After few days of searching, the forensic investigation team recovered
the following:
• A human tooth, a dental restoration, 56 small pcs of bone, and 2,260 strands
of human hair
• A portion of a human finger with some friction ridge skin and a toe nail
painted with red nail polished.
• The chainsaw with human blood spill on its blade including tissues, fragment
of head hair, and some bluish-green fibers
• Convinced of a strong lead, the police with the SOCO set out to
assemble forensic team to try to established what had happen.
• The forensic issues in the case can be summarized as follows:
Where the skeletal remains recovered those of Hannah Marie San
Pedro?
Could a cause and manner of death be established?
If the remains were of Hannah Marie, and if the death was
murderous, could Marco be implicated for parricide?
• The forensic aspect of the case involved many specialties: pathology,
odontology, anthropology, criminalistics, trace and evidence
comparisons (such as the nail polish), wood chip comparison,
biological evidence, hair and fiber, tool marks, and hand writing
comparison
• The case came to trial on November 2014. It lasted several months
with extensive testimony by forensic experts.
 45-MINUTE THINGS TO DO
1. Group the class into two groups
2. In each group, create a FORENSIC INVESTIGATION TEAM
3. Identify the role of each member of the Forensic Investigation Team
4. Formulate a plan how the team go about in documenting the
PHYSICAL EVIDENCE as shown in the case
5. Present on a tabular form the items, type of examination needed,
and the possible findings or conclusion.
6. The presenter shall present the output in not more than 10 minutes
 Evidence Table
ITEMS EXAMINATIONS FINDINGS
Tooth Odontological Belongs to Hannah
Dental Crown Odontological: identification Identified as belonging to Hannah by the Dentist;
Criminalistics: Trace Metal Analysis traced metal linked to the lab that made the crown
Bone Chips Anthropological and Biological Human, from the head; hands and feet only; Type O
Sum of Human Pathology – medical examiner: Violent killing based on recovered bone chips; cause
Remains cause and manner of death could not be determined
Wood Chips Wood identification; compared tool Chips consisted with one having cutting edge;
marks consistent with the chipper machine; some are
consistent with chainsaw blade
Hairs; Hair Hair comparison from chainsaw and Hair is consistent with one another, inconsistent with
Strands hairbrush with those from Hannah’s Rafael, the kasambahay, or any of the children
 Evidence Table
ITEMS EXAMINATIONS FINDINGS
Tissues and Biological Human; Blood type O
Blood
Blue-green Fiber analysis: classify and Consistent with a fiber from a night gown Hannah was
fiber from the characterize known to have and worn
chainsaw
Chainsaw serial Restoration: render readable Traced through chainsaw dealer; signature on the
number and Questioned Document: compare receipt was of Rafael
purchase signature with authentic Rafael’s
receipt signature from the receipt
Partial Finger Fingerprints: compare with known Consistent with known prints, but inked known lack
with friction fingerprints of Hannah details, Blood Type O and female (X chromosome)
ridge skin Biology; Serology and DNA
Toe nail with Trace Evidence: compare nail polish Chemical composition and color consistent with one
polish seized from Hannah’s dressing table another
Assume…
• Every finding and conclusion was challenged but finally Marco was
convicted to serve long prison term.

Questions..
1. How does forensic science come into play for the success of this
case?
2. How do you think might have happened without forensic analysis in
this case?