Forensic Investigations: An Introduction

The terms forensic investigator and forensic investigation are part of our cultural identity. They can be found in the news, on television, and in film. They are invoked, generally, to imply that highly trained personnel will be collecting some form of physical evidence with eventual scientific results that cannot be questioned or bargained with. In other words, they are invoked to imply the reliability, certainty, and authority of a scientific inquiry.

Using cases from the authors’ extensive files, Forensic Investigations: An Introduction provides an overview of major subjects related to forensic inquiry and evidence examination. It will prepare Criminal Justice and Criminology students in forensic programs for more specialized courses and provide a valuable resource to newly employed forensic practitioners. Written by practicing and testifying forensic professionals from law enforcement, academia, mental health and the forensic sciences, this work offers a balanced scientific approach, based on the established literature, for broad appeal.

The purpose of this book is to help students and professionals rid themselves of the myths and misconceptions they have accumulated regarding forensic investigators and the subsequent forensic investigations they help to conduct. It will help the reader understand the role of the forensic investigator; the nature and variety of forensic investigations that take place in the justice system; and the mechanisms by which such investigations become worthy as evidence in court. Its goals are no loftier than that. However, they could not be more necessary to our understanding of what justice is, how it is most reliably achieved, and how it can be corrupted by those who are burdened with apathy and alternative motives.

A primary text for instructors teaching forensic courses related to criminal and forensic investigationWritten by forensic professionals, currently in practice and testifying in courtOffers applied protocols for a broad range of forensic investigationsAugments theoretical constructs with recent, and relevant case studies and forensic reportsBased on the most recent scientific research, practice, and protocols related to forensic inquiry

1. Forensic Investigations: A Primer 2. Law and Evidence 3. Investigative Ethics 4. Investigators and the Scientific Method 5. Crime Scene Investigation and Analysis 6. Crime Scene Processing 7. Forensic Victimology 8. The Sexual Assault Examination 9. Medicolegal Death Investigation: Protocols and Practice 10. Forensic Interviews 11. The Polygraph: Uses and Misuses 12. Investigating Allegations of Police Torture: Forensic Protocols and Psychological Assessment 13. Forensic Investigations for Court: Probation, Sentencing, Mitigation Issues in Capital Cases 14. Oklahoma v. Elvis Thacker: Evaluating Victimology, Victim Sexual Assault Evidence, Suspect Torture by Law Enforcement, and the Quality of a Forensic Investigation