BOHOLST, JEWERLY MAE Forensic Chemistry &Toxicology

B.S CRIMINOLOGY 3RD YEAR / BLOCK A

PRELIM

I. DEFINITION OF TERMS:

1. FORENSIC SCIENCE

Forensic science is a critical element of the criminal justice

system. Forensic scientists examine and analyze evidence from crime scenes
and elsewhere to develop objective findings that can assist in the investigation
and prosecution of perpetrators of crime or absolve an innocent person from
suspicion. An application of scientific principles to criminal and civil laws that are
enforced by police agencies in a criminal justice system.

2. FORENSIC TOXICOLOGY

Forensic Toxicology is a multidisciplinary field involving the detection and

interpretation of the presence of drugs and other potentially toxic compounds in
bodily tissues and fluids. The use of toxicology to aid medico legal investigation
of death and poisoning. The field of forensic toxicology involves three main sub-
disciplines: postmortem forensic toxicology, human performance toxicology,
and forensic drug testing.

3. FORENSIC CHEMISTRY

A branch of Criminalistics and defined as branch of chemistry that deals

with the application of Chemical theories and principles in the solution of legal
problems in connection with the administration of justice. Forensic To a large
extent, the research serves to uncover the use and misuse of illicit substances,
medication and anabolic steroids, as well as mechanisms of action and toxicity.
This may be simple explanations of the structure of new, illegal designer drugs,
examinations of their metabolism, determination of purity in effects, as well as in
biological samples such as blood, saliva or hair. There are also many other
projects that can shed light on the questions those government agencies and
institutions or legal defenses ask in a relevant manner. The department is
internationally recognized for its work within the comparison of drugs (chemical
profile analysis). There is also a continuous development of new LC-MS and LC-
HRMS based analytical methods for the measurement of medications, drugs of
abuse and metabolites. 
4. CRIMINALISTICS

Criminalistics is “the scientific study and evaluation of physical evidence in

the commission of crimes.” Criminalistics plays a vital role in organizing crime
scenes, helping victims, ensuring justice, and serving the public. Criminalistics is
a proper name for the largest branch of the forensic sciences. Refers to a type of
forensics the analysis of physical evidence from a crime scene. While
criminology has preventative components, criminalistics comes into effect only
after a crime has been committed. The main goal of criminalistics is to apply the
principles of sciences to the examination of evidence in order to help the justice
system determine that a crime has been committed, to identify its victim(s) and
perpetrators, and finally, determine the modus operandi, or method of operation .

5. FORENSIC TOXICOLOGIST

Forensic toxicologists perform scientific tests on bodily fluids and tissue

samples to identify any drugs or chemicals present in the body. Working in a lab,
the forensic toxicologist performs tests on samples collected
by forensic pathologists during an autopsy or by crime scene investigators must
first consider the case history, in particular any physical symptoms recorded, and
any evidence collected at a crime scene that may narrow the analysis, such as
pill bottles, powders, trace residue, and any available chemicals to determine
which toxic substances are present, in what concentrations, and the probable
effect of those chemicals on the person.

6. FORENSIC CHEMIST

Forensic chemists analyze non-biological trace evidence found at crime

scenes in order to identify unknown materials and match samples to known
substances. They also analyze drugs/controlled substances taken from scenes
and people in order to identify and sometimes quantify these materials.

Working in a lab, they run tests on samples collected by investigators.

They use a variety of techniques, including microscopy, optical analysis (such as
UV, infrared, X-ray), gas chromatography and other technologies. They carefully
document their findings and write reports that are used to support criminal
investigations. Forensic chemists may also testify to their findings in court.
Analyze the specimen using analytical method.

7. CHAIN OF CUSTODY

Chain of custody refers to the order in which items of evidence have been

handled during the investigation of a case. Proving that an item has been
 properly handled through an unbroken chain of custody is required for it to be
legally considered as evidence in court. a list of all persons who came into
possession of an item of evidence.

A process that tracks the movement of evidence through its collection,

safeguarding, and analysis lifecycle by documenting each person who handled
the evidence, the date/time it was collected or transferred, and the purpose for
the transfer.
The chain of custody is a tracking record beginning with detailed scene
notes that describe where the evidence was received or collected. Collection
techniques, preservation, packaging, transportation, storage and creation of the
inventory list are all part of the process used in establishing the chain of custody.

8. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE

Physical evidence (also called real evidence or material evidence) is any

material object that plays some role in the matter that gave rise to the litigation,
introduced as evidence in a judicial proceeding (such as a trial) to prove a fact in
issue based on the object's physical characteristics composed of any all objects
that can establish that a crime has been committed or can provide a link between
a crime and its victim or a crime and its perpetrator.

9. FORENSIC

Forensic science is a multidisciplinary subject used for probing crime

scenes and gathering evidence to be used in prosecution of offenders in a court
of law. Forensic belonging to, used in, or suitable to the courts or to public
discussion and debate relating to or dealing with the application of scientific
knowledge (as of medicine or linguistics) to legal
problems forensic pathology forensic experts. Comes from the Latin word “
“forensis”

10. SPECTROSCOPY

Spectroscopy is a method that used electromagnetic spectrum to analyze

different substances such as drugs, explosives, poisons etc. study of the
absorption and emission of light and other radiation by matter, as related to the
dependence of these processes on the wavelength of the radiation. Some of the
different types of spectroscopy that will be discussed in this article include X-ray
spectroscopy, flame spectroscopy, atomic emission spectroscopy (AE), atomic
absorption spectroscopy (AA), spark emission spectroscopy, visible and
 ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy, infrared (IR) and near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy,
as well as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).

II. Write the letter before the number for the right answer.

J. Dr Edmund Loccard 1. Criminologist, is the father of modern forensics

B. Prof Matheiu Orfila 2. Chemist, is the father of modern forensic Toxicology

A. Victor Baltazar 3. “Probability is so high as to defy mathematical calculations of

human comprehension”

C. Act no 3043 (October 14, 1924) 4. UP Department of Legal Medicine became a

branch of department of justice and at the same time, an integral part of University of
the Philippines

I. Act no 1407 5. The biological and chemical laboratories of the bureau were later
consolidated into “Bureau of Science”. While Bureau of Mines were merged with
Bureau of Government Laboratories”.

H. September 13, 1887 6. Laboratorio Municipal de Manila was established by the

government after realizing the importance of studying waters and other samples in
the country.

F. 1895 7. Antonio Luna established the first clinical laboratory in the country.

D. Prof Matheiu Orfila 8. This Professor testifies in court as expert witness against
Madam Marie Lafarge, after poisoning her husband, Charles Lafarge with Arsenic.

G. Royal Decree #188 9. approved by Spain, the creation of “Medicos Titulares”, a

title given to Forensic Physicians to be assigned in Philippine provinces to perform
public sanitary duties at the same time, Medico-Legal aids.

E. Marsch test 10. This technique was use by Prof Matheiu Orfila to identify arsenic
from the body of Charles LaFarge.

A. Victor Baltazar

B. Prof Matheiu Orfila

C. Act no 3043 (October 14, 1924)

D. Prof Matheiu Orfila

 E. Marsch test

F. 1895

G. Royal Decree #188

H. September 13, 1887

I. Act no 1407

J. Dr Edmund Loccard

K. December 15, 1884

III . ENUMERATION - What are the Classification of examining physical evidence

Identification Comparison-

1. What are the Common terms in naming physical evidence Exhibit

Specimen Sample

The most important kinds of physical evidence are fingerprints, tire marks,

footprints, fibers , paint, and building materials . Biological evidence includes
bloodstains and DNA .Physical Evidence
 firearms and fired ammunition,
 fingerprints,
 toolmarks, tire tracks, and footwear impressions,
 hairs, fibers, glass, paint, and other trace evidence.

2. What are Golden rules in the Practice of Forensic Chemistry Go slowly Be

thorough Take down notes Consult others Use imagination Avoid
complicated theories

The six golden rules in the practice of forensic chemistry are;

1) Go slowly

2) Be thorough

3) Take notes

4) Consult others

5) Use imagination
 6) Avoid complicated theories

1. Go slowly : good work cannot be hurried, therefore take all the time
necessary to make the case complete, no matter how urgent it may appear or how
pressing others may be for the result ; it is generally possible to adjourn a case if the
work cannot be finished in time.

2. Be thorough : make a careful and minute examina- tion of everything and do

not be satisfied with a qualitative analysis if a quantitative one be possible ; it always
pays to do too much rather than too little and it is difficult to foresee what will or will not
be required in Court.

3. Take notes : keep a full, neat and clear record of everything seen and done.

4. Consult others : many cases will lead the expert into paths with which he is
not familiar, and when this happens he should consult those who are most likely to
know. Unless an expert knows his subject thoroughly, or unless he consults others, he
may go seriously astray ; thus a doctor, who found salt in an Egyptian mummy, reported
it to be that of a person who had been drowned in salt water, appar- ently quite in
ignorance of the very readily ascertained fact that crude natron, which contains a large
percentage of salt, and at a later date, salt itself were commonly used in ancient Egypt
in connection with the preservation of the body. The chemist too who thought that the
ancient Egyptians used quicklime as a body preservative, because he found a small
amount of carbonate of lime in a mummy, was evidently unaware of the extent to which
limestone and limestone dust occur in Egypt and that burial in tombs cut in the
limestone rock was very common. Another expert, who had not made himself familiar
with the methods of using liquid fuel under a boiler, but who had evidently heard of the
use of compressed air in that connection, thought that compressed air was forced into
the oil in the feed tank.

5. Use imagination : this is somewhat hazardous advice, since an exj)ert with a

vivid and uncontrolled imagination is a most dangerous person ; a disciplined
imagination, how- ever, which enables inferences and deductions (to be verified or
discarded at a later stage) to be made from slender and incomplete premises is often
very useful. In writing the report the imagination must be kept well in hand and the
expert should remember that what to him may be merely a helpful working hypothesis is
liable to be taken by others for more than its true worth and to be adopted by them as a
final explanation.

6, Avoid complicated theories : the simplest explana- tion is the most likely to
be the right one.

3. What are the Two general type of examination in Forensic Chemistry

 The two general type of examination in Forensic Chemistry are Quantitative
Examination Qualitative Examination.
Qualitative analysis - used to find out if a substance is present in a
sample. An example of this type of analysis is the
flame test. Quantitative analysis - used to find out how much of a substance is
in a sample. These tests produce numbers in their results. An example of this
type of analysis is a titration.

Quantitative analysis is used to tell 'how much' is in a sample. The two

types of analysis are often used together and are considered examples of
analytical chemistry.

4. What are the practice of forensic chemistry.

- Proper taking, handling and packaging of specimen.

- Chain of custody regarding specimen collection can be answered when

questions raised in court

- To record the precise position of evidence for documentation and court

presentation

5.What are the Responsibility of a Forensic Chemist

1. Perform identification of dangerous drugs, volatile substance, explosive and

explosive ingredients.

2. Conduct examination of gunshot residues.

3. Examined body fluids for any degree of intoxication of alcohols, drugs and
poisons

6. What are the Consideration in reception of specimen

a. Sufficiency of samples

b. Standard for comparison

c. Maintenance of individuality: Different evidence is separately packed to avoid

contamination.

d. Labeling and sealing: use to identify the specimen in court presentation and to
eliminate the possibility of tampering of evidences-.
 7. What is the Individual Characteristic of Physical evidence in making
comparison?

a. Striation markings of bullet made by the gun barrel and tool marks

b. Ridges of fingerprint

c. Footwear impression

d. Handwriting.

8. What are the Class characteristics of Physical evidence in making

comparison?

a. Hairs and fibers

b. Mass produced products

c. Layers of paints

d. Blood.