CHAPTER I – Fundamentals of Forensic Science

At the end of the topic, the students should be able to:

 Explain the concept of Forensic Science

 Discuss the overview and importance of Personal Identification in Criminal Investigation
 Apply the methods of Personal Identification

Definition of terms

FORENSIC - (ETYMOLOGICAL DEFINITION) - was derived from the Latin word “Forum” which
means a “market place”, a place where people gathered for “public discussion”.)

REAL DEFINITION: Forensic as used in conjunction with other field of science connotes “a
relationship with administration of justice or Characteristics of Court and justice.

FORENSIC SCIENCE - refers to the application of various sciences to law or administration of

justice. It is the application of a broad spectrum of sciences to answer questions of interest to a
legal system. (Father of forensic science Edmond Loccard).
Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to those
criminal and civil laws that are enforced by police agencies in a criminal justice system.

CRIMINALISTICS – can be defined as the application of scientific methods to the recognition,

collection, preservation, identification, examination and comparison of physical evidence
generated by criminal or illegal civil activity. It also involves the reconstruction of such events by
evaluation of the physical evidence and the crime.
- the analysis of physical evidence from a crime scene.
- a term sometimes used for describing the services of a crime lab
- (Father of Criminalistics-Dr. Hans Gross)

CRIMINALISTS - cover a broad range of criminal justice jobs within the forensic science field
that examine physical evidence to link crime scenes with victims and offenders. Criminalists are
sometimes referred to as lab technicians or crime scene investigators, a term made famous by
the TV drama CSI. These criminalists consult with experts, examine and analyze a variety of
evidence including fingerprints, hair, fibers, skin, blood, and more. The criminalists then use
their analysis to determine answers to how a crime was committed.

I. FIELDS OF CRIMINALISTICS/FORENSIC SCIENCE

DACTYLOSCOPY - science of fingerprint Identification and classification.

FORENSIC PHOTOGRAPHY - the application of the principle of photography in discovering
truth.
FORENSIC CHEMISTRY - the application of the principle of chemistry in relation to the
administration of justice. (Physical and Chemical composition of matters)
FORENSIC TOXICOLOGY- the application of the principle of toxicology (study of poison) in
discovering truth concerning suspicious death in a person.
QUESTIONED DOCUMENT - scientific analysis of documents which is under scrutiny.
FORENSIC BALLISTICS - the science of F/A identification by means of the ammunition fired
from them.

FORENSIC ODONTOLOGY - the scientific identification by means of dental record.

FORENSIC ENTOMOLOGY - study of role or importance of insects in the crime investigation.
FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY - the scientific method of identification by means of skeletal
remains.

II. Overview of Personal Identification

Personal- anything relating to or belonging to an individual.

Identification - the action or process of identifying (or recognizing) someone or something or
the fact of being identified.
- identification means something that identifies a person or thing
(freedictionary.com).
Personal Identification is the process of establishing the identity of an individual (Tanuj &
Krishan, 2013) whether living or dead. It refers to the branches of science like pathology,
genetics, biology, anthropology, physics, odontology unite together to derive objective source of
identification.

In this field of study, it highlights the establishment of identity which refers to the set of
physical characteristics, functional or psychic, normal of pathological, that defines an individual.
In connection with, the science of criminalistics has a vital role in studying the identity of a
person. Therefore, it requires the application of the principles of various sciences in solving
problems in connection with the administration of justice. It is in this event that Dr. Paul Kirk
was recognized as the father of criminalistics in US.

In medico-legal, the following are the aspects of personal identification:

1. Determination of the individuality of a person
2. Act or process of showing (something or someone) to be the same
3. Determination or establishment of a someone or something as a particular person or thing
4. Ascertaining the nature or supposed identity of a person or an object

Importance of Identification of Persons

1. In the prosecution of criminal offense, the identity of the offender and that of the victim must
be established; otherwise, it will be a ground for the dismissal of the charge or the acquittal of
the accused.
2. The identification of a person missing, or presumed dead will facilitate settlement of the
estate, retirement, insurance, and other social benefits. It vests on the heirs the right over
properties of the identified person.
3. Identification resolves the anxiety of the next of kin, other relatives, and friends as to the
whereabouts of a missing person or victim of calamity or criminal act.
4. Identification may be needed in some transactions, like cashing of check, entering a premise,
delivery of parcels or registered mail in post office, sale of property, release of dead bodies to
relatives, parties to a contact.

Rules to Personal Identification:

1. Law of Multiplicity of Evidence - The greater the number of points of similarities and
dissimilarities of two persons compared the greater the probability for the conclusion to be
correct.
2. The value of different points of identification varies in the formulation of conclusion. In a fresh
cadaver, if the fingerprints on file are the same as those recovered from the crime scene, it will
positively establish the identity of the person while bodily marks, like moles, scars complexion,
shape of nose, etc. are merely corroborative. Visual recognition by relative or friends may be of
lesser value as ed with fingertips or dental comparison.
3. The longer the interval between the death and the examination of the remains for purposes of
identification, the greater is the need for experts in establishing identity.
4. Inasmuch as the object to be identified is highly perishable, it is necessary for the team to act
in the shortest possible time especially in cases of mass disaster.
5. There is no rigid rule to be observed in the procedure of identification of persons.

Methods of Identification:
1. By comparison - the identifying details or characteristics found at the crime scene and
compared to known records of the victim or suspect
2. By exclusion – elimination

Importance of Personal Identification in Criminal Investigation

Criminal Investigation - It is the collection of facts in order to the three-fold aims to

identify the guilty party; to locate the guilty party, and to provide evidence of his (suspect) guilt
(Criminal Investigation Manual, 2011

The need for personal identification arises in natural mass disasters earth quakes,
tsunamis, landslides, floods etc., and in man-made disasters such as terrorist attacks, bomb
blasts, mass murders, and in cases when the body is highly decomposed or dismembered to
deliberately conceal the identity of the individual (Tanuj Kanchan, Kewal Krishan, 2013).

Personal identification is very essential in living particularly in cases of amnesia,

unconscious, imposters, issue of identity cards, passports, driving license, legal documents etc.
At present, the act of establishing the accurate identification of an individual is in dire need
because of the prevalent problems on identity theft. On the other hand, it is applicable also in
the identification of an unknown deceased which is important for both legal as well as on
humanitarian grounds. In this way, it will give a closure and declaration by surviving relations
and friends and further it to ascertain whether the remains belong to human or not. It also
answers medico-legal issues and gives a lead whether the skeletal remains are human or not.
 In the field of law enforcement proper identification of the offender and the victims is a
basic rule to consider in the investigation of crimes thus personal identification is very important
in the administration of justice. In this aspect they are identified through trace evidence such as
bloodstains, hair, foot/shoe print, fingerprint, bite marks etc. The identification of perpetrators
contributes to the prosecution of cases.

Early Methods of Personal Identification:

1. Branding- Ancient branding and body markings have been used for various purposes
including cultural and tribal identification, social status and rank, Criminal punishment,
slave identification, religious and spiritual significance, rites of passage, healing and
medicinal purposes, and military services.
2. Mutilation
 Cranial deformation: Some ancient cultures practiced cranial deformation,
where the shape of the skull was intentionally altered during infancy. This could
serve as a marker of social status, group affiliation, or even beauty standards
within a community.
 Teeth modification: Certain cultures practiced dental mutilation, such as filing or
shaping teeth, as a way of distinguishing individuals within a group. These
modifications could be used to signify age, social rank, or membership in a
particular community.
3. Tattooing
4. Descriptive Clothing
5. Measurement of Height (Quetelet’s Method)
6. Anthropological Measurement (Bertillonage)

METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION

The bases of human identification may be classified as:

1. Those which laymen used to prove identity – No special training or skill is required of the
identifier and no instrument or procedure is demanded.
2. Those which are based on scientific knowledge – Identification is made by trained men, well-
seasoned by experience and observation, and primarily based on comparison or exclusion.

I. ORDINARY METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION

1. Characteristics which may easily be changed:

a. Growth of hair, beard or mustache
b. Clothing
c. Frequent place of visit
d. Grade of profession
e. Body ornamentations
2. Characteristics that may not be easily changed:
a. Mental memory
b. Speech
 c. Gait – a person, on account or disease or some inborn, traits, may show a
characteristics manner of walking.
d. Gait pattern – is the series of foot marks by a person walking or running.
e. Mannerism – stereotype movement or habit peculiar to an individual. It may be:
 Way of sitting
 Movement of the hand
 Movement of the body
 Movement of the facial muscles
 Expression of the mouth while articulating
 Manner of leaning
f. Hands and feet.
g. Complexion
h. Changes in the eyes
i. Facies
j. Left or Right-handedness
k. Degree of Nutrition

3. ANTHROPOMETRY (Bertillon System)

Alphonse Bertillon, a French Anthropologist, born on April 24, 1853 in Paris, developed this
method. He devised a system to measure and records the dimensions of certain bony parts of
the body. These measurements were reduced to a formula, which, theoretically, would apply
only to one person and would not change during his/her adult life.

This Bertillon system, named after its inventor, Alphonse Bertillon, was generally accepted
for thirty (30) years. But it never recorded from the events of 1903, when a man named Will
West was sentenced to the U.S. Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas. There was already a
prisoner at the penitentiary at the time whose Bertillon measurements were nearly exact, and
his name was William West. Upon an investigation, there were indeed two men. They looked
exactly alike, but were not allegedly not related. Their names were Will and William West
respectively. Their Bertillon measurements were closed enough to identify them as the same
person. However, a fingerprint comparison quickly and correctly them as two different people.

Basis of the Bertillon system of Identification:

1. The human skeleton is unchangeable after twentieth year.

2. It is impossible to find two human beings having bones exactly alike.
3. The necessary measurement can easily be taken with the aid of simple instrument.

Information included in the system:

1. Descriptive Data – color of the hair, eyes and complexion, shape of the nose, ear, etc.
2. Body marks - Moles, scars, tattoo marks, deformities, etc.
3. Anthropometric measurements:
a. Body measurements- height, width of outstretched arms, and sitting height.
 b. Measurement of the head
c. Measurement of the limbs- length of the foot.

4. PORTRAIT PARLE

In many instances an investigator does not have a picture of the wanted or missing
person. The only way to have an idea of the prominent physical features is for the witnesses or
someone who has knowledge of the identity to tell him.

PORTRAIT PARLE (Spoken Picture) is a verbal, accurate and pictures-que description of the
person identified. The witness, relatives, or other persons who are acquainted with the physical
features of the person to be identified may give such information.

The following basic requirements must be included in the verbal description:

1. General impression: type, personality, apparent social status

2. Age and Sex
3. Race or color
4. Height
5. Weight
6. Built – thin, slender, medium or stout
7. Posture- erect, slouching, round shoulder
8. Head – size- shape
9. Hair- color, length, baldness
10. Face- general impression
a. Forehead – high, low, bulging or receding
b. Eyebrows – brushy or thin, shape
c. Mustache – length, color, shape
d. Ears – Size, shape, size of lobe, angle of set
e. Eyes – small, medium or large, color
f. Cheeks – high, low prominent medium cheek bones, flat or sunken
g. Nose- short, medium, big, long, straight, flat
h. Mouth, wide, small, medium
i. Lips- shape, thickness, color
11. Neck – shape, length, thickness, Adam’s apple.
12. Shoulder – width, shape.
13. Wrist – size shape
14. Hands – length, size, hair, condition of the palms
15. Fingers- length, thickness, shape of the nails
16. Arms- long, medium, short
17. Feet – size, deformities

II. SCIENTIFIC METHODS OF IDENTIFICATION

Aspects of Identification requiring Scientific Knowledge:

1. Fingerprint Identification - This system of Identification is the most positive means of
personal identification.
- It has been found out that the intricate patterns on the fingers are permanent
and never undergo a natural change except in the size of the pattern.
2. Dental Identification - The role of the teeth in human identification is important for the
following reasons:
 The possibility of two persons to have the same dentition is quite remote. An
adult has 32 teeth and each tooth has five surfaces.
 The enamel of the teeth is the hardest substance of the human body. It may
outlast all other tissues during putrefaction or physical destruction.
 After death, the greater the degree of tissue destruction, the greater is the
importance of dental characteristics as a means of identification.
 The more recent the ante-mortem records of the person to be identified, the more
reliable is the comparative or exclusionary mode of identification that can be
done.
3. Handwriting identification - A person may be identified through his handwriting, hand
printing and hand numbering.

Sec 23, Rule 132, Rules of Court – Handwriting, how proved: The handwriting of the
person may be proved by any witness who believes it to be the handwriting of such person,
and has seen the person write, or has seen writing purport to be his upon which the witness
has acted or been charged, and has thus acquired knowledge of the handwriting of such
person. Evidence respecting the handwriting may also be given by a comparison, made by
the witness or the court, with writings admitted or treated as genuine by the party against
whom the evidence is offered, or proved to be genuine to the satisfaction of the judge.

4. Identification of Skeleton - Occasionally, before a physician is called to examine a dead

body, the soft tissues have already disappeared and only the skeletal system remains.
All the external identification has already disappeared. In this particular case we resort to
the study of bones.

5. Identification of blood and blood stains - blood usually spilled in most crimes involving
violence and it may be shed by the criminal while committing other crimes.

Legal importance of the Study of Blood:

1) For disputed Parentage (maternity and paternity):

a. Disputed paternity may arise:
i. When the wife committed adultery and the husband denied to be the
father of the child.
ii. When the child was born out of lawful wedlock and the mother
claimed someone to be the father but he vehemently denied it.
iii. In a claim for support or right of succession of the alleged illegitimate
child.
b. Disputed maternity may arise:
 i. In Case of allegation of interchange of children in a hospital or nursery
home, either accidentally or deliberately.
ii. In cases of wayward or stray children being claimed by two or three
women.
iii. For ownership of dead fetus or newly born child found in a street
trash.
2) Circumstances or Corroborative evidence against or in favor of the perpetrator of the
crime:
a. Example:
i. A was found dead with a deep stab wound on the chest. “B” was
found a kitchen knife in his hand stained with blood. Examination of
the weapon showed that the stain was blood of a human origin and
belonging to the same group as that of the deceased “A”. With such
result of the examination, the investigating authorities have a very
strong presumption that “B” was the one who committed the crime.
3) Determination of the Cause of Death:
a. The amount of blood or blood stains found in the scene of the crime or found
inside the body of the deceased outside the blood vessels may imply that the
cause of death of the person is hemorrhage.
4) Determination of the direction of escape of the victim of the assailant:
a. The shape of the blood or blood stains will give the investigator an idea on
the direction of the source of blood.
b. Usually, in small drops, the tapering end of the blood spot is towards the
direction of the moving source of blood.
5) Determination of the approximate time the crime was committed:
a. Although there are variations as to the color and soluble changes as to
regards the age of the stain, we can only say that when there is too much
changes, it is not very recent.
6) Determination of place of commission of the crime
7) Determination of the presence of certain diseases.

6. Identification of Hair – hair examination is one of the oldest forms of physical evidence. It
is used to determine the following:
a. If suspected hair originates from human or animal;
b. If from human, what part of the body did it comes from?

In criminal investigation hair can be used as personal identification, the presence

of hair at the crime scene or at the victim may link to the suspect. Especially when there
is a commotion at the crime scene, the possibility of transfer of hair t the victim is
possible, when the transferred is directly from the body from which it originates, this is so
called primary transfer. Those hairs usually end up on bed, furniture and other part of the
house is secondary transfer.

7. DNA – Deoxyribonucleic acid is another method of identifying person by means of

molecule that carries the hereditary materials in humans. Every cell in a person’s body
has the same DNA. DNA has four chemical bases: Adenine (A), Guanine (G), cytosine
(C), and Thymine (T)

8. IRIS RECOGNITION OR IRIS SCANNING

 - is the process of using visible and near infrared light to take a high-contrast
photograph of a person’s iris. It is a form of biometric technology in the same
category as face recognition and fingerprinting. Iris scanning raises significant
civil liberties and privacy concerns.

Learning Activity:

1. Collect and identify at least 3 samples of scientific methods of identification to be put in a

bond paper.
2. Chapter Quiz