Handwriting analysis is also involved in forensic science. Graphology is the study of handwriting to determine a person's personality traits, but it is not handwriting analysis. Handwriting analysis looks at letter formations, connecting strokes between the letters, upstrokes, retraces, down strokes, spacing,curves of the letters, size, and a number of other characteristics of handwriting.(assampolice, par. 1). By examining these details in a sample and comparing them to another sample of known penmanship, a determination can be made as the whether or not the authorship is real.
Another chapter in this field is criminal law. There are many types. One of them includes homicide. The other types are determined below as follows:
For a murder to be decided, a desire to harm others IS required.
In a first degree murder, it must be intentional and be a premeditated (thought out) killing. It must also be a killing in the course of a dangerous felony. For it to be a second degree murder, it must be intentional, but not premeditated, and the person's intent is to cause serious bodily injury resulting in death.
In manslaughter, there is no desire required. For voluntary manslaughter, it must be killing with intent to kill or inflict grievous bodily injury but under the influence if passion caused by a sufficient amount of provoking. In involuntary manslaughter, it is a casual or reckless homicide and is killing in the course of committing a dangerous misdemeanor.
In justifiable homicides, it must be in self defense, defense of others, property, prevention of felonies, or arresting a felon. For it to be an accidental death, it must happen within duty of care, involuntary manslaughter or negligence.
In battery, it must be intentional or reckless touching of another without excuse or reason. This does NOT require a significant blow that inflicts injury to the body. With assault, it is classified as an attempt with present ability to commit a battery (like a missed punch). With aggravated assault and battery, the battery must inflict a serious bodily injury or assault and battery involves the use of a deadly weapon.
For the crime to be considered rape, it has to be sexual intercourse by a male with a female, who is not a significant other and by force or threat against a victim. It is also rape if it is sexual intercourse with a minor who is by law not able to give consent to the act. The force for rape can include drugs administered by the male or the inability of the victim to understand what is happening. Woman may also be charged with rape but as an accomplice.
Conspiracy in a crime is an agreement between two or more people, beyond an undercover government agent, to commit an unlawful act and some degree of intent. One overt act in the helping of the crime by any involved party give liability(bxscience, par. 3). But If one abandons the conspiracy, he is still responsible for it, but not the resulting act. Everyone does not have to know everyone else which are involved and all the parties must have a common end. Individuals are charged with conspiracy and the actual crime, but the two don't come together or merge and acts of one are acts of all.
In common law, burglary is breaking and entering into a household during the night with intent to commit a felony. Modern code includes any building or similar structure, day or night, with unlawful entry with or without breaking or taking anything. With robbery, it is stolen property taken from the victim in presence of the victim and with means of force or threats of force. It is a crime against the person and property, but pickpocketing is not robbery. Other crimes include arson, solicitation, and embezzlements (bxscience, par. 4).
photographing is also a big part of the science. The first thing that needs to be done after securing the crime scene is photographing it. This creates a permanent record of the condition of the crime scene. First, the scientists take a picture that shows where the scene is; a shot with a street sign with the crime scene location in the background. They take pictures of the areas around the crime scene; alleys, dumpsters, rear areas, neighboring objects and even the structures across the street. Next, they take pictures of the outside of the structure, showing places of entry and exit. Then enter the structure, taking shots that show the locations and layout of the rooms (assampolice, par. 7). They then take pictures of the whole room where the crime took place and then take close-ups of the scene or body. Other people and law enforcement involved in a crime scene include police officers, city agencies, and local agencies.
Bugs are also very helpful in a crime scene believe ir or not. They can be used to determine the time of death. In some cases, they can also be used to determine if a body has been moved from one geographic location to another. Certain bugs incubate and hatch at certain known rates. If bugs are found on a corpse, the age of the bugs can be estimated backwards to an approximate time of death.
Blood spatters help a great deal in recontructing a crime scene. Drops falling from different heights (i.e. at different speeds) will leave different looking spatters. A drop falling from a low height of a few inches will leave a small cohesive circle. At greater heights, the circle will be larger and may even have a 'crown' effect. Hitting a surface at an angle does even more to disrupt a blood droplet. Perpendicular impact leaves a droplet fairly uniform, as shown below. A droplet hitting a surface at an angle will bulge out in one direction, indicating the direction of travel of the droplet (bxscience, par. 7).
Cast off stains are a result of blunt force trauma (beating with an object like a hammer). Pulling back from a blow produces a blood spatter that can indicate direction, by creating an arc of blood droplets. You can determine the number of blows to a victim by counting the arcs. You can also determine the orientation of the individuals involved, the size of the object used and the right or left handedness of the assailant (bxscience, par. 8).
All the people must work together in a crime to pull it together and find out who the perpitrator is. Since science and law has come such a long way, it is often easier to find the guilty person or party. But in the end, the fact is that the forensic scientists can figure out who actually did it solve a crime once and for all.
