Mirakovits Kathy - Forensic Science: The Basics

Fourth edition published 2022
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First edition published by CRC Press 2006
Second edition published by CRC Press 2010
Third edition published by CRC Press 2016

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Dedication

To Jay A. Siegel, my brilliant co-author, mentor and forever friend. I cannot thank you enough for your encouragement, trust and guidance through the years with our forensic science projects. I hope you approve of the edits to our work from your eternal resting place. Peace and love to you, my dear friend

Kathy Mirakovits

The field of forensic science has lost one of its most engaging and influential members, Dr. Jay A. Siegel, who died at home in his sleep on September 25, 2017, in Mt. Arlington, NJ, due to heart failure at the age of 71.

Dr. Siegel earned a PhD in Chemistry from George Washington University in 1975. After working for several years as a forensic chemist with the Virginia Bureau of Forensic Sciences, Dr. Siegel spent more than 35 years as a forensic science educator and researcher at Metropolitan State College in Denver, CO, Michigan State University (Professor Emeritus) in East Lansing, MI, and Indiana University Purdue University in Indianapolis, IN, where he also served as a department chair. He also served as a visiting professor at universities in Australia and China. Through his role as a forensic science educator, he mentored hundreds of practicing forensic scientists, many of whom are leaders in the field today.

Dr. Siegel was a leading national expert and author in the field of forensic science and was a highly sought-after consultant, participating in several high-profile cases throughout the country. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee that authored Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward, an objective external review of forensic science that continues to shape reforms in the field. He authored numerous publications in forensic science journals and several textbooks in the field and served as editor of the Encyclopedia of Forensic Sciences. He was a member of the Journal of Forensic Sciences Editorial Board for 25 years (19832008) and served as a commissioner on the Forensic Science Education Programs Accreditation Commission (FEPAC) from 2003 through 2008.

For his work as both a forensic scientist and educator, Dr. Siegel was honored with several prestigious awards in the field. In 2005, he was named the Paul L. Kirk Award Winner, the highest honor given by the Criminalistics Section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS). In 2009, he was honored as a Distinguished Fellow by the AAFS and was also presented with the Distinguished Alumni Award from George Washington University. In 2012, he was honored with the Distinguished Service Award from the Midwest Association of Forensic Scientists.

For all his awards and accomplishments in the field, Dr. Siegel was most proud of the students he had taught and mentored. He was an excellent professor who did his best to give his students opportunities and was proud of the accomplishments of his former students who seized those opportunities. No visit to his laboratory was ever complete without him speaking glowingly of his graduates and showing off his bulletin board full of business cards of former students practicing in the field. Dr. Siegel will be sorely missed by those whose lives he touched.

Christopher Bommarito, MS, author of this article, was a student of and close friend to Dr. Siegel.

The fourth edition of Forensic Science: The Basics updates the work done by various commissions and committees to address the issues raised in the National Academy of Sciences 2009 report, Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward. The National Commission on Forensic Sciences, formed in 2013, worked toward promoting validity and cohesiveness in the forensic sciences and criminal justice systems until it was disbanded in 2017. Currently the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and its Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) are striving to involve stakeholders in discussions to recommend policy changes throughout the various forensic science disciplines.

This edition continues the tradition of previous editions of The Basics in maintaining a high-quality introductory text that introduces a broad range of forensic science topics. Similar to successful previous editions of this book, the fourth edition continues to adhere to the authors basic philosophy about teaching forensic science: build upon students knowledge of the natural and physical sciences and introduce them to the applications of science to the justice system. The book takes students through the basic concepts of what makes forensic science a unique blend of criminal justice and science, introducing them to crime scene investigation and the criminal justice system from the crime to the court. It still contains basic foundations in the tools of forensic science, including separation sciences, spectroscopy and microscopy. Then, this foundation is used to teach students how to apply scientific concepts and methods to analyze evidence. The areas of forensic biology and chemistry are covered in detail as well as the pattern evidence types such as fingerprints, firearms, toolmarks and questioned documents.

Updates, changes and additions have been made to the fourth edition without changing the basic structure and philosophy of forensic science. Revisions to Chapter 1 on reform efforts are included after the NAS report recommendations. The present-day questioning of the validity of pattern evidence in the courtroom is addressed in Chapter 3, Nature of Evidence. Many of the chapters have a new section at the end of the chapter called Case Study(s). The Case Study section presents a synopsis of a criminal case or cases containing the type of forensic evidence discussed in that chapter. Another addition to content can be found in Chapter 15, formerly Forensic Entomology, which now includes a section on forensic palynology, the application of the study of pollen and spores to civil and criminal incidents. Chapter 15 is now titled Forensic Palynology and Entomology.