8127/frame/fm

C.
Summary
We’ve spent this chapter exploring the different ways that forensic casework
results are disseminated and communicated. The written report represents
the final work product of the criminalist and, as such, must be complete and
accurate. A scientific conclusion must be present, and any applicable limita-
tions explicitly stated. This conclusion must also be summarized in a form
that the layperson can understand. The culmination of our work on a case
may be testimony in a court of law. Here, scientists must straddle the bound-
ary between science and the law, a sometimes uncomfortable and precarious
position. Realizing that he does not always have complete control, the crim-
inalist’s goal is to communicate his conclusions about the physical evidence
as completely and accurately as possible.
References
Daubert v. Merrell Dow
Pharmaceuticals
, 509 U.S. 579, 1993.
Federal Rules of Evidence, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, available
at 
http://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/fre/overview.html
.
Frye v. United States
, 54 App. D.C. 46, 47, 293 F. 1013, 1014, 1923.
Heinlein, R. A., 
Stranger in a Strange Land
, Ace Books, New York, 1961.
Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael
, 526 U.S. 137, 1999.
People v. Simpson
, CNN trial transcripts, available at 
http://www.cnn.com/US/OJ/trial/
.
Popper, K. R., 
Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge
, Basic
Books, New York, 1962.
Stoney, D. A., What made us ever think we could individualize using statistics?
J. Forensic Sci. Soc.,
3(2), 197–199, 1991.
Uniform Rules of Evidence, University of Pennsylvania Law School, available at
http://www.law.upenn.edu/bll/ulc/fnact99/ure88.html
.
Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language
, Gramercy
Books, New York, 1996.
Zeppa, J. E., The primary examiner, paper presented at the Spring meeting of the
California Association of Criminalists, Oakland, CA, 1999.
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