Question

A man is on trial for the murder of his wife. The prosecution on this case would like to bring forward an expert in the field of ballistics to prove the bullet found at the crime scene was that of the defendant. This ballistics expert has a PhD in forensic science and has worked at the Ballistics Dept. at the Forensic Center in Houston, TX for 25 years. His methods are widely accepted in the scientific community. The judge finds his testimony to be relevant and allows his testimony to be heard. Which correctly describes the admissibility of this expert's testimony?

A) Frye standard
B) Daubert ruling
C) Miranda rights
D) Ballistics rule

What is the correct order for processing a crime scene?
A) first officer reports to scene, securing the crime scene, crime scene survey, collection of physical evidence
B) crime scene survey, first officer reports to scene, securing the crime scene, collection of physical evidence
C) first officer reports to scene, collection of physical evidence, securing the crime scene, crime scene survey
D) first officer reports to scene, crime scene survey, securing the crime scene, collection of physical evidence,

Answer 1

1. B) Daubert ruling

Daubert standard or Daubert ruling is used in the court to determine whether a scientist testimony could be admissible. The judge will be the gatekeeper and has to determine the admissibility of the testimony based on several checklist. It might sound similar to Frye standard which only testing the general acceptability of the testimony of the scientist in the particular field.

2. A) first officer reports to scene, securing the crime scene, crime scene survey, collection of physical evidence

Processing crime scene should be done in an orderly fashion to make the evidence collected reliable. Securing crime scene is important to make sure there no one change or destroy the evidence there. After that, doing a survey so you could do your work more efficient and doing less damage to the scene. Collecting the evidence would be done last.